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Location of the InterviewFiled Under: General

Deciding on a location for the interview is an important part of the planning process. Choose a location suitable to the situation.

For example, if the position you’re attempting to fill is, at the moment, confidential, choose a location away from the office. Private meeting rooms in hotels can work well in these instances.

But most of the time, candidates are interviewed in the workplace. For those situations, I recommend conducting interviews in an office or meeting room that is comfortable, well lit, and free of disrupting noise. Your objective should be an atmosphere that will help the candidate feel at ease.

If there’s a telephone in the room, unplug it or turn off the ringer. Consider hanging a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door during the interview to prevent unnecessary interruptions. Instruct members of the interview panel to turn off cellular phones and pagers. Advise secretaries and other office staff to disturb panel members only in cases of extreme emergency.

Also be mindful of seating arrangements. Panel interviews are sometimes set up so that the candidate, sitting alone, faces the interview panel, seated at a long table. This can be a very intimidating arrangement for the candidate (although effective if you want to observe a candidate’s
behavior in a tense situation). A less intimidating arrangement would be for the interview panel to be seated around a long table, with the candidate at one end.

CAUTION

Make sure that the candidate’s chair is not lower than the chairs used by the panel members. Otherwise, the candidate may be intimidated unintentionally.

The 30-Second Recap

• Structured behavioral interviewing is based on the theory that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior in similar circumstances.
• Structured behavioral interviewing examines behavioral evidence of a candidate’s skills and abilities, and compares them to identified mandatory success factors of the job being sought.
• The process of structured behavioral interviewing should be well defined and communicated to all who participate so that interviews are conducted in a consistent manner.
• The primary purpose of the interview is to hear from the candidate, so be sure to follow the 80/20 rule—let the candidate do most of the talking.
• Scoring by evaluators should be completed immediately following each interview to preserve integrity of the data and to maintain consistency.
• Make location and seating arrangements part of your interview planning process.

Taken From: 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview