Human Resource Management

Arab World Edition

Gary Dessler & Akram Al Ariss

Instructor’s Manual

Adapted by Dr. Victor Sohmen

Drexel University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

With

Translating Strategy Into HR Policies and Practices: The KAMCO Case

model answers provided by Dmytro Roman Kulchitsky, Ph.D. and Mr.
Ramsey Awwad
American University of Kuwait
 This part in your main source
“textbook’’ from page 158 to page 181.
PART TWO RECRUITMENT AND PLACEMENT

C H A P T E R T S e v e n

Interviewing
Candidates
7
Lecture Outline
Strategic Overview
Basic Features of Interviews
Types of Interviews
Structured Versus. Unstructured Interviews
Interview Content (Types of Questions)
Administering the Interview
Are Interviews Useful?
What Can Undermine an Interview’s Usefulness?
First Impressions (Snap Judgments) In Brief: This chapter gives an
Misunderstanding the Job overview of types of interviews and
Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error and Pressure to their features. It discusses common
Hire
mistakes in interviewing, and
Non-Verbal Behavior and Impression Management
Effect of Personal Characteristics such as
outlines effective interviewing
Attractiveness and Gender techniques from the views of both
Interviewer Behavior interviewer and interviewee.
Designing and Conducting an Effective Interview
The Structured Situational Interview Interesting Issues: While structured
How to Conduct a More Effective Interview interviews have been shown to be
more valid than non-structured ones,
some managers tend to resist
structured interviews in favor of
trusting their own skills as an
interviewer.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. List the main types of selection interviews.

2. Explain and illustrate at least six factors that affect the usefulness of interviews.
3. Explain and illustrate each guideline for being a more effective interviewer.
4. Effectively interview a job candidate.

ANNOTATED OUTLINE

I. Basic Features of Interviews

A. An interview is a procedure designed to obtain information from a person

through oral responses to oral inquiries

B. Types of Interviews include: appraisal interviews, exit

interviews, and selection interviews. This chapter focuses on
selection interviews.

1. Structured vs. Unstructured Interviews – Unstructured or

nondirective interviews generally have no set format.
Structured or directive interviews generally identify
questions and all applicants are asked the same
questions. Sometimes acceptable responses are
specified in advance and the responses are rated for
appropriateness of content. Structured and unstructured
interviews each have pros and cons.

2. Interview Content (Types of Questions) – Interviews can

be classified according to the nature or content of their
questions, such as situational interviews, job-related
interviews, behavioral interviews, and stress interviews.
Puzzle questions are also popular today, and are used
to see how candidates think under pressure.

C. Administering the Interview

1. One-on-one Interviews – Tend to be one-on-one where

two people meet alone and one interviews the other by
seeking oral responses to oral inquiries. Frequently,
candidates are interviewed by several persons
sequentially

2. Unstructured sequential interview – Each interviewer may ask

different questions.

3. Structured sequential interview – Each interviewer rates the

candidates on a standard evaluation form, using standardized
questions.

4. Panel Interviews – Occur when a group (panel) of

interviewers questions the candidate together. A mass
interview is where a panel interviews several candidates
simultaneously.
 5. Phone and Video Interviews – Are often conducted
entirely by phone. Technology has also made
interviewing by videoconferencing possible, saving time
and travel costs.

6. Computerized Interviews – Involve computers

administering the interview. Typically the questions are
presented in a multiple-choice format, one at a time, and
the applicant is expected to respond to the questions on
the screen by pressing a key.

7. Internet-Assisted Interviews – Utilize PC video cameras

to conduct interviews online via Webcasts.

8. Pros and Cons – Computerized interviews can save time

for managers interviewing unacceptable candidates. On
the other hand computers can screen out deserving
candidates, as well being impersonal and lacking in
judgment.

D. Are Interviews Useful? – Studies confirm that the validity of

interviews is greater than previously thought. Structured
interviews are more valid than unstructured interviews for
predicting job performance. Some traits, however, are not
able to be accurately assessed in an interview.

