Criteria of Successful Interviewer – To look at a candidate as objectively as humanly possible. Most managers believe themselves to be sound judges of people. It is this often-fallacious view which has helped to bring the interview as a technique of selection into disrepute.
Research into the validity of the interview has shown that the differences in selection decisions based on interviews are mainly accounted for by the varying quality of the interviewers themselves.
It may be helpful to consider the personal qualities and experience needed to produce a successful interviewer.
Personal Qualities
An Interest in People. This should not be confused with morbid curiosity. There needs to be an underlying interest in people, with a desire to help them and not just expose their weaknesses and failures.
A Reserved, Unobtrusive Personality, A dominating, extrovert personality may bring distortion into the interview.
Empathy. The rare quality of understanding and insight.
Warmth and sympathy. Warmth is essential in establishing rapport with candidates but it must not detract from the ability to consider critically and objectively.
Lack of Prejudice. Prejudice indicates bias and interviewers with extreme opinions are not likely to be sufficiently objective.
Sincerity. This must be directed towards not only the candidate but also towards the interviewer who must have a realistic appreciation of himself. Only then can he eradicate or compensate for his own bias or prejudice.
Good Humor. Interviewing is fatiguing and at the end of a series of interviews the quality of good humor has a stabilizing and relaxing effect.
Ability to Withstand Pressure. There are many pressures, which weigh on the conscientious interviewer. The sense of responsibility, pressure from candidates, pressure to fill a specific vacancy quickly, pressure from lobbyists for a particular candidate – all must be tolerated and withstood.
Ability to Concentrate, so that every piece of evidence is seen and understood at the interview.
Ability to Listen. Not just to hear, but to make sense of and interpret all that is said. The ability to control the unnecessary interjection and comment.
High Intelligence. This is especially necessary when interviewing candidates with considerable intelligence.
Experience
Experience in Different Jobs. The interviewer may well be called upon to interview candidates to fill a wide variety of jobs. Within this context his own work experience and personal knowledge of the job to be filled must be of considerable value to him.
Experience of People. The greater spread of contact he has through the various subdivisions of society the more chance he has of establishing rapport with the people he will be called upon to interview.
Maturity. Often achieved only through experience, maturity gives face validity to the interviewer.
Adaptability / Acceptability. Experience enables an interviewer to recognize and adapt to a situation and so maintain his acceptability to the candidate.
Consistency of Judgement. Judgement is a fragmented concept. The interviewer must first set appropriate standards. He must accept that his ability to judge one factor or attribute may be different from his ability to judge the total situation. The best interviewers can maintain their judgements in a wide variety of situations. There is no evidence that men are better able to judge than women. Good judges are not likely to be either extremely egocentric or introvert.
Well Balanced / Neutral. Although the interviewer must be concerned with people he cannot become involved with candidates. To preserve his objectivity he must remain uncommitted in the interview.
Good Reaction Control. Since showing shock, distaste or disapproval is likely, to damage the tone of the interview, skill at concealing his emotion is necessary for the interviewer.
Job Knowledge
Ability to Grasp the Total Picture. The interviewer who can appreciate the global view of job and see it in a complete context is likely to be more successful than one who takes a flat, partial view.
A sense of Relevance. The ability to know what is worth considering and what is valueless as evidence. This ability is invaluable.
Strength to Control the Interview. This is a function of experience and maturity. But while controlling, the interviewer must not stifle.
A Systematic But Not Rigid Approach. The interviewer must plan the interview, but he must be sufficiently flexible to follow leads or opportunities that present themselves during the interview.
Ability to Encourage. The most telling form of words, the appropriate gesture or expression often marks the subtle difference between the top-class and the average interviewer.
Grasp of Public Relations. This is the ability to project the most favorable image of self and company to all candidates; the building of goodwill for the future is a vital part of the interviewer’s job.
Enthusiasm For The Job. Perhaps more than any other job, interviewing demands enthusiasm; the interviewer who looks on the next interview as a chore to be got through as speedily as possible is not likely to interview effectively.
This list is by no means exhaustive but it can be seen that the job calls for a rare combination of talents and abilities and, because of this, good interviewers are not plentiful. The interview is a complex tool and can only be used efficiently by people who have been specially selected and trained. But interviewing is a personal skill and even with training not everyone can become a first-class artist, musician or gardener. The wise interviewer, realizing the enormity of the task and with the humility experience brings, will support his interviewing with every other selection device available.
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