Free Essay. A Review of Telephone-Administered Behavior-Based Interview Technique

Interviewing is one of the most common methods that organizations use to select the right candidates for vacant positions. An interview offer insights into a job seeker's prospective performance by assessing the verbal answers to the queries produced by the interviewer (Oliphant, Hansen, & Oliphant, 2008). Many organizations have used structured questions during interviews to look for the best candidates to fill the required positions. Various organizations have resulted in telephone-administered behavior-based interviews to seek for the right job candidates. Some organizations consider telephone-based interviews as the best technique because it offers promising predictive results. Also, telephone interviews assist in saving on costs associated with travel and time allowances. This paper will review an article on telephone-administered behavior based interview and develops non-discriminatory telephone-based interview questions.

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The author's main points for conducting the study was to find out the importance of interviews when selecting job candidates. Secondly, the author wanted to identify the best method that can be used to choose the best job candidates. Thirdly, the author intended to understand whether telephone-based interviews can provide the best job candidates in terms of performance and predictability.

I disagree with the author's conclusion. The author concludes that telephone-based interviews can help an organization select the best candidates for a job position because the interviewer can get accurate information about the past performance of a candidate. I disagree because telephone-based interviews do not show some nonverbal cues of a person that are visible during face to face communication. Face to face communication assists an interviewer to detect some non-verbal cues which can help one to understand the personality of a job candidate. For, example, through nonverbal cues, an interviewer can know whether a job candidate is an optimistic person or one who is easily discouraged.

A research conducted by California state university on employment interview via telephone shows that such interviews sacrifice accurate personality judgment for the sake of saving cost. The research analysis indicates that a lack of nonverbal feedback during telephone-based interview contributes significantly to poor personality judgments (Blackman, 2002). When interviewers are not capable to make sound personality judgments, then unqualified people enter into job positions and perform poorly. Moreover, the research indicates that job candidates are friendly, warm, and social during face to face interview. As such, the study confirms my opinion that telephone-based interview is not the best technique for selecting job candidates.

Employers use interviews to select job candidates as a way of choosing the best candidates who can communicate effectively via nonverbal cues. Also, employers use interviews because face to face communication yields more valid judgments. Some employers use interviews because it is organizational culture. An employer may use interviews because it is company policy (Oliphant et al. 2008). However, some employers like to use interviews because it gives them a feeling of power and superiority. Moreover, some employers use interview because it is the best predictor of a candidate's future performance.

I think behavior-based interviews conducted via telephone are not effective because they do not accurately reflect the personality of a job candidate. I think interviewers are not able to detect some personality aspects demonstrated by the job candidates. Face to face communication is the best way to reveal certain personality aspects such as resilience or optimism that an employer may require for a particular job position. Moreover, a telephone interview relies only on the communication ability of a job candidate. A job candidate may have excellent communication skills but lack desirable soft skills that are required by an organization. Therefore, behavior telephone interviews cannot accurately show the personality of a particular candidate.

Equal employment laws promote equality in providing job opportunities for all people irrespective of their religion, race, gender, and geographical location. Equal employment laws ensure that disadvantaged people get job opportunities to help them sustain their lives (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2017). This article demonstrates some level of consciousness in terms of equal employment by supporting telephone-based interviews. Although telephone-based interviews may not provide the best job candidates, the process is non-discriminative. This is because people from different geographical locations can be scheduled for an interview without necessarily traveling to the organization's premises. Such an arrangement ensures that people from different regions are offered an opportunity to convince the interviewer of their suitability for a job position. As such, the article promotes equal employment by supporting telephone-based interviews.

Interviewers use phone-based interview questions to screen job seekers and save time. Most phone based questions focus on salary expectations, work experience, qualifications, and applicants' job history. The following list shows some non-discriminatory phone-based interview questions:

1. Tell me about yourself?
2. What motivates you to apply for this position?
3. What are your salary expectations?
4. What most qualifies you for this position?
5. Why are you leaving your current job?
6. What is the most successful initiative you have ever completed in your previous job?

References

Blackman, M. C. (2002). The employment interview via the telephone: Are we sacrificing accurate personality judgments for cost efficiency?. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(3), 208-223. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.2001.2347

Oliphant, G. C., Hansen, K., & Oliphant, B. J. (2008). A review of a telephone-administered behavior-based interview technique. Business Communication Quarterly, 71(3), 383-386. https://doi.org/10.1177/1080569908321429

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.