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

II. What Can Undermine An Interview’s Usefulness?

A. First Impressions (Snap Judgments) – One of the most

consistent findings is that interviewers tend to jump to
conclusions about candidates during the first few minutes of
the interview.

B. Misunderstanding the Job – Interviewers who don’t know

precisely what the job entails and what sort of candidate is
best suited for it usually make their decisions based on
incorrect or incomplete stereotypes of what a good applicant
is.

C. Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error and Pressure to Hire –

Means that the order in which you see applicants affects
how you rate them. Pressure to Hire can undermine an
interview’s usefulness.

D. Nonverbal Behavior and Impression Management – Can

have a surprisingly large impact on an applicant’s rating.
Some interviewers may try to infer the interviewee’s
personality from vocal and visual cues such as energy level,
voice modulation and level of extraversion. Ingratiation,
agreeing with the interviewer’s opinions, and self-promotion
 to create an impression of competence are used by clever
interviewees to manage the impression they present.

E. Effect of Personal Characteristics such as Attractiveness

and Gender – Interviewers have to guard against letting an
applicant’s attractiveness, gender, and race play a role in
their rating.

F. Interviewer Behavior - Telegraphing refers to the interviewer

inadvertently evoking the expected answers. Some
interviewers are simply unable to formulate decent
questions, while others are gifted at drawing out the best in
interviewees.

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

III. Designing and Conducting an Effective Interview

A. The Structured Situational Interview Procedure – A series of job-oriented

questions with predetermined answers that interviewers ask of all
applicants for the job. Structured employment interviews using either
situational questions or behavioural questions tend to yield high
validities.

1. Job Analysis

2. Rate the Job’s Duty

3: Create Interview Questions

4: Create Benchmark Answers

5: Appoint the Interview Panel and Conduct Interviews.

B. How to Conduct a More Effective Interview

1. Structure Your Interview – a) base questions on job

duties; b) use specific job-knowledge, situational, or
behaviorally-oriented questions and objective criteria to
evaluate the interviewee’s responses; c) train
interviewers; d) use the same questions with all
candidates; e) use rating scales to rate answers; f) use
multiple interviewers or panel interviews; g) design
questions that reduce subjectivity, inaccurate
conclusions, and bias; h) use a structured interview
form; i) control the interview; and j) take brief,
unobtrusive notes.

2. Prepare for the Interview – The interview should take

place in a private room where interruptions can be
 minimized. Prior to the interview, the interviewer should
review the candidate’s application and resume, as well
as the job duties and required skills and traits. Most
interviews probably fail to unearth the best candidate
because the interviewer is unprepared, overconfident, or
just plain lazy.

3. Establish Rapport – The interviewer should put the

interviewee at ease so he/she can find out the necessary
information about the interviewee. Start the interview
with a non-controversial question. Studies show that
people who feel more self-confident about their
interviewing skills perform better in interviews.

4. Ask Questions – The interviewer should follow the

interview guide (See Box 7-2: Suggested Supplementary
Questions for Interviewing Applicants).

5. Close the Interview – Leave time to answer any

questions the candidate may have and, if appropriate,
advocate your firm to the candidate. Try to end the
interview on a positive note.

6. Review the Interview – Once the candidate leaves, and

while the interview is fresh on the interviewer’s mind,
he/she should review his/her notes and fill in the
structured interview guide.

7. Another Practical Approach – See “When You’re On

Your Own (Employment Interviewing – HR for Line
Managers and Entrepreneurs) (pages 173-174).

 NOTES Educational Materials to Use

Teaching Tips: Students are frequently apprehensive about their own ability
to be interviewed successfully. Emphasize that preparation is important.
Class presentations or exercises that involve interviews can be used as an
opportunity for students to get feedback about dressing appropriately for an
interview, if students are told in advance that they should dress for the
presentation as they would for an interview. Local supervisors, HR
managers, or personnel from Student Placement departments within the
college/university can often be brought in as speakers to address this topic.

