Job Interviewing or conducting a job interview is one of several, and the most widely used selection tool. It has proved most reliable and the employers always rely on it in preference to any other tool. It is a process designed to predict future job performance by candidate's oral responses to oral inquiries. For having a better comprehension of Job interviewing it will be helpful to go through the definitions of interview and job interview.

An interview as defined is a conversation between two people (the interviewer and the interviewees) where the interviewer ask questions from interviewees to get information from them. Job Interview on the other hand is generally defined as a conversation between an employer and a job candidate, where the employer evaluates a candidate for prospective employment in the organization. The two definitions show that an interview is a general term used for all kinds of interviews. It gives out the broad outlines of the term interview. Job interview on the other hand is specific to employment. However, this is a common misconception that job interview is a unilateral process which, is not correct. The above definition of Job interview is very similar to definition of Job Interviewing, but not that of job interview as it does not give the full picture and is incomplete.

For objectively defining job interview it is important to know the purpose of a job interview.

Job Interview Purpose

The purpose of job interview is eliciting information. If on the one hand the interviewer wants to know the candidate in great detail including about the intangibles like his qualities, potential, attitude and teamwork, the candidate wants to know the financial health, working environment and plans of the employer besides what he will be getting in terms of compensation. The employer uses the information elicited to decide whether to offer job to the candidate, while the candidate uses the elicited information to decide whether to accept the offer, if made.

It is obvious as earlier discussed the perception that job interview is a unilateral process is wrong, as it is a bilateral one. The fact that even if the employer finds a candidate well suited for the job and wants to hire him, unless the candidate agrees to the offer of employment the employer cannot hire him is the strongest proof of the bilateral nature of job interview.

Job Interview Importance

Although not all employers use tests or even reference checks, but they consider job interview as vital for making a correct decision. Job interview helps in soliciting relevant information permissible under the law from candidate by putting questions, and listening to the answers. The interviewer may pursue points of interest as they develop. Irrespective of industry or nature of job the interviewer will always probe the following basic questions.

. Does the candidate have necessary skills, qualification and experience to do the job?

. Would the candidate display the right character, attributes and attitude required for the

job.

. Would the candidate adjust in the organization culture?

Job interview is the best method to know the candidates in all relevant aspects like job knowledge, communication skills and his / her personal background. The interviewer undertakes this exercise for assessing the future job performance of the candidate. If resume shows gaps between employers, job interviewing is the right forum to enquire about it. It also allows the interviewer to get an idea of the candidate's personality and verbal communication abilities.

Latest studies have confirmed validity of the interview and that it is generally a good performance assessment method.

Following are the essential steps before job interviewing actually takes place.

Job Interview Planning

As the famous quote goes If you fail to plan you plan to fail, the first logical step is planning. The interviewer could get the most from the interview by planning in what he wants to learn from candidates in the job interview.

Critical areas to focus in the interview planning.

At the outset a decision a decision will be made about the interviewing panel. If there is specific company rule about interviewing panel those will be followed. In their absence head of organization takes the decision for management grade employees and head of human resource department for other employees. The most senior member of the panel must head the interviewing panel. Human resource person in the panel usually acts as the coordinator if he does not head the panel in which case another HR representative is co-opted as a non- interviewing coordinator. If there is more than one interviewer, which mostly is the case in final interviews, each interviewer is given the task of questioning the candidate with respect to specific areas to decide his suitability. Usually while the interviewer who has specialized knowledge of the section /department where the candidate will work will question the candidate about his knowledge, experience and abilities about the job. The member representing human resource ask questions about their personality, values, compatibility with the organization culture, potential to grow and ability to learn.

Information provided in a candidate's application for employment will be probed more deeply at this stage for proper questioning in the interview. When reviewing resumes, the interviewer should look for:

Work and education experience from which interviewer can develop evaluative questions.

What the candidate wants to highlight in his resume will show his bent of mind. When reviewing personal history forms, it is important to note:

a) Ambiguity in employment history if any, i.e. beginning / ending dates, duties and titles.

b) Lack of understanding about the items or questions.

c) Employment/education gaps.

d) Reason for leaving previous job(s).

e) Spelling and vocabulary errors.

This information will show the candidate's stability, preparedness, attention to details and his grasp of written communication and interviewer can develop questions about them. The Interviewer should go through the job description and the job specification. Reviewing the job functions and requirements before the interview enable him to give the candidate correct information of the job and to answer any questions the candidate may have. This will help him in making a proper preparation for the interview.

