Interviews

Interviews

1. Definition

   • Is essentially a structured conversation where one participant asks questions
   • and the other provides answers.

2. Interview Types

   • Traditional Interview
     • the job candidate is asked a series of questions that are fairly generic.
     • and possibly a few behavioral questions related to the job
     • After this interview, if you are being considered, you would be invited back for 1-2 more interviews.
   • Serial Interview
     • This type of interview consists of a series of interviews on the same day.
     • If you are scheduled for an interview from 1-3:30, you may have 5 half-hour interviews with individual people.
     • Each interviewer will most likely ask you different questions.
   • Behavioral Interviews
     • Are designed to provide the interviewer with information about how you think and behave in situations.
     • Hiring managers are interested in your method of thinking and going about doing a task as well as how you respond in difficult situations.
     • An effective way to answer is the STAR Method: Situation, Task, Action, Results.

3. Procedures

   • Define Who You’re Trying to Hire
     • Start with the basics: the role name, the department, and who the person will report to. Then be sure to consider the business objectives of making this hire.
     • Finally, consider what you expect the person to accomplish in their first year in the role.
   • Decide How You’ll Evaluate Candidates
     • Once you’ve defined what the role looks like within your company, you can decide how you’ll evaluate the candidate.
     • It might help to begin with a few general categories like basic requirements (e.g., visa status, location), necessary hard and soft skills (project management, proficiency in a particular software).
   • Outline the Interview Process
     • In this final step, you’ll design the actual interview plan. This is where you’ll match each stage of the interview to a particular set of criteria.
     • The number and types of interviews you conduct will vary depending on your organization and the specific role

4. Analyzing qualitative interview data

   • Thematic content analysis
     • It aims to find common patterns across a data set. It usually follows these steps:
     • Getting familiar with the data (reading and re-reading). Coding (labeling) the whole text. Searching for themes with broader patterns of meaning.
     • Reviewing themes to make sure they fit the data. Defining and naming themes. The write-up (creating a coherent narrative that includes quotes from the interviewees).
   • Narrative analysis
     • This approach is becoming increasingly popular, especially in social sciences. As the name suggests, it is about making sense of stories. It can follow these steps:
     • Gather the stories. Analyze each story and look for insights and meanings. Compare and contrast different stories; look for interpretations. Create a new story that connects the previous ones in a novel and insightful way.

5. Purpose of an interview

   • Your objective is to get an offer of a job, and the employer's objective is to find out the following
   • The interview is a vital step to obtaining a career position and often depends on your skills in marketing your potential
   • Your goal is to present yourself as the best candidate for the position and also to learn more about the position and the interviewer's organization to determine whether both are well suited for you and your career goals.

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