Definition of the word interview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.^[1] In common parlance, the word «interview» refers to a one-on-one conversation between an interviewer and an interviewee. The interviewer asks questions to which the interviewee responds, usually providing information. That information may be used or provided to other audiences immediately or later. This feature is common to many types of interviews – a job interview or interview with a witness to an event may have no other audience present at the time, but the answers will be later provided to others in the employment or investigative process. An interview may also transfer information in both directions.

Interviews usually take place face-to-face, in person, but the parties may instead be separated geographically, as in videoconferencing^[2] or telephone interviews. Interviews almost always involve spoken conversation between two or more parties. In some instances a «conversation» can happen between two persons who type their questions and answers.

Interviews can be unstructured, free-wheeling and open-ended conversations without predetermined plan or prearranged questions.^[3] One form of unstructured interview is a focused interview in which the interviewer consciously and consistently guides the conversation so that the interviewee’s responses do not stray from the main research topic or idea.^[4] Interviews can also be highly structured conversations in which specific questions occur in a specified order.^[5] They can follow diverse formats; for example, in a ladder interview, a respondent’s answers typically guide subsequent interviews, with the object being to explore a respondent’s subconscious motives.^[6][7] Typically the interviewer has some way of recording the information that is gleaned from the interviewee, often by keeping notes with a pencil and paper, or with a video or audio recorder. Interviews usually have a limited duration, with a beginning and an ending.

The traditionally two-person interview format, sometimes called a one-on-one interview, permits direct questions and follow-ups, which enables an interviewer to better gauge the accuracy and relevance of responses. It is a flexible arrangement in the sense that subsequent questions can be tailored to clarify earlier answers. Further, it eliminates possible distortion due to other parties being present.

Face to face interviewing helps both parties to interact and form a connection, and understand the other.^[8] Further, face to face interview sessions can be more enjoyable.^[8]

Contexts[edit]

Interviews can happen in a wide variety of contexts:

• Employment. A job interview is a formal consultation for evaluating the qualifications of the interviewee for a specific position.^[9][10] One type of job interview is a case interview in which the applicant is presented with a question or task or challenge, and asked to resolve the situation.^[11] Candidates may be treated to a mock interview as a training exercise to prepare the respondent to handle questions in the subsequent ‘real’ interview. A series of interviews may be arranged, with the first interview sometimes being a short screening interview, followed by more in-depth interviews, usually by company personnel who can ultimately hire the applicant. Technology has enabled new possibilities for interviewing; for example, video telephony has enabled inteviewing applicants from afar.
• Psychology. Psychologists use a variety of interviewing methods and techniques to try to understand and help their patients. In a psychiatric interview, a psychiatrist or psychologist or nurse asks a battery of questions to complete what is called a psychiatric assessment. Sometimes two people are interviewed by an interviewer, with one format being called couple interviews.^[12] Criminologists and detectives sometimes use cognitive interviews on eyewitnesses and victims to try to ascertain what can be recalled specifically from a crime scene, hopefully before the specific memories begin to fade in the mind.^[13][14]
• Marketing and Academic. In marketing research and academic research, interviews are used in a wide variety of ways as a method to do extensive personality tests. Interviews are the most used form of data collection in qualitative research.^[4] Interviews are used in marketing research as a tool that a firm may utilize to gain an understanding of how consumers think. Consumer research firms sometimes use computer-assisted telephone interviewing to randomly dial phone numbers to conduct highly structured telephone interviews, with scripted questions and responses entered directly into the computer.^[15]
• Journalism and other media. Typically, reporters covering a story in journalism conduct interviews over the phone and in person to gain information for subsequent publication. Reporters also interview government officials and political candidates for broadcast.^[16] In a talk show, a radio or television «host» interviews one or more people, with the topic usually chosen by the host, sometimes for the purposes of entertainment, sometimes for informational purposes. Such interviews are often recorded.
• Other situations. Sometimes college representatives or alumni conduct college interviews with prospective students as a way of assessing a student’s suitability while offering the student a chance to learn more about a college.^[17] Some services specialize in coaching people for interviews.^[17] Embassy officials may conduct interviews with applicants for student visas before approving their visa applications. Interviewing in legal contexts is often called interrogation. Debriefing is another kind of interview.

