Three Types of Interviews Interviewing is the most commonly used employee selection technique. Interviews take several forms and can be conducted in person or digitally. This activity is important because understanding the different types of interviews and how/when to use each helps managers use this tool to better predict which of their job candidates will be the best performers.
The goal of this exercise is to challenge your knowledge of the three main types of employee interviews.
Read each statement to determine if it is a characteristic of an unstructured interview, a situational interview, or a behavior-description interview. If the statement does not characterize one of the three types of interviews, select "Does not apply."
1. May provide a more accurate assessment of an applicant’s job-related personality traits than other types of interviews
(Click to select) Behavioral-description interview Situational interview Does not apply Unstructured interview
2. Should be avoided in favor of other types of interviews
(Click to select) Does not apply Behavioral-description interview Unstructured interview Situational interview
3. Asks candidates questions that focus on hypothetical situations
(Click to select) Behavioral-description interview Unstructured interview Does not apply Situational interview
4. Each applicant’s conversation with the interviewer is different; can feel more like an ordinary, informal conversation than a job interview
(Click to select) Situational interview Does not apply Unstructured interview Behavioral-description interview
5. Attempts to learn how employees have dealt with workplace situations in the past
(Click to select) Situational interview Unstructured interview Does not apply Behavioral-description interview
6. Has been found to be poor for employee morale once an applicant who has been through this type of interview accepts the job
(Click to select) Unstructured interview Behavioral-description interview Situational interview Does not apply
7. Might become overly subjective and interviewers’ biases are likely to influence their perceptions of candidates’ responses.
(Click to select) Does not apply Behavioral-description interview Unstructured interview Situational interview
8. An example question would be "How would you respond if two employees came to you asking for a raise, and you knew you could only give a raise to one of them?"
(Click to select) Behavioral-description interview Situational interview Unstructured interview Does not apply
9. An example question would be "Tell me about a time that you had to say ‘no’ to an employee’s request in the past. How did you handle it, and what would you do differently if you could go back in time?"
(Click to select) Behavioral-description interview Unstructured interview Does not apply Situational interview
10. Attempts to figure out how applicants would respond if they were to encounter a given situation on the job
(Click to select) Situational interview Behavioral-description interview Does not apply Unstructured interview
11. Asks candidates questions that focus on things they have done in previous jobs
(Click to select) Unstructured interview Does not apply Situational interview Behavioral-description interview
12. Vulnerable to legal action from candidates because questions can easily veer into non-job-related territory such as disability, family status, or diversity