by Yvonne Moore

Created on: August 18, 2008   Last Updated: June 13, 2009

An effective interview should measure the combination of knowledge, skills, experience and abilities (KSOAs) of a candidate. However, these KSOAs must coincide with the organization's short and or long term business objectives. Addressing these two issues should be the focal point of all interviews. In fact, making hiring decisions based on these factors is what differentiates a firm from its competitors.

Unfortunately, many companies assume that their managers can obtain this information during the interview by asking open ended questions based on the candidate's resume. Authors Heneman and Judge of "Staffing Organizations (5th ed.)" clearly indicate that research has proven this to be the least valid and least reliable method for interviewing. Subjectivity is all but mandated with unstructured interviews. Unintended biases are sure to surface from the interviewer. This includes physical appearance of the candidate, over rating first impressions and placing too much importance on similarities. For example, posing the question "Tell me a little bit about yourself" is open ended without any relevance to the job vacancy. Therefore, the interviewer has to be subjective in evaluating the response.

Now consider the aforementioned unstructured question to this one: "In your current position what percent of revenue are you responsible for generating?" This same question can be asked to each candidate then objectively compared. Therefore, responses can be rated with a standardized scorecard. Questions are not the only techniques that can be standardized. Heneman and Judge recommend additional methods be incorporated in the interviewing process to prevent adverse impact. This term refers to a specific assessment technique's potential predictor for discrimination.

Measuring KSAOs and incorporating business objectives into a structured interview process that does not create adverse impact should be the goal. The following nine strategies were designed to include these concepts.

Top 9 strategies for conducting effective executive interviews.

1. Value the KSAOs according to the position.

Job responsibilities are not the same within a business nor are the knowledge, skills, abilities and attributes needed. Failing to weigh the importance of each position assumes all tasks performed and all positions are of equal value. Competencies for each position should be weighted according to the importance of reaching business objectives. For example, a project manager must not only have

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