Blind interview[edit]

In a blind interview the identity of the interviewee is concealed so as to reduce interviewer bias. Blind interviews are sometimes used in the software industry and are standard in orchestral auditions. Blind interviews have been shown in some cases to increase the hiring of minorities and women.^[18]

Interviewer bias[edit]

The relationship between the interviewer and interviewee in research settings can have both positive and negative consequences.^[19] Their relationship can bring deeper understanding of the information being collected, however this creates a risk that the interviewer will be unable to be unbiased in their collection and interpretation of information.^[19] Bias can be created from the interviewers perception of the interviewee, or from the interviewee’s perception of the interviewer.^[19] Additionally, a researcher can bring biases to the table based on the researcher’s mental state, their preparedness for conducting the research, and the researcher conducting inappropriate interviews.^[20] Interviewers can use various practices known in qualitative research to mitigate interviewer bias. These practices include subjectivity, objectivity, and reflexivity. Each of these practices allows the interviewer, or researcher, the opportunity to use their bias to enhance their work by gaining a deeper understanding of the problem they are studying.^[21]

See also[edit]

• Repertory grid interview
• In research
  • Telephone interview
  • Computer assisted telephone interviewing
  • Interview (research)
  • Knowledge transfer
  • Online interview
  • Mall intercept interview
  • Qualitative research interview
  • Structured interview
  • Unstructured interview
• In journalism and media
  • Interview (journalism)
  • Talk show
• In other contexts
  • College interview
  • Reference interview, between a librarian and a library user

References[edit]

The interview is a commonly used data collection method for hiring employees to interrogate witnesses. We have faced interviews all the time. But can you define and understand its meaning? And can we even tell which types of interviews we faced?

Definition of Interview

An interview is a procedure designed to obtain information from a person through oral responses to oral inquiries.

Gary Dessler states, “Interview is a selection procedure designed to predict future job performance based on applicants’ responses to oral inquiries.”

An interview is a face-to-face conversation between the interviewer and the interviewee, where the interviewer seeks replies from the interviewee for choosing a potential employee.

Meaning of Interview

The interview is the most critical component of the entire selection process, designed to decide if an individual should be interviewed further, hired, or eliminated from consideration. It serves as the primary means to collect additional information on an applicant and the basis for assessing an applicant’s job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities.

10 Types of Interview

Ten types of interviews;

Unstructured (Non-directive) Interview

In unstructured interviews, there is generally no set format to follow, so that the interview can take various directions. The lack of structure allows the interviewer to ask follow-up questions and pursue points of interest as they develop.

An unstructured interview is an interview where probing, open-ended questions are asked. It involves a procedure where different questions may be asked to different applicants.

Structured (Directive) Interview

In structured interviews, the interviewer lists the questions and acceptable responses in advance and may even rate and score possible answers for appropriateness.

An interview consisting of a series of job-related questions asked consistently of each applicant for a particular job is known as a structured interview.

A structured interview typically contains four types of questions.

• Situational questions: Pose a hypothetical job situation to determine what the applicant would do.
• Job knowledge questions: Probe the applicant’s job-related knowledge.
• Job-sample simulation questions: Involve situations where an applicant may be required to perform a sample task from the job.
• Worker requirements questions: Seek to determine the applicant’s willingness to conform to the job requirements.

Situational Interview

In a situational interview, you ask the candidate what his or her behavior would be in a given situation.

Candidates are interviewed about what actions they would take in various job-related situations. Situational interviews ask interviewees to describe how they would react to a hypothetical situation today or tomorrow.

