- consulting with a supervisor (where possible) or peers, to clarify pre- or
post-interview issues.
Selection, recruitment or employment interview
In what follows we shall use the term “selection interview” to designate all types of
interview that are used for recruitment or promotion in any organization.
The selection interview may be structured in various ways, according to the intentions of
the recruiter or human resources specialist involved in the process of hiring or promotion.
In general, the questions included in the promotion interview target both aspects of the
job and personal. Lately, a series of highly standardized instruments have been developed
that are complementary to the interview and oriented towards competences considered
critical for work performance: Flanagan's Critical Incident Technique (1957), followed
by BARS – Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales and Kelly's Repertory Grid (Stewart and
Stewart, 1981).
The recruitment interview, as a particular aspect of the selection interview, is an
instrument that acts like a filter for the identification of suitable persons for a given
position (open or newly created). The interview allows human resource decision-makers
to gather information about a candidate, within a direct communication relationship (face
to face or over the phone). The interview thus becomes an evaluation method considering
those aspects of the candidate’s personality that are directly related to the specificity of
the position: intellectual capacities, scientific information and operational professional
competences, motivation, interests, etc.
The interview may last from half an hour to several hours (not more than two-three in
general).
Depending on how the questions are organized, interviews can be formal or informal. The
formal ones are characterized by a high degree of structure, they may be carried out by a
single person or a committee, in an official context, at an appointed time. Informal or
unofficial interviews are characterized by a more relaxed atmosphere, and are usually
based on a discussion between the candidate and one person in the organization. The
questions are usually open and oriented towards personality traits, aspirations, and future
plans of the client.
The career counsellor’s role is to prepare / train the client in view of a successful
recruitment interview. There is a series of information which even though does not
guarantee success in an interview, helps clients form a general impression on the
recruitment process and especially control their nervousness or anxiety. It is
recommended that aside from informing clients with respect to the stages of an interview,