What are the Types of Interviews?

Types of Interviews :

Interviews may be classified into following categories :

1.      Patterned or Structured Interview :         Similar questions are asked to all candidates the questions are asked in a particular order. The time allowed for each candidate is pre-determined. Structured interviews help to minimize personal bias of the interviewers. it allows for a systematic coverage of the required information. But such interviews do not allow deep probing of candidate’s knowledge and information.

2.      Non-Directed or Unstructured interview : This type of interview is free and is relatively non-planned as to format. The interview is not directed by questions or comments as to what the candidate should be asked, Non-directed interview is a more flexible approach and therefore the candidate feels more at ease. Generally, the candidate is encouraged to express himself on a variety of subjects, on his expectations and motivations, background and upbringing, interests, etc. The interviewers look for trails of character and nature of his aspirations and his potentials, strengths and weaknesses. Thus, a better assessment of the candidate’s personality becomes possible. But unless the interviewer is very competent, the discussion may lose its direction and may become a rambling session with much wastage of time and effort.

3.      Informal Interview : Such interview may take place anywhere. It is not planned and is used when the staff is required urgently. A friend or relative of the employer may introduce the candidate of the employer, who asks a few basic questions like name, education, experience, etc.

4.      Formal Interview : This type of interview is preplanned and is held in a formal atmosphere. All the formalities and procedures e.g. the venue, the time, the panel of interviewers, and the questions to be asked are decided in advance.

5.      Depth Interview : It is a semi-structured approach wherein details concerning one key area are sought. It is designed to intensively examine the candidate’s proficiency in his area of special interest. The purpose is to get a true picture of the candidate through deep probing into his mind. This type of interview requires a mature understanding of human behaviour on the part of the interviewers.

6.      Group Interview : In this type of interview, groups rather than individuals are interviewed. Generally, a topic for discussion is given to the group. The applicants enter into group discussions, knowing that the interview is a test, but do not know which qualities are being measured or tested. The candidates in the group are carefully watched as to who takes a lead in the discussion, who tries influencing others, who summarises and clarifies issues and who speaks effectively. In this type of interview, the emphasis is on the analysis of the interviewer’s impressions from discussions rather than a factual information. Such interview is based on the assumption that behaviour displayed in a group situation is related to potential success in the job.

7.      Panel Interview : Such interview is conducted by a group of interviewers. It seeks to pool the collective wisdom and judgement of several interviewers. Questions are asked in turn or at random.

8.      Individual Interview : This is also called one-to-one interview. It is a face to face intersection between the interviewer and the candidate. It is a two-way communication and there should be purposeful exchange of ideas.

9.      Stress Interview : The purpose of such interview is to find out how a candidate behaves in a stressful situation i.e. whether he loses his temper, gets confused or frightened or feels frustrated. The interviewer deliberately puts the candidate on the defensive by trying to annoy embrasses or frustrate him. Inorder to put the candidate under strain, the interviewer asks questions rapidly, criticizes his answers, interrupts him frequently and so on.

Such interview must be handled with utmost care and skill. It may not necessarily reveal how the candidate will behave in a real stressful situation involved in the job.

10.    Exit Interview : It is on interview conducted by an organisation with those employees who have put in their resignation papers. It may be conducted on the last day of employment of the employee. Exit interview helps to find out why the candidate is resigning from the job.