Behavioral Interview

In a behavioral interview, you ask applicants to describe how they reacted to actual situations in the past.

Candidates are asked what actions they have taken in prior job situations similar to situations they may encounter on the job. The interviewers are then scored using a scoring guide constructed by job experts.

This structured interview uses questions designed to probe the candidate’s past behavior in specific situations.

This technique involves asking all interviewees standardized questions about how they handled past situations similar to situations they may encounter on the job.

The interviewer may also ask discretionary probing questions for details of the situation, the interviewee’s behavior, and the outcome.

The interviewee’s responses are then scored with behaviorally anchored rating scales.

In a job-related interview, the interviewer asks applicants questions about relevant past experiences.

It is a series of job-related questions that focus on relevant past job-related behaviors. The questions here don’t revolve around hypothetical or actual situations scenarios.

Instead, the interviewer asks job-related questions such as, “Which courses did you like best in business school?”

Stress Interview

In a stress interview, the interviewer seeks to make the applicant uncomfortable with occasionally rude questions.

The aim is supposedly to spot sensitive applicants and those with low or high-stress tolerance.

Stress interviews may help unearth hypersensitive applicants who might overreact to mild criticism with anger and abuse.

It intentionally creates anxiety to determine how an applicant will react to stress on the job.

Panel Interview (Board Interview)

A panel interview, also known as a board interview, is conducted by a team of interviewers who interview each candidate and then combine their ratings into a final score.

Here one candidate is interviewed by several representatives of the firm. This technique entails the job candidate giving oral responses to job-related questions asked by a panel of interviewers.

Check out our articles on how oral communication is effective and where it fails.

Each panel member then rates each interviewee on work history, motivation, creative thinking, and presentation.

The scoring procedure for oral interview boards has typically been subjective; thus, it would be subject to the personal biases of those sitting on the board.

This technique may not be feasible for jobs where many applicants must be interviewed.

One-On-One Interview

In a one-on-one interview, one interviewer meets one candidate. In a typical employment interview, the applicant meets one-on-one with an interviewer.

As the interview may be a highly emotional occasion for the applicant, meeting alone with the interviewer is often less threatening.

Mass Interview (Group Interview)

The mass/group interview is a relatively new technique in the west and is almost unknown. It is a procedure for the discovery of leadership.

Several job applicants are placed in a leaderless discussion, and interviewers sit in the background to observe and evaluate the performance of the candidates.

In a mass/group interview, the panel interviews several candidates simultaneously. The panel poses a problem and then watches to see which candidate takes the lead in formulating an answer.

Phone Interview

Employers do some interviews entirely by These can be more accurate than face-to-face interviews for judging an applicant’s conscientiousness, intelligence, and interpersonal skills.

Neither party needs to worry about appearance or handshakes, so each can focus on substantive answers.

Or perhaps candidates – somewhat surprised by an unexpected call from the recruiter – give more spontaneous answers.

How Can Interviews Be Administered?

Interviews can also be administered in various ways that are discussed below:

Personal Interview

Personal interviews are one-on-one, in which the candidate meets privately with a single interviewer.

Often a well-qualified candidate will pass through a series of such interviews, first with a member of the human resources department, then with the manager in whose unit there is a job opening, and finally, perhaps with the manager’s superior.

The rest of this section focuses primarily on the one-on-one scenario.

Unstructured Sequential Interview

It is an interview in which each interviewer forms an independent opinion after asking different questions.

Structured Sequential Interview

It is an interview in which each interviewer rates the candidates on a standard evaluation form. The top-level manager then reviews and compares the evaluations before deciding who to hire.

The group interview

Several candidates are interviewed at once.

Generally, they can discuss job-related matters while one or more observers rate their performance.

This type of interview is usually considered most appropriate in selecting managers; it can also be used with groups of current employees to evaluate their potential for supervisory roles.

Panel Interview

One candidate meets with a panel of two or more firm representatives. One panelist may act as a chairperson, but each of the firm’s representatives participates in the questioning and discussion.

