INTERVIEWER TRAINING OVERVIEW

Steven Cesare, Ph.D.

A well-prepared business owner from North Carolina called me the other day inquiring about the employee interview process, specific training, and related details necessary to improve the quality of this vital selection tool. Here are some key points I shared with him.

Preparation

Review the candidate’s job employment application/packet two days before the scheduled interview
Review the desired job description and performance appraisal form two days before the interview
Review the desired position interview protocol two days before the scheduled interview
Review related interview training concepts (e.g., interviewer biases, decision making process, illegal questions) the day before the interview
Schedule the interview to minimize job conflict, and ensure ample time and space availability
To avoid inevitable claims of discrimination, never conduct a job interview in a one-on-one format

Interview Process

Bring the candidate’s job employment packet, job description, and interview protocol to the interview
The less the interviewer talks the better it is; being professional is better than being personable
Welcome the candidate; provide a realistic overview of the job based solely on the job description
Only ask questions on the interview protocol; specific job-related follow-up questions may be asked
Take notes regarding the candidate’s responses in real time
Rate the candidate’s response to each question as soon as the answer has been completed
When the interview is over, ask if the candidate has any questions
Thank the candidate for the interview and then escort the candidate out of the office
Debrief the interview with the other interviewer, translator, or witness
Calculate the candidate’s interview score and determine next steps; document all paperwork

Common Interviewer Biases

Similar to Me: When an interviewer favors candidates who share similar traits, backgrounds, or interests with the interviewer, that override the candidate’s actual job qualifications.
Contrast Effect: When an interviewer inaccurately evaluates a candidate’s performance by comparing him/her to the previous candidate rather than to stated job requirements. For example, an average candidate may seem exceptional if s/he follows a poor candidate, while that same average candidate may seem inadequate if s/he follows a strong candidate.
Idealized Candidate: When an interviewer holds a rigid, pre-existing mental image of the “perfect” candidate. Instead of assessing candidates based on actual merit, skills, or potential, the interviewer compares each person against this subjective, unrealistic, archetype.
Negative Information: When an interviewer assigns disproportionate impact when the interviewee provides negative information; negative information has a stronger impact than positive information.
Halo: Where a single positive trait, skill, or impression causes the interviewer to give the candidate a disproportionately higher rating, relative to the candidate’s overall performance.
Leniency, Severity, and Central Tendency: When interviewers give consistently higher, lower, or moderate evaluations to interviewees, regardless of the interviewee’s actual performance.
Primacy and Recency: When interviewers rely disproportionately on their first perception of a candidate to shape their impression of the interviewee. Or, conversely, if the interviewers remember more detail from the last set of interviewee responses rather than the entire interview protocol.

Protected Classifications

Never address any aspect of a federal or state protected classification (e.g., race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical/mental disability) with the candidate during the interview.

Legal Questions

Only ask questions that are based on job-related information identified in the job description; it is good practice to review the many illegal interview questions that should never be asked during an interview, before developing the actual employee selection interview protocol.

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