Additional selection interviews are even more stressful for the candidates.
Situation or Performance Interview
In situation or performance interviews, candidates may be asked to role play one of the job functions. This is done to assess specific skills. Candidates can be given a specific, hypothetical situation or problem. They areasked how they would handle it or to describe a potential solution. This can prove to be difficult if the interviewer does not provide enough information in order for the candidate to recommend a solution or a course of action. This type of interview is used to select candidates for a job opening for Customer Service Representative in a department or discount store.
Audition Interview
Audition interviews workwell for positions in whichcompanies want to see a candidate in action before they make a hiring decision. Interviewers may take the candidate through a simulation or brief exercise in order to evaluate the candidate's skills. This allows a candidate to demonstrate his/her abilities in interactive ways that are familiar to the candidate. The simulations and exercises should give a candidate a simplified sense of what the applied for position requires. This type of interview works wellfor job openings for computer programmers, trainers, welders, and mechanics.
Stress Interview
A stress interview is generally intended to put the candidate under stress and assess their reactions under pressure or in difficult situations. A candidate may be held in the waiting room for an hour before the interviewer greets her.The candidatemay face long silences or cold stares. The interviewer may openly challengethe interviewee'sbeliefs or judgement. They may askthe candidateto perform an impossible task on the fly, such as, convincing the interviewer to exchange shoes with the candidate. Insults, rudeness and miscommunication are very common. All of this is supposed to be designed to see whether or not the candidate has what it takes to withstand the company culture, the company's clients or any other possible stress.
I haveexperienced a stressinterview. I did not care for this type of interview at all. I am usually calm and self confident in most types of interviews. I did try to turn this interview around to my benefit. But finally, I asked the interviewer if this is representative of how they conduct their company business. Needless to say, the interviewer did not like that question. I can not fathom why anyone would want to work for a company that puts you through the hoops like this.
Behavioral Interview
Many companies are increasingly using the behavioral interview. They use a candidate's previous behavior to indicate their future performance. Depending on the responsibilities of the position and the working conditions, a candidate may be asked to describe a situation that required problem solving skills, adaptability, leadership, conflict resolution, multi-tasking, initiative or stress management. The interviewer wants to know how the candidate handled these types of situations.
There are several types of behavioral interviews. See page 4 for more.