This format allows the interviewers to coordinate their efforts and follow up with each other’s questions.

Computer-assisted Interview

The applicant is presented with a series of questions on a video screen to which he/she responds by pressing the appropriate key on a keyboard.

Preliminary experience suggests that the procedure is faster than face-to-face interviews, that applicants are more candid, and overcomes the lack of consistency between interviewers.

This approach cannot assess emotional responses or interpersonal skills. But it has promise as a helpful additional tool in the selection process.

Programming and development costs appear to be the most practical choice when fairly large candidates are interviewed for a given job.

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French entreveue (French entrevue), feminine singular past participle of entrevëoir, from entre- + vëoir (“to see”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪntəvjuː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪntɚvjuː/

Noun[edit]

interview (plural interviews)

1. (obsolete) An official face-to-face meeting of monarchs or other important figures. [16th–19th c.]

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 2, member 4:

     To be present at an interview, as that famous of Henry the Eighth and Francis the First, so much renowned all over Europe […], no age ever saw the like.

2. Any face-to-face meeting, especially of an official or adversarial nature. [from 17th c.]

   • 1973, Gore Vidal, Burr , chapter 28:

     (Aaron Burr narrating): It was at about this time that I learned exactly what it was that Hamilton had said of me, and knew that this world was far too narrow a place to contain the two of us. Hamilton’s friend made one further attempt to get him off the hook but only further impaled the slanderer by remarking that should Colonel Burr wish to enquire of any other conversation of Hamilton concerning Burr, a prompt and frank avowal or denial would be given. This was too much. I told Van Ness to set a time and place for an interview [referring to a duel with pistols].

3. A conversation in person (or, by extension, over the telephone, Internet etc.) between a journalist and someone whose opinion or statements he or she wishes to record for publication, broadcast etc. [from 19th c.]

   The reporter gave the witness an interview.

4. A formal meeting, in person, for the assessment of a candidate or applicant. [from 20th c.]

   It was a dreadful interview; I have no hope of getting the job.

5. An audition.
6. A police interrogation of a suspect or party in an investigation. [from 20th c.]

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• → Esperanto: intervjuo
• → French: interview
• → German: Interview
• Italian: intervista
• → Japanese: インタビュー
• → Korean: 인터뷰 (inteobyu)
• Lithuanian: interviu
• → Malay: interviu
• Portuguese: entrevista
• Romanian: interviu
• → Russian: интервью́ (intervʹjú)
• Spanish: entrevista

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

interview (third-person singular simple present interviews, present participle interviewing, simple past and past participle interviewed)

1. (transitive) To ask questions of (somebody); to have an interview.

   He interviewed the witness.

   The witness was interviewed.

2. (intransitive) To be interviewed; to attend an interview.
   • 2000, U.S. News and World Report: Volume 129, Issues 18-25

     When she interviewed with Microsoft in August, she overlooked a small cut in salary and asked about long-term career opportunities — and quality of life.

Derived terms[edit]

• interviewee
• interviewer

Descendants[edit]

• ⇒ Cantonese: in (in¹)

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

• “interview”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• interview in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Further reading[edit]

Czech[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English interview.

Noun[edit]

interview n

1. interview (conversation intended for recording statements for publication)

   poskytovat interview ― to give an interview

[edit]

• See vize

Further reading[edit]

• interview in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• interview in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English interview.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪntərˌvju/

Noun[edit]

interview n (plural interviews, diminutive interviewtje n)

1. interview (conversation intended for recording statements for publication)

Verb[edit]

interview

1. first-person singular present indicative of interviewen
2. imperative of interviewen

[edit]

• interviewen
• herinterviewen
• interviewer
• interviewster
• geïnterviewde

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

English interview. Doublet of entrevue.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɛʁ.vju/, /in.tɛʁ.vju/

Noun[edit]

interview f or m (plural interviews)

1. interview (by a journalist)

Derived terms[edit]

• interviewer

Further reading[edit]

• “interview”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

in·ter·view

 (ĭn′tər-vyo͞o′)

n.

