What are the 3 types of interviews?

What are the 3 types of interviews?

What are the 3 types of interviews you can conduct to hire the best talent?

In this blog post, we list three interview methods. Then we discuss what you can do as an employer to incorporate these types of interviews into your hiring process to secure the best talent for the role.

The three types of job interviews we will uncover in this blog post are:

• Situational job interviews
• Competency job interviews
• Behavioural job interviews.

Before we look into these let’s cover some of the basics…

reworking video interview header questions

What is the purpose of job interviews?

If you’re new to recruiting and don’t know where to start, it's a useful idea to go right back to the basics of hiring talent.

So why are interviews the standard practice in the recruitment process?

Good interview skills are a crucial factor to find the right people. The more you know about the key aspects of interviewing, you’ll gain an understanding of what it takes to have a successful interview. Therefore, the better your chances of success of hiring the best candidate.

Hiring smart, hard-working people can strengthen a team's capabilities and increase the company's overall productivity.

Reasons to conduct a job interview

Job interviews are a way for employers to get to know the person they are thinking of employing and decide if that person is right for the position. Let’s look at this in more detail:

1.    Evaluating work experience

When interviewing for open positions, you can get a sense of their qualifications by asking the right questions. This is also a chance to see what level of industry knowledge they have and whether or not they're qualified for the position. Candidates who are a good fit for your company will have the background you're looking for. Their responses in the interview could help reveal this. One of the things HR professionals do is help identify what skills a candidate has and if there are any gaps needed to be filled.

2.    Introducing the candidate to the company

When you're interviewing someone, consider introducing them to the leaders of your organisation as well. This can either help you figure out how they might act when they're around people they don't know, or it can help you get a good idea of how well they'll fit in with your company's culture.

3.    Assess the hard and soft skills of your candidates

It's important to assess the competency of a candidate in order to determine whether they're right for your team. You could ask questions that probe their communication, problem-solving, and teamwork experience. For positions that require technical skills, add a competency test to validate the skills required to perform the desired tasks.

4.    See which candidates are the best fit for you

Based on what candidates tell you during interviews, you can learn a lot about their experience, skills and qualifications. Hiring the right people can help your company do better. This may help you sift through applicants and advance the right people to the next stage of your hiring process. It can also make recruitment a lot quicker and help fill vacancies at your company.

5.    Define the company’s expectations for the role

During interviews, you should clarify what the role entails, the company's expectations for it and various other requirements. This is to determine if a candidate is interested in the position and thinks they'll fit in. Some additional information you can ask about:

• Duties and responsibilities
• The leader to which they would report
• Example of daily life in the position
• Typical work schedule

Interview Techniques and Their Functions

The purpose of job interviews is to find out more about the candidate, their views and experience, personality, skills and qualifications. The interview gives the employer an opportunity to see how well the candidate would fit in with the company's team and culture.

Interviewers will usually ask questions about previous job experience. Reasons why the candidate wants the job. What are the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses? And why the candidate wants the job.

Successful interviewers ask candidates questions that give deeper insights into how they will perform in the role.

Now let’s look at some of the most common types of interviews that you can schedule with your candidates.

1. Face-to-Face Interviews?

Face-to-face interviews are one of the most popular ways for employers to recruit new employees. They provide a more personal touch and allow the interviewer to get a better understanding of the candidate’s personality and skills.

The interview is usually conducted in a private room with only two people present. The interviewer will ask questions about the candidate’s education, previous work experience, skills, and interests.

The interviewer will probe deeper into different areas of interest depending on what they see as relevant to their company or position.

A face-to-face interview can take up to an hour or more if there are other aspects that need to be covered.

Benefits of Face-to-Face Interviews

Face-to-face interviews are a great way to get the most accurate and in-depth information. They also provide an opportunity to make connections with the interviewee, which is not possible with phone interviews.

The interviewer can look for nonverbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions, which are not possible when interviewing over the phone. This can help them understand the person’s reactions better and detect any inconsistencies in what they say.

2. Phone interview for a job

A phone interview is a type of job interview that takes place over the phone. It is typically the first stage in the process of getting a job. Phone interviews are often used when there are many applicants for one position, and it is not possible to speak to each applicant individually.

The interviewer will typically ask questions about your resume, work experience and skills, as well as questions about your availability and salary requirements. Phone interviews are also used by companies who want to hire someone quickly.

Benefits of Telephone Interviews

Phone interviews are a great way to get a feel for the candidate. It is also a good alternative if you have not been able to find the person you are looking for.