Interviewer should define the job and candidate's quality and what qualifications the candidate must have for doing the job. The interviewer should decide about the skills and competencies required for the job for evaluating through the interview. He should identify the knowledge, attributes, and skills the candidate needs for success. Interviewer should define goals and determine how the new employee should add value to the organization.

Interviewer should identify the essential duties and responsibilities of the job and any working conditions which affect the job performance.

Interviewer should develop a limited set of specific questions to probe the candidate's strengths, weaknesses, ambiguities and highlights observed in the resume.

Job Interview Preparation

Interview preparation is a very important part of the process as good interviewing depends on proper preparation. Lack of preparation by interviewers causes problems during interviews. Almost a third of interviewers in a survey confessed they had forgotten a candidate's name and a quarter said they had gone into an interview unprepared. Interviewing is the most important thing that a manager does. It is highly negligent to waste hours trying to interview someone when he (interviewer) is so unprepared for the job. If he is not prepared he should not waste his time and others and his own. A person fully conversant with the intricacies of a job interview and trained in interviewing skills should be selected as an interviewer. An advance preparation cans help in ensuring professional and effective interviews.

Job interview preparation steps include:

A) The interviewer should make sure that he is well equipped with all the necessary information before the interview. He should have already studied the CV, resume or any paper prepared by the HR department elucidating the highlights as well as candidate's weak and gray areas so that no time is wasted during the interview in getting this information in the beginning, as well begun is half done.

B) He should create an interview evaluation form for each candidate. The purpose of the form is to rate each candidate with respect to knowledge, experience, identified skills and competencies.

C) Enough time given to candidates between date of receiving interview call and date of interview so that they can make adjustments for any previous engagements, also consider days of religious observance that might affect a candidate's availability in this regard.

D) Enough time be scheduled with each candidate to allow for a relaxed interview. More than five interviews on a single day is asking too much from an interviewer therefore it is advisable to keep the number of interviews on the lesser side. The interviewer would not be interrupted and he will be allowed to concentrate on the job he is doing.

E) Arrangements for a dignified and enthusiastic welcome of the candidates. Comfortable seating will be available for the candidates before, and during interviewing. Keeping the concept of employer branding in view the occasion will be used for establishing the image of the company on positive lines. Reasonable time will be provided between interview time intimated to the candidates keeping in view the estimated time taken in an interview, e.g. forty five minutes to avoid wastage of their time. Proper care will be taken of candidates during their presence for job interview including, serving of refreshments and lunch.

F) Interviewer should prepare to discuss the job briefly, in terms that the candidate can readily understand.

G) Interviewers should prepare among themselves for following a set strategy during the interview to make it a successful exercise.

Job Interviewer's Role

The interviewer is the main guide and controller of the job interviewing, he must to know his responsibilities and the role he is going to play in this regard. Followings are some important elements / areas he must concentrate to make job interviewing process a success.

1. Guiding the interview is the most important responsibility and he should make sure that the interviewing process does not go off the track. The interviewer should guide the interview tactfully without hurting the candidate in any way. He should concentrate on getting complete and reliable information without causing any inconvenience to the candidate.

2. The interviewer should listen more and talk less. He should listen attentively and not interrupt candidate unnecessarily. Positive attitude will give the candidates the confidence that they are important. This will encourage them to communicate freely during the interview, and the interviewer will get the benefit of learning most.

3. The interviewer will be dispassionate. He should make the interviewees welcome by all means, and engage with them, but at the same time, he will be checking whether the personality traits and skills required for the job are present in the candidate. The interviewer must control himself from becoming a victim of love at first sight or affiliation with his own Personality and inclining toward a candidate. Learning how to conduct an interview while remaining dispassionate will enable him to get over that and assess whether the person is the perfect match for the role, which after all is why the interviewer and interviewees are there.

4. The interviewer will be considerate and calm even if he does not agree with the candidate. His point of view will be heard and respected. The interviewer shouldn't indulge in arguments unnecessarily and be cool and to the point. The interviewer must focus attention on the candidate and the interview. He should know that he is not there to show off his knowledge or that he is not the interviewer.

5. The interviewer should avoid distraction in the interview area and during the interview. Interventions by anybody or of any kind can distract the interviewer and candidate and may affect the process, resulting in adversely affecting the chances of a good candidate or choice of a wrong candidate.

6. The interviewers will be trained in interviewing and know how to avoid illegal questions and errors such as talking too much and making hasty judgments.

7. Interviewers must strictly follow the planning and preparation earlier made for conducting the interview. Any deviation will jeopardize successful interviewing. Repeating the questions already asked, putting questions at the same time, contradicting one another show bad planning, insufficient preparation or lack of both bringing bad name to the interviewers and lowering the prestige of the employer.