| n Selection Interview n Ranking Interview n Inappropriate Interview Questions n Interview Subjects |
- "Look over" the candidates
- "Test" the candidates
- See how the candidates react "under pressure"
The selection interview is usually less "formal" than the ranking interview.
Usually, the selection interview is a one-on-one meeting: the selecting official, and the
candidate. If a panel interview is used for the actual selection process, the procedures
described for panels in the ranking interview should be followed.
The questions used in the selection interview generally meet the same requirements as the
questions for the ranking interview. Interviewers should be well prepared. They should
review the position description, the job analysis, and available information about the
employee (application, etc.).
The questions and the rating scale should be developed based upon information in the job
analysis. In the selection interview, questions about experience/training that were
covered in the Crediting Plan may be asked if the question is
about quality of experience. For example, the Crediting Plan matches certain
skills pertaining to the position and to the skills the candidate currently possesses; the
selecting official should then interview those candidates in order to further evaluate the
candidate’s quality of experience related to that skill he/she matched up with on the
plan.
It is useful to have a scale by which candidates’ responses are evaluated. This scale
would show "best" response, "good" response, "minimum"
response. This would be used as documenting how the interviewer evaluated each candidate.
It may be easier to assign points to these response as shown below:
BEST = 5 POINTS
GOOD = 3 POINTS
MINIMUM = 1 POINT
The selection interview should be conducted using the same guidelines as pointed out in
the ranking interview:
- Make the candidate comfortable
- Introduce the interviewer, (tell a little about him/her)
- Clarify questions, if needed
- Spend about equal amounts of time with each candidate
- Do not "test" the candidate
- Allow the candidate to ask questions
- Indicate when the candidate will know the results of the interview
DOCUMENTATION
If a job analysis indicates that some KSAs will be evaluated by interview and there is no
evidence of this interview maintained, the documentation for the job analysis is
incomplete. The selection interview is part of the selection process. It must be job
related. There must be some "audit trail" of why one candidate was selected over
another. The method the Personnel Office uses to assure selection interview questions are
job related and that documentation is completed and maintained is a local decision. If a
supervisor has any questions in this regard, he/she should contact
the servicing Personnel Office for information. It is the inteviewer's responsibility to
make sure he/she understands the important role that the selection interview has in the
entire selection process. It is also important to understand the necessity for accurate
documentation of every part of the selection process -- including the interview.
RELATED TOPICS: Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection
Procedures; Merit Promotion Program.