Students may also be assigned to choose several of the questions from

Boxes 7-1 and 7-2 to answer as they would in an interview, using their own
experience.

For classes with more experienced and working students, announce in

advance that students should bring in their current resume, or a list of jobs
they have held. Students may then interview each other in groups of two,
 using their actual experience. This works best if the student is interviewed
for an opening for the job they currently hold, or last held. The instructor can
circulate, noting body language and other items of note with which to give
general feedback following the exercise.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Explain and illustrate the basic ways in which you can classify selection
interviews. Interviews can be classified according to: (1) degree of structure.
This is the extent to which interviews are, or are not, structure with previously
designed questions so that each candidate must answer the same things. (2)
purpose. Interviews may be designed to accomplish several purposes, including
selection, performance appraisal feedback, etc. (3) content. The content of the
questions may be situational, job-related, or psychological. (4) the way the
interview is administered. Interviews might be conducted by a panel of
interviewers, sequentially or all at once, computerized, or personally. Students
should also provide some illustrations of each.

2. Briefly describe each of the following possible types of interviews:

unstructured panel interviews; structured sequential interviews; and job-
related structured interviews. In the unstructured panel interview, the panel of
interviewers asks questions as they come to mind. They do not have a list of
questions or points that need to be covered, but may follow many different
directions. The structured sequential interview consists of the candidate being
interviewed one by one with several different interviewers. Each interviewer
conducts a structured interview that consists of pre-determined questions and a
structured evaluation form to complete. The job-related structured interview
consists of pre-determined questions, all of which are designed to assess the
applicant's past behaviors for job-related information.

3. For what sorts of jobs do you think computerized interviews are most
appropriate? Why? The computerized interview can be used as a screening
device for virtually any type of position that may generate a large number of
applicants. It is less likely to be used for managerial positions. However, if there
are large numbers of applicants, it could certainly be just as useful there as in
skilled, professional, and unskilled positions.

4. Why do you think " situational interviews yield a higher mean validity than
do job related or behavioral interviews, which in turn yield a higher mean
validity than do psychological interviews?" The situational interview allows
the candidate to answer situational questions based on past experiences in
which he or she might have made mistakes, but learned from them. The job-
related (or behavioral) interview focuses primarily on past situations, but does not
allow for changes in the candidate due to the lessons that he or she might have
learned from those experiences. The psychological interview tends to be more
speculative regarding traits that are difficult to really measure.

5. Similarly, how do you explain the fact that structured interviews, regardless
of content, are more valid than unstructured interviews for predicting job
performance? The structured interview helps to keep the interviewer focused
on the types of behaviors, traits, or answers that are desired and have been
determined to be good predictors of job performance. Unstructured interviews
allow interviewers to become sidetracked with things like common interests and
other items that are not good predictors of job success.
6. Briefly discuss and give examples of at least five common interviewing
mistakes. What recommendations would you give for avoiding these
interviewing mistakes?
 Snap Judgments: This is where the interviewer jumps to a conclusion about the
candidate during the first few minutes of the interview. Using a structured
interview is one way to help avoid this, as well as training of the interviewers.
 Negative Emphasis: When an interviewer has received negative information
about the candidate, through references or other sources, he or she will almost
always view the candidate negatively. The best way to avoid this is to keep
references or other information from the interviewer. If possible, have different
people do the reference checks and the interviews and not share the information
until afterwards.
 Misunderstanding the Job: When interviewers do not have a good understanding
of the job requirements, they do not make good selections of candidates. All
interviewers should clearly understand the jobs and know what is needed for
success in those jobs.
 Pressure to Hire: Anytime an interviewer is told that they must hire a certain
number of people within a short time frame, poor selection decisions may be
made. This type of pressure should be avoided whenever possible.
 Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error: When an adequate candidate is preceded by
either an outstanding, or a poor candidate, by contrast he or she looks either less
satisfactory or much better. This can be countered through interviewer training,
allowing time between interviews, and structured interviews with structured rating
forms.
 Influence of Nonverbal Behavior: Candidates who exhibit stronger non-verbal
behavior, such as eye contact and energy level are perceived as stronger by the
interviewers. This can be minimized through interviewer training and structured
interviews.
 Telegraphing: An interviewer might "give" the right answers to candidates they
hope to hire. This can be combated through structured interview questions,
multiple interviewers, and interviewer training.
 Too Much / Too Little Talking: On either end of these extremes, the interviewer
may not gather all the information that is really needed to make an appropriate
selection decision. Structured interviews help keep this from happening.
 Playing District Attorney or Psychologist: Some interviewers misuse their power
by turning the interview into a game of "gotcha" or by probing for hidden
meanings in everything the applicants say. Structured interviews help keep this
from happening.