1. A formal meeting in person, especially one arranged for the assessment of the qualifications of an applicant.

2.

a. A conversation, such as one conducted by a reporter, in which facts or statements are elicited from another.

b. An account or a reproduction of such a conversation.

3. Informal An interviewee: an actor who was a tough interview.

v. in·ter·viewed, in·ter·view·ing, in·ter·views

v.tr.

To obtain an interview from.

v.intr.

To have an interview: interviewed with a publishing company.

---

[French entrevue, from Old French, from feminine past participle of entrevoir, to see : entre-, between (from Latin inter-; see inter-) + voir, to see (from Latin vidēre; see weid- in Indo-European roots).]

---

in′ter·view′a·ble adj.

in′ter·view·ee′ n.

in′ter·view′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

interview

(ˈɪntəˌvjuː)

n

1. (Broadcasting) a conversation with or questioning of a person, usually conducted for television, radio, or a newspaper

2. (Industrial Relations & HR Terms) a formal discussion, esp one in which an employer assesses an applicant for a job

vb

3. to conduct an interview with (someone)

4. (intr) to be interviewed, esp for a job: he interviewed well and was given the position.

[C16: from Old French entrevue; see inter-, view]

ˌinterviewˈee n

ˈinterˌviewer n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•ter•view

(ˈɪn tərˌvyu)
n.

1. a formal meeting in which one or more persons question, consult, or evaluate another person: a job interview.

2.

a. a conversation or meeting in which a writer or reporter obtains information from one or more persons for a news story, broadcast, etc.

b. the report of such a conversation.

v.t.

3. to have an interview with.

v.i.

4. to have an interview; be interviewed (sometimes fol. by with).

5. to give or conduct an interview.

[1505–15; earlier enterview < Middle French entrevue, n. use of feminine of entrevu, past participle of entrevoir to glimpse; see inter-, view]

in′ter•view`a•ble, adj.

Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

interview

Past participle: interviewed
Gerund: interviewing

Imperative
interview
interview

Present
I interview
you interview
he/she/it interviews
we interview
you interview
they interview

Preterite
I interviewed
you interviewed
he/she/it interviewed
we interviewed
you interviewed
they interviewed

Present Continuous
I am interviewing
you are interviewing
he/she/it is interviewing
we are interviewing
you are interviewing
they are interviewing

Present Perfect
I have interviewed
you have interviewed
he/she/it has interviewed
we have interviewed
you have interviewed
they have interviewed

Past Continuous
I was interviewing
you were interviewing
he/she/it was interviewing
we were interviewing
you were interviewing
they were interviewing

Past Perfect
I had interviewed
you had interviewed
he/she/it had interviewed
we had interviewed
you had interviewed
they had interviewed

Future
I will interview
you will interview
he/she/it will interview
we will interview
you will interview
they will interview

Future Perfect
I will have interviewed
you will have interviewed
he/she/it will have interviewed
we will have interviewed
you will have interviewed
they will have interviewed

Future Continuous
I will be interviewing
you will be interviewing
he/she/it will be interviewing
we will be interviewing
you will be interviewing
they will be interviewing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been interviewing
you have been interviewing
he/she/it has been interviewing
we have been interviewing
you have been interviewing
they have been interviewing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been interviewing
you will have been interviewing
he/she/it will have been interviewing
we will have been interviewing
you will have been interviewing
they will have been interviewing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been interviewing
you had been interviewing
he/she/it had been interviewing
we had been interviewing
you had been interviewing
they had been interviewing

Conditional
I would interview
you would interview
he/she/it would interview
we would interview
you would interview
they would interview

Past Conditional
I would have interviewed
you would have interviewed
he/she/it would have interviewed
we would have interviewed
you would have interviewed
they would have interviewed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

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