Behavior Description Interview Essay

You bear invested the sentence of several experienced employees and a proper finagle of expense to call into question a number of promising entry-level accountants. However, you wonder if your audienceing techniques be materially serve uping you hire the strain brookdidates that will be superior performers and help your governing remain profitable. Your concerns whitethorn be justified if you argon employ a typic interviewing strategy in which at that place is no standard set of questions or a strategy in which interview questions do not explicitly steering on the past conduct of the appli spatet. Yet, at that place is an alternative. Studies in human- alternative management provoke that style description interviewing may help you signalize rectify performers from the rest of the applicators PRINCIPLES OF THE BEHAVIOR exposition INTERVIEWThe head start principle of the expression Description (BD) interview is interviewers standardize or structure the intervi ew. The around key grimace of standardization is bespeaking appli gagets the same or highly Similar questions. This allows all applicants to digest a chance to allow development round certain frolic-related concerns and allows interviewers to comp ar correspondent types of discipline. The alternative of from each i interviewer removeing their get questions will have your organization canvass apples and oranges when act to pretend hiring decisions. Often this leads to satisfy down tint hiring decisions. An organization may overly seek to standardize the location of the interview, the someone who conducts the interview, etc. Any efforts to ensure identical treatment of applicants should be encouraged. An additional proceeds of standardizing interview questions is that the interview is to a majusculeer extent def remainderable in court. In the past, organizations that had standardized questions won employment discrimination lawsuits more(prenominal) oft cadenc es than those without standardized questions. The second principle of BD interviewing is to explicitly focus on past behavior. BD enthusiasts mean that past behavior is the best forecaster of prox behavior.They overly believe more recent behavior is a weaken predictor of future behavior than senior(a) behavior and that longstanding tr contains are develop predictors of behavior than isolated incidents. The belief in the effectiveness of using past behavior to predict future behavior leads BD interviewers to beseech certain questions. These questions use a tallness adjective (e.g. most, least, toughest, etc.) to focus the applicant on one particular incident of behavior. For example, report firmlys need staff members who are involuntary to address both internal and invitee lines. To gain relevant development most an applicant, a BD interviewer efficiency ask the applicant to show me rough the utmost sentence a new idea of yours helped an organization or meeting work expose. The interviewer talent samely be ready with revue questions such as how did you develop this idea, how did you prevail on _or_ upon your supervisor or client to get married it, and how did it help the organization? The follow-up questions may be answered as the applicant discusses a particular particular, but their presence alerts the interviewer that this information is important. In anformer(a) instance, accounting master copys are a great deal called upon to make institutions to groups such as audit committees or boards of directors.Accordingly, an interviewer might ask a concern prognosis to tell me well-nigh the most delicate presentation you have ever had to make to a group of five or more people. Probes might include what was the presentation or so, how did you lift for it, and was the presentation evaluated or targetd? In each case, the BD approach to interviewing should yield a large amount of high quality information to the interviewer and ca n help the clean anxious applicant have a particular incident to discuss. The BD approach to interviewing can be strongly contrasted with more regular(prenominal) interviewing strategies. First, typical strategies suggest interviewers let candidates take the interview where they want to, go with the flow, or let the interviewee talk approximately all subject they believe so that you can best assess their genius. firearm this adv frost is encountered frequently, it is highly inaccurate. Studies contrasting BD interviewing to this approach show that the BD interview does a more better job of predicting job performance. In addition, studies that statistically feature the results of 10,000+ interviews from m all smaller studies strongly suggest that various styles of interviews that standardize questions or new(prenominal) aspects of the interview work much better than the nonstandardized interview styles. Second, BD interviewing seeks to avoid making judgments of applicants soulfulnessalities.Assessing personality characteristics in a 345 minute interview would be highly difficult for a psychologist. As a result, m whatsoever professionals imprecate on well established tests to value personalitythey are cheaper to use and much more accurate. Additionally, m each personality characteristics do not have a narrative of predicting job success. Currently, many human resource management professionals believe intelligence and dep closeableness do diametriciate higher(prenominal) performers from reject performers. Extroversion, con placered by many to be a positive trait for auditing personnel, also differentiates higher versus lower performers in some situations. former(a) traits should be viewed with caution until they clearly are shown to relate to job performance. Care should also be taken in hard to match the personality type of an applicant to the personality of the office. While it is extremely difficult to measure either of the above, it is als o potentially hazardous. The solution to this job is to avoid using most personality traits and ask applicants about past behavior that may be similar to behavior dominated on the job.Finally, the BD interviewer tries to avoid sibyllic and self critical questions. In most cases, thither is gnomish evidence to suggest that most hypothetical questions actually distinguish between better and poorer performing individuals. This may be imputable to the difficulty of injecting enough reality in the situation to make it a levelheaded predictor of job success. Self-evaluative questions such as describe yourself or are you information processing system literate also have no history of predicting job performance. In addition, they ask the applicant to do your job for you. You should steady down how competent applicants are in a particular area since you are unbalanced about their contribution to your organization. Applicants answers are influenced to a large degree by their desire t o land a job. BD interviews differ from situational interviews. modern literature has conf apply the two approaches. While the BD interview focuses on past applicant behavior, the situational interview asks applicants how they would behave in future situations (extensive research is used to create real situations). The situational interview can also strike different types of rating scales to be used at the end of the interview. While on that point are several differences between BD interviewing, situational interviewing, and typical interviews, there are also similarities. BD interviewers also believe it is important to break the ice with applicants, that they should ask for an applicants pet name, that they should take notes, and they should close the interview in a professional manner. These guidelines are important in any style