7. Briefly discuss what an interviewer can do to improve his or her

performance. The students should refer to the section in the chapter on
designing and conducting the effective interview to form his/her suggestions for
how an interviewer can improve his/her perfomance.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. Prepare and give a short presentation titled, “How to Be Effective as an

Employment Interviewer.” There are several things you can do to prepare to
be an effective interviewer. Some of the responses the students should give
include: structure the interview; prepare for the interview; establish rapport; ask
questions; close the interview; and review the interview.
2. Use the internet to find employers who now do preliminary selection
interviews via the internet, both in the Arab world and globally. Print out
and bring examples to class. Do you think these interviews are useful?
Why or why not? How would you improve them? The students should use the
internet to search for Arab and non-Arab websites of various companies inside
and outside the Arab world to find examples of companies that use the internet
for preliminary selection interviews. They should provide the pros and cons of
using the internet for preliminary selection interviews. Challenge students to
identify ways to improve the examples they have presented, based on what has
been discussed in this chapter.

3. In groups, discuss and compile examples of “the worst interview I ever

had.” What was it about these interviews that made them so bad? If time
permits, discuss as a class. Based on their experiences the students should
come up with various examples. They should also discuss what they would
suggest to have improved the interview.

4. In groups, prepare an interview (including a sequence of at least 20

questions) you’ll use to interview candidates for the job of teaching a
course in Human Resources Management. Each group should present
their interview questions in class. The students should use this opportunity to
design their own interview questions using the suggestions given in the chapter.

5. Dubai Jobs (dubaijobs.net) uses phone and video to conduct interviews

with job candidates who are not living in the U.A.E. What do you think are
the pros and cons of an interview process like this? Would you recommend
a procedure like this? What changes, if any, would you recommend to this
process? The students should use the information they’ve learned in this
chapter to make judgments about this screening process. The pros of this
procedure would include the convenience of screening from a distance, and the
cons would include the lack of personal touch, and non-verbal cues that could
contribute to a more wholesome decision.

6. Some companies have been known to commit corporate espionage by

posing as a corporate headhunter who approaches an employee of the
target company with a potentially lucrative job offer. During the interview,
the employee is quizzed about his or her responsibilities, accomplishments
and current projects. The goal is to “extract important details without the
employee realizing there is no job.” Assume that you are the owner of a
small high-tech company in Jordan that is worried about the possibility
that one or more of your employees may be approached by one of these
‘headhunters’. What would you do (in terms of employee training, for
instance) to try to minimize the chance that one of your employees will fall
into that kind of a trap? Also, compile a list of ten questions you think such
a corporate spy might ask one of your employees. Students may suggest
that the employer educate employees that tactics such as the ones described
here are used by competitors, suggest an appropriate response and encourage
them to report any such contact to management. Building trust and loyalty is
clearly important in order for this strategy to be effective to ensure that
employees will indeed. Brainstorm with the class a list of questions that may be
asked. Perhaps they may also conduct a role play to demonstrate how the
conversation may play out, and facilitate a discussion on how the employee, and
employer, could respond. The company’s mission, vision, policies and practices
should all reflect a high level of caring and fair-mindedness in dealing with the
employees. This will instill sufficient confidence in the transparency of internal
 communication and the corporate culture. The student should compile the ten
questions by playing the devil’s advocate in this scenario.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE

The Most Important Person You’ll Ever Hire

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice using some of the
interview techniques you learned in this chapter.

