Interview Types

I am back from a Two weeks sabbatical (Eid Holidays). And today’s article is going to be about all the different way a company can interview you.

Interviews come in all shape and forms, recruiters have more than one chance to see if the candidate is fit not only for the job, but also for the organization. I will talk about those styles today:

• Telephone based interview:

Here where it all begins, it is a very cost-effective way to screen the candidates, in this type of interview I always focus on the candidates experience, this method always helps me eliminate candidates, especially if I have a large list of candidates for a very small amount of positions.

I have a very mixed emotion about this type, I always enjoy talking to different candidates, but that is WHEN they answer the calls, it can get frustrating trying over and over to get the candidates to pick up the phone, but I guess it is the cost of doing business.

• Committee Interview

This is where most of the candidates fall under, the committee interview A.K.A. the panel interview, this usually has a representative from HR (usually recruitment specialist) and a representative from the department (usually the direct supervisor and/or the section manager). There are multiple styles of conducting the interview and hopefully I will get a chance to cover them in the future.

• One-on-One Interview (Face-to-Face):

As a specialist it is rare that I conduct such interviews, unless it is for an HR employee, other than that it is usually reserved for management candidates with C-Suite executives. and usually this will happen after a first interview with a panel as discussed above

• Video Interview:

The video interview is one of the examples of HR using technology in a cost reduction, especially for candidates that are outside the country/city, it is not a bad method although there is a barrier in getting the non-verbal communication.

• Lunch/Dinner Interview:

This is probably the rarest type, although in my opinion in this method you can get a huge amount of non-verbal communication. Also, this style just like the one-on-one style is usually reserved for management candidates.