The Validity of Interviews - Paper Example

Introduction

Interviews are an essential component of the employee recruitment process. The successful employment of a new human resource in an organization is preceded by an interview which seeks to establish the competencies and skills of any individual. The validity of interviews used in the selection process is assessed based on their effectiveness and focuses on the accuracy of the tool in forecasting a person's performance at work (Hamdani, Valcea & Buckley, 2014). A valid interview enhances the probability of choosing the right fit for the job opening. On the other hand, an interview would be invalid if it does not follow the due process and fails to improve the chances of selecting the best individual for the vacant role. The validity and reliability are dependent on the type of interview format used, the design and execution of the inquiry session during the recruitment process (Hamdani et al., 2014).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

An interview is a selection tool used in the recruitment process to determine an individual's performance through oral responses to various questions. The discussions ensure that the process is two-way by allowing the applicants to ask questions regarding the potential employer, thus learning more about the company (Hamdani et al., 2014). Employment interviews also provide a negotiation platform whereby, essential aspects of the job such as training and remuneration details are elaborated. Companies most commonly use interviews due to their flexibility in assessing a wide range of competencies and intuitive appeal. Studies show that 90% of organizations in the United Kingdom and the United States of America use interviews in the employee selection process (McDaniel, Whetzel, Schmidt & Maurer, 2014).

Larger firms use interviews as part of a set of selection tools to assess potential employees while small and medium-sized companies rely mostly on interviews only. Smaller enterprises and start-ups may have financial constraints, thus settling for the use of interviews since it is a cheap way of sourcing for performance-oriented employees. Firms do not have to source for expert interview panelists, but instead, rely on their staff in managerial positions and the human resource department to undertake the selection process. In most instances, interviews in medium organizations are conducted by a manager from the department with a vacant position and the head of human resources. Employment interviews are either structured or unstructured. The former refers to an inquiry that is conducted using a specific set of questions that are pre-determined. The latter is an interviewing format where questions are asked based on the responses given by the interviewee. The interviewer makes a follow-up on points of interest by probing the answers further.

The nature of structured interviews makes them more valid and reliable than those that use the unstructured format due to the following factors. Structured interviews should be designed using elements such as; questions based on the job analysis, asking all the applicants the same issues in a similar format, minimize further probing on responses, adopt Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) and use a panel of interviewers among others (Aomodt, Brecher, Kutcher & Bragger, 2006). The use of a high degree of a particular element of structure enhances reliability and in turn, increases the validity of the employment interview. The questions used in a structured encounter are established based on the content of the competency assessment worksheet and the human resource scorecard of the organization (Aomodt et al., 2006). They are also highly related to the job, thus enhancing the chances of hiring the best match for the open role. It is essential to note that the two evaluation tools are designed in line with the requirements and skills necessary for the current job opening. Therefore, the interviewer is likely to select the right person for the role based on the information gathered during the inquiry.

Large organizations in most scenarios use structured formats to conduct interviews to ensure that they assess the interviewee's competence level and collect as much information as they can during the inquiry process (Huffcutt, Culbertson & Weyhrauch, 2014). Also, the competency assessment worksheet varies based on the complexity of the job. For instance, a technical role such as a mechanical engineer is assessed differently compared to others such as a customer service assistant. The human resource department must ensure that the right skills, attitude, and abilities required for the job are highlighted in the competency assessment worksheet to enhance the validity of an employment interview (Huffcutt et al., 2014). The interviewer should also be keen to ascertain the applicant's qualification based on the responses. Structured interviews are a better way of predicting an individual's job performance compared to unstructured formats.

Interviews that use the unstructured format are less valid and reliable compared to those that are structured due to the nature of the inquiry. The questions are based on the interviewee's responses and as such, the interviewer may not get detailed information regarding the applicant's competencies. Choosing the right individual for the job is often difficult when using an unstructured interview format since the inquiry may not correspond to the competency evaluation sheet and the figures filled on the scorecard may be inaccurate (Judge, Higgins & Cable, 2000). The interviewer is also allowed to ask any questions irrespective of whether they are valid. If the interviewing panel does not understand the applicant's reasoning and thought process based on their responses, then the employment interview may not yield the expected result and as such it is invalid (Judge et al., 2000).

