Question

What are the advantages of a structured vs. unstructured interview? Select one of the substantive selection predictors: personality test, any type of ability test, emotional intelligence test, performance test, work sample test, situational judgement test, integrity test, and structured interview. Discuss its advantages, disadvantages, and validity.

Answer 1

answer-

Structured Interview is one in which a particular set of predetermined questions are prepared by the interviewer in advance.while Unstructured Interview refers to an interview in which the questions to be asked to the respondents are not set in advance.

Structured Interview is a type of personal interview, in which the interviewer uses a fixed format, wherein the questions are prepared in advance. It uses highly systematised techniques of recording. It is a method of quantitative research used for the purpose of the survey, which aims at presenting the preset questions, in every interview, which the same sequence. It is also known as a patterned or planned interview.

Unstructured Interview is one, that does not use any fixed format, however, the interviewer may have a few planned questions prepared beforehand. It is a qualitative research method, in which the questions are prepared during the interview. As the interview is unplanned, it has an informal approach where a friendly conversation takes place between the interviewer and interviewee.

advantages of structured interviews-

a-Standardised questions = a standardised response, all respondents faced with the same questions in the same order

b-Potential to pre-code answers using computers to analyse the data makes it more straight foward to produce statistical results as well as being able to quote interviews in the study

c-High response rate as new respondents can be accessed if sample size drops

d-The interviewer is present to explain the question to avoid misinterpretation.

advantages of unstructured interviews-

a- The better understanding of the candidate than in a structured interview:

b-It is very flexible and more comfortable:

c-Very practical method to analyze the candidate:

d-It is a very valid and interactive way:Unstructured interviews are very valid comparison to structured interviews because of the thorough understanding of the concept as well as the interviewer will be able to clarify the doubts of concept told by the candidate

e-It breaks the communication gap between the interviewer and the candidate.

f-It creates a good hope to the candidate about the organization’s work atmosphere.

an employer can choose test like personality test emotional intelligence, work sample test to know that employee is worthy of the job or not. but i think personality test is one of the best selection predictor.

Advantages of personality test-

• Strengthening the interview: A good personality assessment can help hiring managers to know which soft skills and behavioral interview questions they should pay attention to during the interview.

• Gaining a deeper insight into candidates: Employees and job candidates have a broad range of skills, abilities, and work styles. These differences are not always apparent on a resume or during an interview, so personality assessments can give you another tool for understanding what the candidate has to offer and how they will fit into your work culture.

• Development and recognition tools: Personality assessments help you to understand the values, motives, and preferences of employees and will help you know what they need from you as an employer to stay engaged.

• Team building: Employees are increasingly working in a team environment. When building and managing teams, understanding the personalities of team members is critical for success. One personality assessment that Helios has found to be ideal for team building is, How the World Sees You – Fascination Assessment by Sally Hogshead, which focuses on individual strengths and advises on how to pairs archetypes together that will produce the best results.

• Improving the culture: Personality tests can be used to enhance your organization’s culture by understanding each employee’s communication styles, leadership styles, learning styles, and level of introversion or extroversion.

Disadvantages of personality test-

• Tests take time: Testing and obtaining the results from a professional can take time, which can result in losing a candidate to another company.

• Tests cost money: Personality assessments can be costly. Cost estimates range between $100 and $5,000 per candidate.

• Rules and regulations: The personality testing market isn’t subject to government regulation. Technically, anyone can design and administer tests. To increase the probability of accurate interpretations, and to avoid any unintentional discrimination, it is important that you find a fair and consistent test, and you use only trained professionals to administer and evaluate the assessments.

• They aren’t the final answer: Although personality assessments can help to provide a deeper insight into a candidate’s motives, values, and work styles, they do not give the final verdict on which candidate is the right one for the job. Personality assessments are not prediction tools. They simply provide you with indicators for success.

Overall, the right personality fit is critical for good performance. However, it is important to keep in mind that personality assessments are not a stand-alone tool. They should be used only in conjunction with other employee screening techniques such as behavioral interviews and references to reflect all of an applicant’s characteristics.

Personality tests can be accurate when they measure one simple trait. For example the Type A/Type B personality test can be very accurate in most cases because it measures one simple trait.

A self confidence personality test on the other hand can bring totally wrong results. After all self confidence is divided into different areas and a person can be very confident in one area but still lack confidence in another one.

So a personality test that tells you that you are either confident or not might not be accurate at all. I encourage you to take personality tests only if you understand their limitations and if you are not the kind of person who can believe in a wrong theory then turn it into a reality.