Unlike the typical interviews that we have all heard of and trained for, behavioral interviews is a much more recent concept that is increasingly being preferred among employers. Recently, employers have been using behavioral interviewing in the evaluation of candidates’ behaviors and experience so as to determine if the particular applicant has the potential for success. A person’s past behavior has always been a good predictor of their future behavior and how the person might act in a hypothetical situation that would occur in the future. Here, we will discuss in details, the meaning and benefits of behavioral interviewing.
Today, the business environment is very competitive and in order to remain relevant, every company or organization seeks candidates who are the very best and they retain those who are at the very top. As such, interviewers everywhere aim at identifying applicants who are promising. Nurturing good employees for an organization starts from the process of selection in that when the right breed of applicants is selected, then, there is a higher probability of having better employees. Rehiring and retraining employees is normally an expensive process because it involves paying the trainers and taking uptime that could have been used somewhere else. It is also a risk since the new employees may not always be as good. Thus, employees seek to retain their good employees, and they ensure that the hire the right person from the very beginning (Ullah, 2010). This is where behavioral interviewing comes in handy. Interviews are characterized by social exchange processes between applicants who wish to get a job and the people who want to attract only the best applicants. This has always been the idea behind every interview that is conducted. Behavioral interviews, in essence, give facts that are objective in the process of making employment decisions. As such, there are widely used as a mode of job interviewing. When giving a response, an interviewer picks up on specific behaviors and probe for more details. This enables him or her to structure questions which will give responses that are detailed (Schaerer, Loschelder & Swaab, 2016).
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Behavioral and traditional interviewing can be easily compared and contrasted. They are both similar in that they have similar motives. The differences, however, are plenty, which make behavioral interviewing more effective. For instance, traditional interviews only predicted 10% of an individual’s behavior whereas behavioral interviews can predict up to 55% of the future behavior of a certain employee. In most cases, interviewees in the traditional method could easily get away with lying and by telling the employer what they want to here. The questions asked in the traditional interviews are basically too obvious, for instance, “Tell me about you?” In a behavioral interview, the questions that are asked elicit honest and detailed responses ( Huffcutt, Weekley, Wiesner, Degroot, & Jones, 2001) .
For a while now, bosses have been making bad hires because they did not foresee certain behaviors coming from the interviewees ( Moy, 2011) . Most of the time, the applicants say what the employer want to hear but they are not ready to put it in action. Thus, once employed, they don’t deliver what they had promised during the interviews. This becomes a loss to a company because they interviewing process is costly as it consumes time and can be tedious sometimes, depending on the position being filled. For that reason, interviews are nowadays always under strict scrutiny. It is important to note that employers usually have to select a candidate from among candidates who have showcased different attributes. Therefore, understanding the actual and cognitive behavior of applicants increases the chances of selecting a better candidate.
Behavioral interviewing is held with a high regard because for the companies and organizations that have applied the system, the results have been good. One of the reasons why it is considered as the best way to recruit employee is because the interviewing process nurtures integrity. The interviewer always asks questions that are random and are likely to probe an honest response. If the applicant gives honest answers, then you know that you are employing someone with integrity. Also, through behavioral questions during the interview, one is able to look at the leadership, communication and problem solving skills of a person. Further, behavioral interviewing makes it possible to interview someone who can easily adapt in different environments. This could be done by asking a question in the form of “What would you do if…” these kinds of interviews also make people pay attention to the little details of the behaviors and actions especially those involving working with other people in a team or as a customer service. In order to maintain a good image, one will have to input the values in their daily lives. This way, any time they are in a behavioral interview, the responses come out easily and naturally. Prior, applicants have been known to lie about certain experiences and prowess because they traditional interviews were too structured. However, this time people can be more likely employed due to merit and honesty ( Roulin, and Bangerter, 2012) .
In an employment interview, the interviewer and the applicant socially engage, gather information and form certain impressions of each other. Usually, what the applicant thinks of the interviewer does not matter, but the vice versa is a big deal. That is why applicants struggle to impress and please their interviewers. In all cases, the applicant will have information which could interest the interviewer but the latter does not have access to it. For instance, information concerning the personality of an applicant is unknown to the interviewer. The surest way to know would be to ask him or her. Similarly, there is some information in the hands of the interviewer which is of interest to the applicant but the applicant does not have access to the information (Wilhelmy, A. et al. 2016). Behavioral interviewing narrows down the information to what is really or te position a person is being interviewed for.
It has been observed for years that the people with more academic success do better in interviews because their academic success intimidates others. Nonetheless, the suitability and validity of a person to a certain position in an organization goes behind academic success. Behavioral interviewing measures the intelligence of a person based on their responses rather than the qualification papers they have brought along with them since papers can be misleading. Behavioral interviewing gives different people equal chances in the competitive cooperate world such that, despite of your gender, sexuality or race, you will be evaluated according to your prowess in leadership, problem-solving skills, and so forth (Alonso, Moscoso &. Salgado, 2017).
In conclusion, behavioral interviewing is a better technique of recruiting the right employees into an organization because unlike the traditional interview, it pays attention to details which matter. This means someone may not have all the good academic papers but they have the necessary skills required in most organizations. The global business world today is very competitive and better means are required to be incorporating during selecting and hiring new employees to a firm to heighten the chances of further success of the company.
References
Alonso, P., Moscoso, S. &. Salgado,J., F. (2017). Structured Behavioral Interview As a Legal Guarantee For Ensuring Equal Employment Opportunities For Women: A Meta-Analysis. The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages 15-23, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpal.2016.03.002 .
Huffcutt, A. I., Weekley, J. A., Wiesner, W. H., Degroot, T. G. And Jones, C. (2001), Comparison of Situational and Behavior Description Interview Questions For Higher ‐ Level Positions. Personnel Psychology , 54: 619-644. Doi: 10.1111/J.1744-6570.2001.Tb00225.X
Moy, J., W. (2011). Are employers assessing the right traits in hiring? Evidence from Hong Kong companies, The International Journal of Human Resource Management , 17:4, 734-754, DOI: 10.1080/09585190600581717
Roulin, N. and Bangerter, A. (2012), Understanding the Academic–Practitioner Gap. Int J Select Assess, 20: 149-158. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2389.2012.00588.x
Schaerer, M., Loschelder, D.& Swaab, R. (2016). Bargaining zone distortion in negotiations: The elusive power of multiple alternatives. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , Volume 137, Pages 156-171, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.09.001.
Ullah, M. (2010). A Systematic Approach of Conducting Employee Selection Interview. International Journal of Business and Management . Vol. 5, No 6. Retrieved from http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm
Wilhelmy, A. et al. (2016). How and why do Interviewers Try to Make Impressions on Applicants? A Qualitative Study. Journal of Applied Psychology . Vo. 101, No. 3, 313-332. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000046