Small and medium-sized companies often use unstructured formats when undertaking an employment interview. They also rely on biodata collected from application forms filled by the interviewees before the interview session. To enhance their chances of selecting the right match for the job opening, companies that use unstructured interview formats ought to gather adequate information regarding the interviewee's prior employment and the knowledge, skills, and abilities they possess (Judge et al., 2000). Using unstructured interview formats is not a direct guarantee that an organization may not get the best candidate for the job. However, such companies must go the extra mile of probing the applicant's responses further based on the job requirements and points of interest.

The validity of employment interviews can be affected by various biases arising from using human judges. Human bias stems from issues such as an applicant's race, attractiveness, sex and use of cues to communicate (Aomodt et al., 2006). The decision of the interview panel is likely to be influenced by other factors that affect the credibility and validity of the inquiry process. They include; disqualifying a candidate based on the first impression they make, selecting an applicant due to their personality other than the credentials and competency levels required of them at the place of work. For instance, if an interviewer develops a negative attitude towards an applicant, at first sight, the outcome of the interview process will be profoundly compromised by the interviewer's misconception and misjudgment.

Similarly, the development of a liking feeling towards an interviewee may compromise the company's ability to choose the right individual for the job since the interviewer already has a preference even before conducting the interview. A study aimed at establishing the presence of bias in interviews found that interviewers were undeniably biased against unattractive and overweight candidates (Aomodt et al., 2006). Selection bias was also evident when comparing gender whereby, the female applicants had a lower chance of clinching the job compared to their male counterparts (Aomodt et al., 2006). When using human judges in face to face interview sessions, it is essential for an organization to rely on a panel of judges whose ethical standards are topnotch and cannot be questioned. Companies must ensure that the interviewers are reliable and are guided by a predetermined performance level to ascertain the validity of employment interviews conducted by human panelists.

The effect of human biases is most likely evident in conversations that use the unstructured format since the interviewer is at will to ask any questions. Designing a framework that controls the panelist's line of questioning is crucial in selecting the best employee from the pool of applicants. Also, it enhances the reliability of the results arrived at by the interviewers and saves the company time that would otherwise be wasted on asking and responding to irrelevant queries. The use of a structured framework enhances the interview by increasing the psychometric properties and standardization of the questions. Large organizations understand the impact human biases would have on the interview outcome, and as such rely on the structured format and other selection tools to reduce chances of employing an incompetent person as a result of an interviewer's wrong judgment.

Primacy effects also influence the validity of interviews. This refers to the adverse impact of availing applicants' information to the interviewers before the interview session or during its onset (Judge et al., 2000). The impression created by the interviewer with the details regarding the candidates dominates their perception and influences decision making. The situation compromises the validity of the interview since the interviewer will not be objective when conducting the inquiry, but instead will be on a mission to ascertain the impressions perceived towards each interviewee. According to Judge, Higgins, and Cable (2000), interview panelists make final decisions regarding an applicant within 4 minutes of a half an hour interview session. Interviewers who perceive a candidate positively exert more effort to recommend them to the company and those with a negative first impression are even less interested in listening to the job seeker. Such influence on the interviewer's judgment affects the organization's ability to get the best candidate to fill the vacant position.

The reliability of the interviewers' judgment can be compromised by their poor ability to recall. For instance, in a case where the candidates under inquiry are many, the panelists are likely to remember very little about the people interviewed first. This will, in turn, affect the validity of the interview since the interviewers may not select the right individual for the job. It is essential to take notes of the applicant's responses during the inquiry and record every question's score using the competency assessment worksheet and the human resource scorecard to avoid the invalidation of the interview process due to the manager's poor memory (Rupasinghe & Shujan, 2016).

Conclusion

In conclusion, interviews are indeed the most commonly used tool during the employee selection process in organizations. The validity of an employment interview is determined by the format adopted in its execution and the reliability of the interviewers. Other factors that affect the validity of recruitment interviews include primacy effects, bias arising from the use of human judges and their reduced ability to recall. The adoption of structured formats in conducting an interview enhances its validity by improving the credibility of the panelists' decision on the choice of the best candidate. Organizations should, therefore, endeavor to use a structured interview framework to ensure that the validity and reliability of the entire process are ascertained and not compromised....