Required Understanding: You should be familiar with the information presented in

this chapter, and read this: To parents, their children are precious. It’s therefore
interesting that parents who hire ‘nannies’ to take care of their children usually do
little more than ask several interview questions and conduct what is often, at best, a
reference check. Given the often questionable validity of interviews, and the (often)
relative inexperience of the father or mother doing the interviewing, it’s not surprising
that many of these arrangements end in disappointment. You know from this chapter
that it’s difficult to conduct a valid interview unless you know exactly what you’re
looking for and, preferably, also structure the interview. Most parents simply aren’t
trained to do this.

How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions

1. Set up groups of five or six students. Two students will be the interviewees, while
the other students in the group will serve as panel interviewers. The interviewees will
develop an interviewer assessment form, and the panel interviewers will develop a
structured situational interview for a ‘nannie.’

2. Instructions for the interviewees. T he interviewees should leave the room for
about 20 minutes. While out of the room, the interviewees should develop an
‘interviewer assessment form’ based on the information presented in this chapter
regarding factors that can undermine the usefulness of an interview. During the panel
interview, the interviewees should assess the experiential exercise interviewers using
the interviewer assessment form. After the panel of interviewers has conducted the
interview, the interviewees should leave the room to discuss their notes. Did the
interviewers exhibit any of the factors that can undermine the usefulness of an
interview? If so, which ones? What suggestions would you (the interviewees) make to
the interviewers on how to improve the usefulness of the interview?

3. Instructions for the interviewers. While the interviewees are out of the room, the
panel interviewers will have 20 minutes to develop a short structured situational
interview form for a ‘nannie.’ The interviewer panel will then interview two candidates
for the position. During the panel interview, each interviewer should take notes on a
copy of the structured situational interview form. After the interview, the panel
interviewers should discuss their notes. What were your first impressions of each
interviewee? Were your impressions similar? Which candidate would you all select
for the position and why?

APPLICATION CASE

1. How would you explain the nature of the panel interview Hayat had to
endure? Specifically, do you think it reflected a well-thought-out
 interviewing technique (or rather, a careless strategy) on the part of the
panel? If it was carelessness, what would you do to improve the interview
process? It is fairly clear that the panel interview was a stress interview
designed to see how well Hayat could handle difficult situations. In this respect,
it seems to have been a well-thought-out interviewing strategy, but there was a
very clear element of carelessness on the part of the firm's management. The
panel was obviously not well-trained and was careless in the choice of questions
that they used. Many of the questions were clearly discriminatory and could be
used against them in a gender-based discrimination suit.

2. Hayat was interviewed by a team of non-Arab managers; do you think it is

important to have teams of Arab and non-Arab managers to conduct
interviews with job candidates in Arab countries? If yes, justify your
opinion. Maria needs additional information. What she does know is the nature
of the job and the clear fit with her training and skills. The additional information
that she should seek involves the number of women who work at Apex, the levels
of management which they have attained, and the satisfaction of those women
with their treatment by the Apex management. The fact that the entire interview
panel was composed of men and their choice of questions leaves us with
reservations about how she would be treated once hired.

3. Would you take the job offer if you were Hayat? If you’re not sure, is there
any additional information that would help you make your decision, and if
so, what is it? There are a wide variety of specific questions that could be
posed to address these issues. Questions need to be job-related, specifically to
the requirements listed above. They also need to clearly avoid any
discriminatory areas.

