Section Fourthe use of panel interviews with simultaneous participation of
multiple interviewers may not add predictive power.^38
Behavioral Interviews
Another way to improve selection interviews is to use
behavioral interviews. Essentially, in a behavioral interview, a
candidate might be asked to describe how he or she dealt with
a particular situation in the past. For example, an applicant
might be asked to describe how he or she dealt with an
employer who made a serious mistake. When interviewers ask
applicants about past experiences, more predictive information
can be obtained than through questions couched in
hypothetical situations. Greater predictive power results from
questions about past experiences because past behavior is
generally a good predictor of future behavior.
Because of the greater predictive ability of behavioral
interviews, more companies are using the approach. Bank
One’s use of the procedure provides a good example. At Bank
One, applicants are informed about how they will be
interviewed. For example, Bank One provides a preparation
sheet that tells applicants that they will be asked about a
specific situation such as, “ ‘How did you help pull your team
together to meet goals?’ ”^39 The same questions are asked of