Job interviews are the first link to achieve the change of company, position, or job that you are waiting for. During this conversation, the interaction between the interviewer and the candidate will be basic, Since the perfect atmosphere must be created so that the latter can show his skills, experiences, and abilities to be the perfect candidate. Today, job interviews have become the key to accessing the desired position.
According to the format
Do you wonder what are the types of job interviews? The classification can be established from the format of these meetings. Although the format will not alter the final result, more and more interviewers decide to pass a first filter that allows knowing the job expectations of the candidate, with the aim that in a few minutes they can perceive what the profile wants or what it is capable of. offer to the company. Currently, we can differentiate two types of job interviews according to their format: face-to-face and remote interviews. Take note of the examples of the types of job interviews.
Face-to-face interview
This is the classic and traditional interview. Generally, it takes place at the company’s own offices, where the candidate is summoned to be interviewed.
Remote interview
Nowadays, remote interviews are more and more frequent, and the alternative format when physical displacement becomes complicated. The remote interview can be done through a phone call or through a video call, one of the favorite options for recruiters today. Thanks to technology, visual contact with the candidate is allowed without the need to travel, this makes it easier to schedule the meeting at any time and from anywhere.
According to the structure
Another way to classify a job interview is according to its structure. Generally, when the candidate applies for a job position, they do not usually know what the interview in which they will participate will be like. However, there are three options that companies generally use as a pattern when they are offering work: the structured, the unstructured, or the mixed interview.
Structured interview
The structured interview refers to the model or pattern that the company performs on all candidates in the same way. During the structured interview, the interviewer will follow a specific and pre-established script, which will serve as a reference to give value to each of the candidates and assess whether they meet the criteria required in this selection process.
In a structured interview, psychology is fundamental and many of the interviewer’s questions will be based on it to find out or predict the candidate’s behavior. All the questions in the script are usually focused on different areas :
Experience: with the aim of knowing if they have already worked in a position similar to the one offered, in the same sector, or in a similar position. Here questions are usually asked such as: Do you have experience in this position? What is the best and worst thing about your previous position? What encouraged you to change jobs?
Salary: Knowing the candidate’s salary expectations is essential to establish the negotiation and to determine if the company if it fits, can force that remuneration more or less. Here it is usually asked directly: What are your salary expectations?
In addition to these two basic areas, structured interviews usually talk about the education received to find out the candidate’s degree, strengths, and abilities to deal with teamwork or problem-solving.
Unstructured interview
The unstructured interview is free and adapts to the interviewer and the interview itself. In these cases, the Human Resources team wants to check the candidate’s soft skills. That is all those intangible skills and competencies such as improvisation or creativity. Here we will work with open questions where a classic answer is not usually sought, but rather it will be verified how the applicant can solve some precise questions and more focused on fieldwork and not so much on past experiences or knowledge.
Mixed interview
Regarding the mixed interview, as its name indicates, aspects of the structured and unstructured interview will be mixed, that is, the interviewer will be able to follow a script, but always give a wide margin to freedom, spontaneity, and improvisation at the moment. In this way, the recruiter will be able to both check common criteria in different candidates and focus their attention on the applicant’s specific skills, so that the interview can be built little by little at the moment.
According to the objective
Although generally all the objectives are gathered together in the same interview, it is important to know what is the main objective that the selection department is pursuing above other objectives. In this sense, we can divide the different types of job interviews based on creativity, skills, or tension.
Creativity interview
It is usually an unstructured interview, where the objective is to value the most creative side of the applicant, seeking and promoting their most innovative and imaginative side. Any position related to Marketing, Advertising, Communication, or Design can carry out selection processes where the objective is to find the creativity that the position needs. It is also an increasingly common purpose in all those positions aimed at young people who want to adapt to the new generations.
Skills interview
The type of job interview by competence is an interview that seeks to verify the competencies, abilities and skills of the candidate, so it is an essential interview in any technical position. This type of interview is known as “facilitating” because during the process the company seeks a specific capacity or knowledge, which can sometimes be in short supply in the labor market. In this type of interview, specific tests or tests can be carried out that will serve as a reference for the interviewer.
Stress interview
These interviews usually lead the candidate to difficult situations in order to check his reaction and his ability to resolve conflicts or problems. In positions of great responsibility, they are usually one of the most common. In addition, it is an unstructured interview that will allow the candidate to improvise to convince the interviewer that he is sufficiently prepared to assume the position.
According to the participants
Lastly, the number of people participating in an interview can also be a differentiating factor. In this sense, the types of existing job interviews are individual, group, panel, or chained interviews.
Individual interview
The type of individual job interview is the most common format since candidates and interviewers meet alone and this allows them to get to know the applicant in more depth.
Group interview
Group interviews are those in which one or several interviewers conduct the same interview with several candidates at the same time. In these types of interviews, less time is usually spent on the applicant itself, but the idea is to be able to compare the behavior of each other. In this type of interview, it is important to use the word as much as possible since it is usually short. Techniques such as role-playing are often practiced in this type of interview.
Panel interview
The panel interview is one in which a candidate, individually, faces several interviewers at the same time, they can ask different questions. Generally, this type of interview is usually carried out in order to know the abilities and skills of the applicant from different points of view or from different fields or technical areas.
Chained interviews
Although it is quite similar to the panel interview, since the candidate will deal with different interviewers, the difference between the two is that in chained interviews these meetings will take place at different times. In this way, the company will be able to make filters and pass different phases of the selection process to the candidates that really fit the profile.
Tags: Types of job, Types of job interview
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