4. The job for which Hayat was applying requires: (a) excellent technical skills
with respect to engineering; (b) a commitment to working in the area of
environment and pollution control; (c) the ability to deal well and
confidently with customers who have engineering problems; (d) a
willingness to travel worldwide, and (e) a very intelligent and well-balanced
personality. List 10 questions you would ask when interviewing applicants
for this job. Ten interview questions that could be asked are: (1) Why did you
choose the engineering profession?; (2) Describe a scenario where a critical
technical glitch has occurred on the job, and outline the steps you would take to
resolve the problem efficiently with optimal use of resources; (3) What do you
see as the key links between your job and the environment?; (4) What are the
steps you would take to ensure effective control of pollution?; (5) How would you
describe your typical customer with a relevant engineering problem? ;(6) How will
you go about resolving a complex problem to the full satisfaction of your
customer?; (7) What do you see as the pros and cons of worldwide travel in
connection with your job?; (8) How would you go about interacting successfully in
cross-cultural situations?; (9) What are the distinctive contributions you can make
to the company?; (10) What benefits do you expect to derive from the company
to advance your professional career?

CONTINUING CASE

Al Nazafa Company; The Better Interview

1. In general, what can Ziad do to improve his employee interviewing
practices? Should he develop interview forms that list questions for
management and non-management jobs, and if so how should these look
and what questions should they include? Al Nazafa Company has an
inadequate, unstructured way of interviewing and hiring. One solution students
could suggest is to utilize a structured interview guide as an example of a tool
that managers could use to improve their interviewing practices. Have students
brainstorm a list of questions to be included in the structured interview guide. A
computer-based approach is also a possibility; students should explore the pros
and cons of this given the nature of the organization and weigh the cost/benefit of
utilization of this technology.

2. Should he implement a training program for their managers, and if so,

specifically what should be the content of such an interview training
program? In other words, if he did decide to start training his management
people to be better interviewers, what should he tell them and how should
he tell it to them? The obvious answer to this question is yes; a training
program should be designed and delivered. Students should include suggestions
from the section on designing and conducting interview effective interviews,
including training in preparation, utilization of a structured interview process, and
interviewing techniques discussed in this chapter. He should educate managers
of the potential pitfalls that come up in the interviewing process as outlined in the
text, and provide opportunity for practice with mock interviews in the training
session so that managers get an opportunity to use the skills they learn and
become comfortable with the process.

TRANSLATING STRATEGY INTO HR POLICIES AND

PRACTICE: THE KAMCO CASE

In teams or individually, answer the following questions:

1. Develop five situational, five behavioral and five job knowledge questions,
with descriptive good/average/poor answers for an entry-level asset
manager using KAMCO’s competency/skills matrix and dictionary below.
Table 7-1 identifies both the generic competencies and skills listed in
KAMCO job description for an entry-level asset manager. Table 7-2 defines
the level and required behavior for the competency. Table 7-3 defines the
level required behavior for the skill.

The KAMCO competency/skills matrix and dictionary identifies three generic

competencies and four skills necessary to perform the duties and responsibilities
of an entry-level asset manager. The generic competencies include: achievement
orientation, analytical thinking, and information seeking. Skills, on the other hand,
include PC experience, time management, business skills and understanding,
and project management.

As a result, entry-level asset manager interview questions must explore these

competencies and skills. The following websites provide excellent examples of
interview of situational, behavioral and job knowledge questions that can be re-
adapted to answer this question:

Situational Questions
Job- Interview-Wisdom.com
http://www.job-interview-wisdom.com/situational-interview-questions.html
 Quintessential Careers
http://www.quintcareers.com/interview_question_database/situational_interview_
questions.html

Behavioral Questions
Best Job Interview.com
http://www.best-job-interview.com/help-desk-interview-questions.html

Emurse.com
http://blog.emurse.com/2007/05/21/complete-list-of-behavioral-interview-
questions/

JobSearch.com
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/behavorialinterviews/a/behavioral-interview-
questions.htm

Office of State Personnel, North Carolina

http://www.performancesolutions.nc.gov/staffingInitiatives/selection/docs/Selectio
n_InterviewFormats_BehaviorBasedInterviewQuestions.pdf
Source: Office of Staff Development & Professional Services, UC Davis,
“Academic MSO Competencies Behavioral Interviewing Guide,” January, 2008.
http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/sdps/mso-toolkit/msointerview.pdf (March 27, 2012)

Job Knowledge Questions

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/35983933/%E2%80%9CSAMPLES-OF-JOB-
RELATED-QUESTIONS-FOR-YOUR-USE%E2%80%9D#

The table below highlights five situational, behavioral, and job knowledge
question adapted from the websites above.

