(JOB) INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

There are some key points of the interview protocol such as climate, active listening, type of interview, purpose, agenda, and road map. The most important thing that interviewees need, is a positive and comfortable climate that should be maintained by interviewers, hiring managers, or supervisors. Moreover, the interviewer should be an active listener by listening more and talking less than the applicants.

Type of interview should be decided in pre-stage of interview in order to set the interview protocol appropriately, but the interviewer should behave in a proper way to the determined interview type such as behavioral, case, stress, group, phone, or skype interview.

Purpose of the interview should be clarified which is helpful in selecting the most appropriate person to the job since interviewing provides companies to collect information on the applicant’s job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities. Just before the interview, setting an agenda and maintaining a road map provides interviewer to control the procedure (University of Nebraska, 2019). The amount of time is crucial and budgets around two hours for the first interview because it enables the interviewer to assess the applicant’s competency and potential (Knight, 2015).

Pre-interview phase is a preparation of interview protocol for an interviewer. An interviewer should prepare him/herself by reviewing the requirements of the job (1), familiarizing him/herself with the applicant’s application documents such as resume, cover letter, and other materials (2) (University of Nebraska, 2019), and getting ready to be asked questions about the company and the job, including benefits and opportunities (3) (Career Builder, 2019).

An effective planning and time management should be done in order to have a better time spent during the interview. Interview questions and specific questions regarding the applicant’s resume, education background, and work experience should be also ready. The interviewer starts with welcoming and then asks the applicants to sit, take coffee, water or what else. Before starting the interview, the interviewer explains the “purpose and agenda” of the interview. Consequently he/she introduces him/herself and tells about the job, company brand, and corporate culture briefly and then asks the applicants to introduce him/herself. During the interviewing, the interviewer keeps eye contact, interacts in a friendly manner (except stress interview), uses appropriate body language, and reads the applicant’s body language which gives more and indirect information about the candidate.

A job interview is the core of selecting procedure. The interviewer should ask “effective and legal questions” and avoid “illegal, discriminatory, and cliché questions” such as “Why are you leaving your present position?” or “What are your weakness” which are just wasting time and breath. By asking some predictive questions, the interviewer may look for the signs that candidate will be comfortable or not. Questions for predictive information provides indirect and supportive information. Some sample interview questions are below:

What interests you about this particular job?

Tell us about your international experience.

What makes you a good candidate for this position?

What makes you stand out from other applicants?

What field experience do you have for a legal officer position?

What knowledge do you have about the company?

After asking all questions, the interviewer allows the applicants to ask his/her questions and to add information if he/she needs. Finally, the interviewer makes the conclusion and finishes the interview.

References

Career Builder (2019), From Q&A to Z: Hiring Manager’s Complete Interviewing Guide, E-Book, http://hr.cofc.edu/supervisor/assets/career-builder-e-book.pdf

Knight, Rebecca (2015), How to Conduct an Effective Job Interview, Harvard Business Review, January 23

University of Nebraska (2019), Interview Guide for Supervisors & Managers, N Business & Finance Human Resources, https://hr.unl.edu/employment/toolbox/interviewguide.shtml/