Guide To Interviewing

Thank you for contributing your time to serve on a search committee. The interview is an important part of the selection process and it can be a difficult task to perform effectively. We hope that the following information will make your job a little easier and help you to understand more fully your role as an interviewer.

Preparing for the Interview

Prior to the interview, the Human Resources Office should provide you with a job announcement, job description, and interview evaluation forms for the position under consideration. Please review these sufficiently to familiarize yourself with the duties and responsibilities of the position. The search committee members should discuss the required duties prior to the interview so that all members have a good understanding of the responsibilities and qualifications of the position. Consider the critical knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities needed to perform the job. The interview schedule may limit the amount of time you have to evaluate each applicant; therefore, it is necessary to ask questions that will reveal the training, education, experience, and other job-related information that will be important to successful job performance.

Questions should be carefully chosen and the duties of the position should be kept constantly in mind in relation to the questions. Being prepared will make your job of interviewing much easier; therefore, we ask that you review the questions with the committee members to determine what information is being sought and what would constitute a "good answer."

Purpose of the Interview

The purpose of the interview is to determine which applicants are the most qualified for the position. To achieve this goal, the interview should give each applicant an adequate opportunity to present his or her qualifications for the position. Many applicants are understandably nervous or uncomfortable in an interview situation; therefore, the success of the interview depends substantially on the attitudes and conduct of the search committee. It is the committee's responsibility to set the tone of the interview, help the applicant feel at ease, and encourage him or her to present the information needed for evaluation. Good candidates can be won or lost depending on the impression made by the search committee. Keep in mind the impression an applicant forms of the committee is likely to be the image formed of the University.

Role of the Search Committee Chair

One committee member shall serve as the Chair. Usually the supervisor (or his or her designee) of the currently vacant position should assume this role. The Chair will cordially greet the applicant, introduce the other committee members, and ensure that the committee attempts to put the applicant at ease before beginning the interview. This can be accomplished by opening the conversation with a few casual remarks of mutual interest, or by just smiling and inviting the applicant to relax and not be nervous. Interviews are stressful. Helping a candidate relax is time well spent if it encourages him or her to talk more freely and openly.

The Chair should briefly describe the position under consideration before asking the first question. The first question should give the applicant an idea of what you are interested in, (e.g., "Please begin by telling us about your previous work experience. Start with . . . We would be interested in . . ."). Each committee member should participate in every interview and no one member should dominate the interview.

Let the applicant do most of the talking. This is an occasion when the "80/20" rule applies: the candidate should talk 80% of the time and the interviewer 20%. The main purpose of the interview is to learn as much as possible about the applicant.

The Chair is also responsible for keeping the interview moving and avoiding long pauses between a response and the next question. These long pauses build up anxiety in the applicant and make the committee appear unprepared. The Chair must keep the interviews on schedule and is responsible for terminating the interview. The applicant should always be asked if he or she has other job-related information they would like to add that the committee did not cover.

Bias and Prejudice

Nearly everyone has some form of bias or prejudice regarding people they perceive as different from themselves. If one member of the committee seems to exhibit prejudice, overtly or covertly, other members are required to raise questions of propriety. Committee members must strive to avert any bias or prejudice against applicants.

Discrimination

What is discrimination? Most people do not know what this means as interpreted by recent court rulings and the Federal Government's "Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures." Discrimination exists when the acceptance (hiring) rate for members of a protected group (women and minorities) is significantly lower than the acceptance rate for members of non-protected groups, and the selection procedure is not job-related. The government has outlined specific methods for proving the "job-relatedness" of selection procedures. The fact that you did not intend to discriminate is no defense against a charge of discrimination. Most discrimination is unintentional. The following section, Types of Questions, provides information on the appropriate methods and topics of questioning.

Types of Questions

The interview should be used to evaluate a limited number of qualification factors. Questions should be directed toward objective topics, such as job-related training, education, experience, ability, and specific knowledge. In order to comply with governmental requirements and University policy, please avoid questions directed toward evaluating subjective factors such as personality, character, motivation, interest, and appearance. Ratings of these factors tend to be unreliable and inconsistent unless conducted by trained psychologists or similar professionals. It is difficult to prove the "job-relatedness" of evaluations of these factors. It is understood that such factors are important to job success and they will be considered once the committee has rated the qualifications of the applicants.

