Objectives of Employment Interview or Selecting Interview

The prime objective of employment interview is to assess the suitability of candidates for a particular job. It has some other purposes also. The objectives of selection interviews are mentioned below- Business Communication

To find out the most suitable candidates for the job

To give the candidates sufficient information about the job and the company so that they can decide whether the job will suit them

To inform the candidates about the mission, vision, goals, corporate culture, policies, values etc.

To create a sense of confidence and understanding in the selected candidates

To unearth the attitude, views, interests and enthusiasm of candidates towards the job and toward the company

To promote the goodwill of the company by giving the right kind of impression to all the candidates

To test the knowledge, skill and aptitude of the candidates

Types of Employment Interview

Interviews are conducted by using different techniques. Organizations use selection interview technique that they think well. A few basic techniques of employment interview or selection interview are discussed below-

Screening: When the number of applicants for any job is very large, most of the firms screen the applications to weed out unsuitable candidates. Then some more candidates are eliminated through a preliminary interview. Only very few candidate who are really good are called for the final interview.

Random Appearance: Some interviews will believe that the man is more important than the application. They want to judge a man by his personal appearance rather than on the basis of his application. So they call every application for interview. This method is very helpful to select brilliant candidate, but it is usually expensive and time-consuming.

Test: Now-a-days a large number of firms emphasize on taking written or oral test to judge intelligence, general knowledge, proficiency in language etc. of the candidate. Candidates who qualify these are invited for final interview.

Experience: Some employers believe that practical experience is more important than paper qualifications. So they do not call fresh candidates for interview. This is not a sound policy because some fresher are really brilliant, enthusiastic and committed.

Stress Interview: This is a special type of interview used to ascertain how a candidate will prove himself under conditions of exceptional stress and strain. Here the candidate is exposed to embarrassing questions and provoked in various ways to find out whether he is able to manage or work with such conditions. This kind of interview is useful to select candidates for the posts that require great presence of mind and calmness of temperament.

Depth Interview: Depth interview is such types of interview where the candidates are screened form various aspects. In this interview candidate’s academic qualifications, working experience, health condition, aptitude, stress etc. are considered overall. It is an expensive and lengthy interviewing method.