questions designed to assess creativity and insight. For example, Microsoft interviewers sometimes ask applicants. "Why are manhole covers round? This question has four different, relatively correct answers, each of which allows the interviewer to probe more in different areas Finally, there are no predetermined questions in the unstructured employment interview. The in- terviewer may have a general idea about what she or he wants to leam about the job applicant, but the interview is more spontaneous, more wide ranging in its focus, and more likely to cover a variety of topics. In addition to these basic types, another form of interview has been gaining popularity. A situational interview asks the applicant questions about a specific situation to see how he or she would renet. For example, an interviewer might ask the applicant something like Think back to a situation when a personal conflict between a supervisor and a subordinate was inter- fering with the work of both parties. How did you deal with this conflict? Was the problem resolved? An Unstructured employment interview Involves relatively little advance preparation. The interviewer may have a general idea about what she or he wants to learn about the job applicant but has few or no advance questions that are formally constructed. The situational interview is a type of interview, growing in popularity, in which the interviewer asks the applicant questions about a specific situation to see how the applicant reacts. Afirst-impression error occurs when an interviewer makes a decision too early in the interview process. This error may significantly affect a decision even when subsequent information indicates the first impression may have been wrong A contrast error occurs when the interviewer is unduly influenced by other people who have been interviewed. For example, suppose an interviewer meets with one candidate who is extremely good or extremely bad. The next person interviewed may suffer or benefit by the contrast with this person. In other cases, rather than ask about something that has already hap pened. the interviewer might ask the applicant to imagine a situation that has not yet occurred. In such cases, the interviewer might ask something like: Suppose you had a sub- ordinate who you knew had the abilities to per- form his or her job but who simply chose not to exert any effort on the job. How would you address this prob lem? What kinds of ap- proaches might you try? Research results indi- cate that situational inter- views are better predictors of future job performance than are more traditional interviews. They also change the focus of the interview more explicitly from a KSA approach to a job-fit approach. Interviewers generally prefer unstructured inter- views because they believe these interviews allow them to gather richer information and provide the freedom to make employment decisions on their own. But evidence suggests that structured interviews are much better pre dictors of subsequent job performance (ie., they are more valid or job related) than are unstructured interviews, and situational interviews are even better at predicting future job performance." None of them do as well predicting future performance as some paper-and-pencil tests but only interviews are effective at assessing KSAS such as in- terpersonal skills, and interviews are generally effective at allowing organizations to decide who fits best. For these and other reasons, interviews will con- tinue to be a popular means for making selection deci- sions. Note, however, that the Supreme Court, in Watson Forth Worth Bank & Trust, ruled that interviews used for making selection decisions had the same requirements concerning demonstrating job relatedness as did any other selection technique." As we noted earlier, however, it is more difficult to establish the job relatedness of interviews, partly because of the prevalence of interview errors, Interviewers who make the first-impression error tend to make a decision early in the interview process. For example, the candidate being inter- viewed might arrive a minute or two late or might have a few awkward moments at the beginning of the interview. Such events, in turn, may cause the interviewer to make a negative judgment about that individual, even though later evidence in the inter view may have been more positive, 2. The contrast error occurs when the interviewer is unduly influenced by other people who have been interviewed, For example, suppose an interviewer meets with one candidate who is extremely good or extremely bad. The next person interviewed may suffer or benefit by the contrast with this person the most gardless of personality T selection h to test- grity test nt's moral are fairly Do you they could thing that ss obvious The use of eral million The likeli as the cost y, however, n selection ir accuracy ests, which cond, these "thieves e tests steal plicants find em O as work sks or job the actual dered. For hire a new determined ficient with eyboarding for assess- at the indi orm various soft Office, how s for which e machinist chine under rs or school- ng-arts orga- t exercises, 7-3d Personal Interviews Although tests are popular, the most widely used selection technique in most organizations is the employment inter- view. Interviews have traditionally been defined as face- to-face conversations between prospective job applicants and representatives of the organization." But in our digi tal age, employment interviews are not always technically face to face. Instead, many are done using tools such as Skype, which make it possible to conduct interviews with- out needing the two participants in the same location. As organizations recruit globally to a greater extent, this ability becomes increasingly important. These new tools also pose new issues for interviewers, which we will discuss below In any case, three different types of interviews are commonly encountered. In a structured em ployment interview, the interviewer works from a list of standard questions that are presented to every can- didate, by every interviewer If the questions are based on a careful study of the job (as they should bel, they will be more pertinent than those that many interviewers would generate on their own. Furthermore, it is possible to generate potential answers for these questions, and the interviewer can assign overall grades based on a scoring key. In the semistructured employment interview, major or key questions are decided in advance and pro- vided for each interviewer, but the interviewer is also given the prerogative to ask follow-up questions to probe the interviewee's specific answers For example. popular strategy used in some firms today, espe high-te firms, is to ask challenging and usual Integrity tests attempt to assess an applicant's moral character and honesty sample involve asking the prospective employee to perform tasks or job-related activities that simulate or represent the actual work for which the person is being considered Care special forms of work simulations for prospective managers. They consist of collections of hypothetical memos, letters, and notes that require responses. In the structured employment interview the interviewer either prepares or receives from others a list of standard questions to be asked during the interview. All Interviewers ask the same questions of each candidate to achieve consistency across interviews. Asemistructured employment interview involves advance preparation of major or key questions that all applicants will be asked. However, the interviewer is also given the prerogative to ask additional follow-up questions to probe the interviewee's specific answers