Be aware that interviewing has changed significantly in recent years and questions which were once thought to be appropriate are no longer considered valid. In fact, certain areas of questioning are now illegal. Questions should not be asked nor should employment decisions be based upon the following:

• Race, religion, color, sex, national origin
• Height and weight
• Marital status
• Children and child care
• Arrests
• Sexual orientation
• Age
• Economic status
• Medical condition
• Physical condition
• Political affiliation

Remember, even seemingly innocent questions can be inferred as discriminatory and lead to litigation. Examples: "What does your husband do?" "Are you a member of the Boy Scouts of America?" "How old are your children?" "Does your religion allow that?" "By law, we can't ask these questions, so why don't you tell us on your own?" "Do you own property?" "Can you climb a six-foot wall with that leg?" "What community organizations do you belong to?" "Do you feel you can do the job or will your age slow you down?"

The manner of asking a question is as important as the wording of the question. Use a positive tone. Avoid implying that the answer was poor or inadequate; however, do not hesitate to probe for an answer. If the applicant's answer is vague, incomplete, or evasive, rephrase the question.

Let the applicant do most of the talking. Phrase your questions so that the applicant cannot give a simple "yes" or "no" answer. Avoid using leading questions that suggest the proper answer, such as "You like working with people don't you?" or "You left your last job because of the low pay, didn't you?" The questions you will find most useful are the open-ended type. For example, these questions are phrased, "What do you think of . . ." or "Will you give us your point of view     on . . ." or "Can you explain . . ." or "Would you briefly discuss . . ."

Rating

Before beginning the first interview, be sure you are familiar with the interview evaluation form.

The same written questions or topics of questioning must be covered with each applicant. Additional questions based on information brought out by the basic questions will vary for each applicant.

The interview should be conducted in a structured manner. For example, when evaluating the topic of job-related experience, your questions should be directed primarily towards experience. Once the committee members have exhausted their questioning on this topic, they should move on to the next. Avoid jumping back and forth from one topic to another.

The interview evaluation form has space for comments regarding your evaluations. It is essential that documentation of the oral examination be maintained. Your comments should be meaningful in justifying your ratings. Do not merely insert evaluative comments like "good background" or "excellent response." To assist you in writing comments, it is a good idea to take notes during the interview. Try not to make your note taking overly obvious to the interviewee. Don't spend a lot of time writing notes during the interview, because your attention should be focused on the applicant. Merely jotting down a few key words will be enough to jog your memory for writing comments after the candidate has left. Again, it is essential that you write comments on the evaluation form to explain and justify your ratings.

Interviewers should resist the common tendency to reach decisions about any interviewee's suitability too early in the interview. Every applicant, regardless of apparent merit, should be questioned long enough to give a fair opportunity to present his/her qualifications, even if the first impression is that he or she will be rated low. Quite frequently this first impression is radically changed as the interview progresses. Avoid jumping to conclusions on the basis of first impression or "gut reactions." Retain an open mind until the interview is over and all evidence has been presented.

Closing the Interview

Always be sure to ask the applicant if there is any job-related information he or she would like to add which the committee did not cover. This is usually handled by the Search Committee Chair.

Again, thank you for assisting the University in the selection of qualified potential employees. We hope the information given here will be of assistance. The Human Resources Office will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

All information discussed during the interview is confidential, including the names of the candidates. Do not discuss any interview information with anyone outside the search committee. After the interviews have been concluded, all information remains confidential.

Summary of Important Points to Remember

• Be prepared. Familiarize yourself with the position and review the list of approved questions prior to the interview.
• Help the applicant feel at ease and encourage him or her to do most of the talking by asking open-ended questions.
• Ask the same pre-written questions of each applicant and give each one an adequate amount of time to present his or her qualifications. Don't hesitate to ask additional follow-up job-related questions if needed.
• Be sure to write comments that justify your ratings on the interview evaluation form.
• At the end of the interview, be sure the applicant is asked if there is any job-related information he or she would like to ad which the committee did not cover.
• Remember -- information regarding the interview is confidential.

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