Situational, Behavioral, and Job-Related Questions

Questions Competency/Skill Possible Answers

Situational
http://www.job-interview-
1. Give me an example of an Achievement
wisdom.com/answers-to-interview-
important goal that you set and Orientation
describe your progress in reaching questions.html
that goal.

2. What would you do if the Project Management http://www.job-interview-

priorities on a major project you wisdom.com/hr-interview-
were working on were suddenly questions.html
changed?

3. What would you do if you realized

Time Management http://www.quintcareers.com/intervi
at deadline time that a report you
ew_question_database/situational_
wrote for your boss or professor interview_questions.html
was not up to par?

4. How would you organize the

Analytical Thinking http://www.quintcareers.com/intervi
steps or methods you'd take to
ew_question_database/situational_
define/identify a vision for your team
or your personal job function? interview_questions.html

5. You don't have the information

Information Seeking http://www.quintcareers.com/intervi
you need to prioritize your projects. ew_question_database/situational_
Your co-workers and supervisor are interview_questions.html
unavailable for you to ask for
assistance. How do you handle the
situation?

Behavioral

1.Tell me about a problem that Analytical Abilities http://www.best-job-

really tested your analytical interview.com/help-desk-interview-
abilities? How did you reach a questions.html
solution?
2. Tell about a time when you
Analytical Abilities
needed to develop and use a
detailed procedure to successfully
complete a project.

3. How do you determine priorities

Time Management
in scheduling your time? Give an
example.

4. Using a specific example of a

Project Management
project, tell how you kept those
involved informed of the progress.

5. Can you think of a situation from

Information Seeking
your past experience where
innovation was required to obtain
and provide information at work?
What did you do in this situation?

Job-Related

1. Describe how skills/knowledge Business Skills and

used in your past jobs would apply Understanding
to this position.

2. How would you handle a certain Business Skills and

situation? Understanding

3. What special knowledge, skills, Business Skills and

abilities do you think a entry-level Understanding
asset managers should have?
4. What is the most important
development in your field today?
What impact will it have? How do
you stay informed regarding your
field?
Business Skills and
Understanding
Information Seeking

5. What project management tools Project Management

have you used to keep the project
on track both within timeline and PC
within budget?

KEY TERMS
behavioral interviews A series of job-related questions that focus on how
they reacted to actual situations in the past.

candidate-order or error of judgment on the part of the interviewer due

to reviewing one or more very good or very bad
contrast error candidates just before the interview in question

job-related interview A series of job-related questions which focuses on

relevant past job-related behaviors.

mass interview A panel interviews several candidates

simultaneously.

One-on-one interview Two people meet alone and one interviews the other
by seeking verbal responses to verbal inquiries

panel interview An interview in which a group of interviewers

questions the applicant.

situational interview A series of job-related questions which focus on how

the candidate would behave in a given situation

stress interview An interview in which the applicant is made

uncomfortable by a series of often rude questions.

Structured or An interview following a set sequence of questions.

directive interview

structured sequential An interview in which the applicant is interviewed

sequentially by several supervisors and each
interview rates the applicant on a standard form.

Structured situational The applicant is evaluated on a situation such as his

choice between letting the persistently late
subordinate off with a warning versus suspending
the subordinate off for a week.
unstructured or An unstructured conversational-style interview. The
interviewer nondirective pursues points of interest as they come up
interview in response to questions.

unstructured sequential An interview in which each interviewer forms an

independent opinion after asking different questions.
interview