Interview and Its Types

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Interview: Definition, Objectives, Types & Guidelines

An interview is an answer to know and ascertain how to fit a man to the required job. An interview is beneficial to both the candidate and the organization, for it helps them to grow.

What is an Interview?

When you split the word ‘interview’ you get two words, ‘inter’ and ‘view’. This roughly translates to ‘between view’ or seeing each other. This means that both the groups involved in an interview get to know about one another.

Definition

A gentle conversation between two people or more where questions are asked to a person to get the required responses or answers.

OR

It can be simply defined as the formal meeting between two people where the interviewer asks questions to the interviewee to obtain information.

People involved in an interview: Usually two groups or two individuals sit facing each other in an interview. The person asking questions is the interviewer and the person answering the questions is the interviewee.

Types of Interview

1. One-to-one interview (Personal interview):

It is the most common among the interview types, it involves the interviewer asking questions maybe both technical and general to the interviewee to investigate how fit the candidate is for the job.

Example: Posts in small organizations and mid-level and high-level jobs in big organizations.

2. Group interview:

This involves multiple candidates and they are given a topic for discussion. They are assessed on their conversational ability and how satisfactorily they are able to have their own views and make others believe in them. Here, the best among the lot gets selected.

Example: Fresher posts and mid-level sales posts.

3. Panel interview (Committee Interview):

The interviewers here are a group from among the company people who are in a senior position and usually, the panel interview is when the candidate is supposed to make a presentation. But many-a-times it could be for the job interview as well. 

Example: Mid-level and high-level jobs.

4. Structured interview (Formal interview or guided interview):


Here in the traditional form of an interview, the questions asked are all in a standard format and the same is used for all the candidates. This is to assess the ability of all the candidates impartially.

Example: Entry-level jobs for fresher.

5. Unstructured interview (Informal interview or conversational interview):


This is the opposite of a structured interview. Here the interviewer has a definite idea in mind about the questions to be asked, but it doesn’t follow a certain format. The interviewer may deviate and a conversation type interview follows.

Example: Mid-level job interview for managerial position

6. Behavioral-based interview:

The interviewee is asked questions about past work experiences and how it was dealt with in a particular situation. This helps the interviewer understand the candidate’s future performance based on his past experiences.

Here the candidates need to provide examples when they have handled situations. The probing maybe in detail to assess the candidate’s behaviour and responses and this determines the candidate’s future job prospects. Example: Interview for managerial positions, executive posts.

7. Problem-solving interview (Task-Oriented interview):


Here the interviewer is more concerned about problem-solving abilities be it technical, managerial, creative or analytical skills. This is the most common among the interview patterns and it may involve either writing and answering a questionnaire set or answering the technical questions orally.

Example: Interviews for Software recruitments, technical industries, and managerial positions.

8. Depth interview (In-depth interview):

When you need to ascertain everything about the interviewee right from life history, academic qualifications, work experiences, hobbies, and interests; you conduct the depth interview.

Here the interviewer has a clear idea about the questions he will be asking but once the question is asked, he allows the conversation to flow and is more of a listener. This interview takes time and more of a friendly approach of the interviewer towards the interviewee.

Example: For executive posts.

Very rare, but such interviews are conducted to see how the candidate will be able to react in stressful situations and to assess if he will be able to handle the crisis at his job.

Tactics involved include:

* Completely ignore the candidate by maybe, making a phone call in the middle of the interview.

* Or some other tactic like continuously interrupting the candidate when he answers the questions.

* Trying to enforce your point of view forcefully even if he disagrees.

* Asking a whole lot of questions all at once.

* Interrupting him by asking another question not related to his answer.

Example: For banker jobs.


This interview is conducted over the phone and its main objective is to narrow down the probable list of candidates so that only the most eligible ones finally get shortlisted. This is done in the initial stages and before the personal interview.

Also when the candidate is far-off, the company first conducts a telephonic interview and if satisfied then arranges the travel expenses for a one-to-one interview.

Example: Interview for entry-level jobs.

11. Online interview (Video interview or Skype interview):


This interview may be was done by instant messaging, online chats, email or through videos. This involves the interviewer asking questions just like in a personal interview.

This is done based on situations like if the interviewee resides far-off or if the interview at the appointed time gets cancelled due to valid reasons. Also, it is more convenient for the interviewer that he can fix the interview at his spare time and convey the message to the candidate a few hours before or so.

This helps as the interviewer doesn’t need to inform the candidate many days in advance.

Example: Interview for mid-level posts.

12. Job Fair Interview (Career Fair interview):


Here the interviewer does a mini-interview to know the qualifications and the technical knowledge. Then basic technical questions are asked to know if the candidate can proceed further for the main interview. This is a very short interview to net only the potential candidates.

Example: Interviews for fresher jobs held at the college campus.

13. Lunch interview:

This interview is more of a conversational interview mainly designed so that the interviewer gets to know more about the candidate. This also helps the interviewer to assess how the candidate conducts himself in a less-formal environment and how he presents himself.

Example: Interview for managerial and sales posts.

15. Tea interview:
This is the same as a lunch interview but only that it differs in the time limit. Here the interviewee gets less time to prove himself. The interviewer here has a structured format for questioning since there is a time limit.

Example: Interview for positions in the fashion and glamour industry and sales posts.
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