There are many benefits to conducting phone interviews. One of the most important benefits is that it saves time and money. Phone interviews also allow you to screen candidates before they come in for an interview, which can save time and money on travel costs.

Another benefit of phone interviews is that it can be done at any time, anywhere with an internet connection or cellular service. This allows people who work from home or remote offices to interview candidates as well as people who live across the country from where they work.

The last benefit of phone interviewing is that it can be done without having any face-to-face

3. Video Call Interviews

Video interviews are a type of job interview conducted through video conferencing software.

The interviewer and interviewee are in different locations and communicate through video.

One way video interviews or pre-recorded

Some video interviews are one way. This means only the candidate is participating in the video. This is where they are sent a link to then open up their interview which is a bunch od interview questions on screen. Candidates then have to record themselves answering each of these questions. When finished the recording gets sent to the recruiter.

Two way video interviews or live video interviews

This is where both the candidate and interviewer are in a live video call. It’s just like a face-to-face interview but over a video call in two separate remote locations.

Benefits of Video Interviews

Video interviews are a great way to get to know the candidate better and make sure you select the right person for the job. Video interviews are also a good way to save time and money, which is especially important for companies with a lot of remote employees.

They offer many benefits that make them ideal for both employers and employees alike. They allow employers to save money on travel expenses by interviewing candidates in their own office or home.

Video conferencing interviews also offer benefits for the employee because they can be scheduled at any time of day. Excellent for interviewing passive candidates who don't have to take time off from work.

Reworking Video Interview Across Multiple Devices

What are the 3 types of interviews?

Below we will look at the 3 types of job interviews you can implement into your hiring strategy.

1. Situational interviews

Situational interview questions is an interview technique in which the interviewer poses a series of situational questions to the interviewee. The goal of this technique is to assess how well the interviewee can respond to a variety of situations.

The Situational Interview

• The format: The situation interview is an interview style that asks ‘what if’ questions. Since there are many possible work scenarios, they can be difficult for candidates to prepare for.
• Typical questions: “What the team member's work falls short in, how do you suggest they could fix it?” Or “Your supervisor or someone with a higher position than you ask you to handle a problem in a particular way but it goes against your personal feelings. What do you do?”
• How to tackle: All situational interviews are geared towards finding out the three core pieces of information we need. The most important factor to consider before going through with a job offer is whether or not your values are in line with the company's culture. Second, what are your best practices for handling problems in the workplace? Third, how do you handle change?

Reworking Colleague Interview Collaboration

2. Competency-based interviews

A competency-based interview is a type of interview that evaluates the skills and abilities of the candidate. The interviewer will ask questions about things like teamwork, leadership, and other relevant skills.

Behavioural interview questions are asked to understand the way a candidate works and their potential team fit. Competency interview questions are asked to assess the specific skills and knowledge a candidate possesses that are relevant to the job. The former is based on your organisation’s values and way of operating, whereas the latter is based on the key criteria and job description for the specific role you are recruiting.

The competency-based interview

• The format:
• Competency-based interviews are a great way to assess the skills and abilities of your candidates.
• Typical questions: “Describe a past time when you used your analytical skills to make an informed decision”
• How to tackle: Competency-based interviews often include questions about the candidate's previous experience and technical knowledge. By looking for a demonstration of their skills, you can see whether or not they are right for the role. When a person cannot answer competency questions, they might not have had the experience. When this is the case, look for an answer where they can think well on their feet.

3. Behavioural interviews

A behavioural questions interview is a type of interview in which the interviewer tries to find out about the past behaviour of the candidate. It is based on the idea that past behaviour is a good predictor of future behaviour.

Behavioural questions are usually open-ended, meaning they don't have a set answer and are designed to get a conversation going between the interviewer and interviewee. They usually start with "tell me about..." or "give an example when you..."

The Behavioural Interview

• The format: Behavioural interviews are a widely-accepted way of assessing candidates for jobs by asking about their past actions and judging their future intent on the basis of those past actions. They work on the premise that applicants' behaviour in similar situations in the past would also be repeated in similar situations going forward.
• Typical questions: “Give an example of a time when you did something that failed in your role. How did you learn from it?”
• How to tackle: Use the T.A.R. technique. Read our post here on the STAR technique and how you can use it in your interviewing.

Conclusion

Interviews are an important part of recruitment. They allow you to probe the competency, integrity and suitability of a candidate. And by asking behavioural, competency and situational interview questions, you can determine the qualities they may possess if they were to become employed by your organisation.

We hope you found our answers to the question, “What are the 3 types of interviews” useful!