5.4 Structuring the interview

Introduction and starting

In a panel interview one member will need to take the chair; this person will then be responsible for initiating, controlling and closing the interview. It is also the role of the chair to link and control the contributions of the panel members.
If you are the chair, you should always introduce the panel members to the candidate and explain how the interview will be conducted. A relaxed and skilful lead interviewer will then continue to establish and maintain rapport throughout the exchange with the candidate.

The main body of the interview

Your main objective is to gather information. A practical target is to expect the candidate to talk for 70 per cent of the time. Example 2 describes the kind of conduct to avoid when interviewing.

Example 2: Interview weaknesses

David was really pleased to have been asked to an interview for the job of Project Manager. He spent a lot of time preparing for the interview, finding out more about the organisation in his local library and collating the documentation required, such as qualification certificates, additional references and so on.
On the day of the interview, David arrived early but was not asked into the interview room until 30 minutes after his allotted time. The first thing he was asked to do by a member of the panel was ‘describe your major weaknesses and what you have done to overcome them’. This completely floored David and he struggled to respond. It was not a good start. A second member of the panel quizzed him closely about his fluency in other languages but was sharply reminded by his colleague that it was not that job they were interviewing for. The third member of the panel asked some relevant questions, but all the time David was talking he was looking through a pile of papers on the desk in front of him.
David received a letter a week later offering him the job; he decided not to accept.
Some essential interviewing skills are outlined below.
Effective questioning. The level of detail you require from a question should determine the way you ask it. Some questions have a very broad focus and will stimulate the candidate to talk at length while you look out for specific things you want to check on. When you find something, you can zoom in on it and ask a probing question so that you receive a precise answer (a ‘closed’ question). The skill in questioning is, therefore, to frame your questions to suit your purpose. When you open up a new area of enquiry, you need to use ‘open’ questions that will start the candidate talking. Take care not to make them too broad, especially in the early stages, or you will leave the candidate floundering and wondering what to say. As you identify specific items that you want to concentrate on, you can start to focus your questions using different types as appropriate.
Another common approach is the use of questions about specific incidents from the past that demonstrate the candidate's suitability for the current job. This is sometimes known as behavioural interviewing. Consider approaches to assessing whether someone is a good project manager. You could say to them, ‘Tell me what you know about project management.’ Equally, you could ask, ‘How would you ensure that a project runs to plan?’ The skilful interviewee will take this opportunity to present their wide range of knowledge about project management approaches and techniques, almost textbook fashion. However, does this mean that they are a good project manager in practice? An alternative approach would be to ask them about actual instances when they have managed projects and what they did to ensure the success of the project. For example, a question such as ‘Tell me about the most complex project you have had to manage in the past’ will open up the discussion. You could then listen for cues to probe specifically what they contributed to that project in order to assess their project management skills. The interviewee might say, ‘There was one particular project that was really difficult as we were working to such tight deadlines, but we met them.’ The interviewer's probing question would be something like, ‘What did you do personally to ensure that the deadlines were met?’ The probing is used to elicit actual examples of what someone has done in the past to show they are skilled in a particular area. This can be much more effective than asking hypothetical questions that only test a person's knowledge.
Some examples of questions you might ask in relation to other aspects of managerial jobs are set out in Table 2.
Table 2: Examples of behavioural questions for managerial jobs

Aspect of job	Possible questions
Developing staff	What has been your most satisfying experience in the past of developing a staff member? What did you do specifically to achieve it?
Managing conflict	Tell me about a time when you have had to mediate in a conflict between two people. What did you do?
Representing your group or organisation	What has been the most difficult representational role you have had to perform in the past? How did you ensure that the best interests of the group/organisation were safeguarded?

There are some general points about interview questions:

· The questions should be capable of eliciting information that is relevant to success or failure at work.

· They should not be random or overlapping; rather, they should be comprehensive, grouped in an organised way and clearly distinguishable.

· Similar areas of questioning should be used for all candidates.

· The questions should allow you to compare each candidate with the job/person specification.

We have been looking at examples of questions about the job itself, but how can you assess the degree of fit between the person and the organisation, as discussed previously? Box 7 provides some examples of questions related to fit with the organisation which you might find useful.

Box 7: Examples of organisation fit questions

1.                      Could you compare the cultures of the organisations where you have worked before and say how the differences affected your behaviour at work?

2.                      Where were you happiest at work? (followed by) What was it about the place that made you feel like this?

3.                      Why did you decide to join each of the organisations you have worked for?

4.                      What factors will cause you to decide whether or not to leave your current employer?

5.                      How is your effectiveness measured in your present job?

6.                      How do you cope with working in teams?

7.                      What are the things you have regretted leaving behind at places where you have worked in the past?

(Source: based on Billsberry, 2000, pp. 156–7)

Controlling the flow of the interview. This is the second key interview skill: the ability to keep a candidate talking about the things you need to know about. Different kinds of interview require different levels of control. A good interviewer can adjust their style to the particular circumstances of the interview while it is in progress. To be able to control the direction and flow of the interview so that it corresponds closely with the plan, an interviewer needs to be aware of the control mechanisms available. These can be the types of questions asked and encouraging sounds and body language, such as maintaining eye contact, sitting forward, nodding and smiling as appropriate.
Using listening skills. Your third essential skill is active listening. This means you need to concentrate, give all your attention to someone and, where appropriate, summarise and reflect on what they say. Be aware of factors – personal and environmental – that can interfere with your ability to receive and interpret signals, such as noise outside the room, room temperature and clarity of speech.
Evaluating the information. Your fourth skill is concerned with assessing what you hear from the candidate. As the interview proceeds you will need to be assessing whether the answers to your questions are producing useful evidence of job suitability, or are superficial and raise doubts about suitability.