of interview. step TO CONSTRUCTING A BD INTERVIEWThree travel should be used to develop a BD interview. They are illustrated in the following hypothet ical example involving the hiring of entry-level accountants in a certified public accountant . Interviewers need to analyze the job and situate the key results areas. Key results areas are the major tasks or behaviors that an entry-level accountant must be able to acquire. Key results areas may be defined by many different strategies including a discussion among recruiters, managing directors, and partners. Key results areas might include 1. Communicate with separate individuals-a. In verbal and written forms with other accountants including supervisors and peersb. In verbal and written forms with clients 2. Diagnoses organizational problems 3. urge on solutions to organizational problems and 4. Use universal computing device software (e.g., spreadsheet architectural plans, data retrieval software, online services, or tax-preparation packages). The above behaviors or tasks should be examined to determine the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that will enable them t o be accomplished. Thus, an entry-level accountant should have 1. Written communicating skills to interact by means of letters and reports to clients and other accountants 2. Verbal communication skills to communicate with clients and other accountants (not necessarily including making presentations to large groups) 3. readiness to advert problems in complex situations4. skill to solve problems individually and in groups 5. aptitude to attend to large amounts of detail 6. office to manage multiple tasks 7. Knowledge of common software programs The KSAs required lead to a selection plan that involves a serial of BD questions. In this example it is assumed that there will be two interviews a recruiting interview at the naturalize and an invitation to the firms office. To evaluate the candidates KSAs the following questions and probes might be used. 1 Written communication skillsa. Ask for a sample of writing from a professional or educational mount forwards the second interv iew.2. Verbal communication skillsa. take note for verbal communication skills throughout each interview and rate them at the end of the first and second interviews.3. index to diagnose problems in complex situationsa. narrate me about the ending magazine you recognized a problem in an organization in which you were conglomerate.* How did you recognize the problem?* How did you study the problem?* How did you determine a solution to the problem?b. Tell me about a time in the last year in which you were gathering information from a person who was organism uncoopeative.* What was the situation?* Why were they being uncooperative?* How did you feel?* How did you get the information you needed?* What was the result in this situation?4. Ability to solve problems individually and in groups/teams a. What was the most successful solution that you and a group of other individuals developed to a particular problem?* What was the problem?* What was your mathematical function?* What was t he result of your solution?b. What is the toughest problem that you as an individual have solved in an educational or work setting?* What was the problem?* What was the result of your solution?5. Ability to attend to large amounts of detaila. Tell me about the last time when you had to gather large amounts of information to complete a escort.*What was the project?*How did you excogitate the details?* What was the end result?* Did anyone assign you a club for the project?b. Which class of yours required the most attention to detail. disport tell me how you dealt with the demands of the class.* How did it require attention to detail?* What was your strategy to deal with the detail?*What was the result?6. Ability to manager multiple tasksa. Tell me about how you managed your aim work and extracircular activities during your busiest semester.* What made the semester so grumpy?* Did you have any priorities?* Where there any strategies that helped you cope?* How did the semester tur n out (in ground of grades, activities, etc.)? b. Tell me about the last time you had to juggle several different responsibililties when you held a job.* What were the responsibilities?* Did you have any priorities?* Where there any strategies that helped you cope?7. Knowledge of computer software programsa. Please tell us about the most involved computer project that you have been involved with in school or in an organization.* What software was involved?* What was your role?* What was the result or grade?4. Please tell us about the last time you learned a new piece of software.* What did it help you accomplish?* How did you learn it?* Did you enjoy the experience?c. Please tell us about any time that you used a spreadsheet program such as Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro, or Excel. * Was individually or a group?*What did you need to accomplish?* What was the result or grade?Once the questions are developed, recruiters should organize the questions and probes into some logical order on an interview form. The form may provide reminders to greet the applicant warmly and any other reminders desired by the recruiters. It should decidedly leave enough room for notes about the answer to each question. These notes can be extremely helpful when recruiters are trying to remember the remarks of each person lately interviewed. We recommend that recruiters practice with the new interviewing form. Recruiters may pair off and take turns compete the interviewer and the applicant, or they may wish to draught a student to go through an interview.The trial interviews could be recorded on a video camera. The feedback from the video playback is often a very valuable cultivation experience. Lastly, an interviewer evaluation report should be designed to record ratings for each candidate. The process is relatively unprejudiced once the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required by the job have been inclination of an orbited. We suggest that recruiters list all the KSAs down o ne side of the paper as seen in presage 1. (Figure omitted) This will allow a opinionated consideration of each applicant against job requirements. Next, recruiters should choose a rating scale. We have chosen a five-point scale anchored by very little of the KSA on one end of the scale and a great amount on the other end of the scale Scales should have from five to cardinal points and anchors meaningful to the recruiters.A place for notes or comments and a set of simple instructions is also recommended. Finally, there should be a place for an boilersuit evaluation of the candidate. there are several different methods which can be used to generate an general evaluation get. A recruiter can make an overall evaluation of the candidate on the same scale used for each KSA. Unfortunately, past research has suggested that this method is not very reliable. Another option is presented in the figure on page 77. In this case the recruiters add their ratings to form a final evaluation. This approach is relatively simple and often yields final recommendations quite similar to more complex methods.Furthermore, individual KSAs can be weighted differently. In this case, each KSA evaluation score could be multiplied by its weight. All slews would be summed to obtain an overall score For example, assume that the first four KSAs in the figure were assigned weights of .2 and the last three KSAs weights of .1. A candidate might be given a rating of 5 on the first two KSAs and ratings of 4 on the other KSAs. The candidates overall evaluation score would equal 4.8 (5 x .2 + 5 x 2+ 4 x .2 + 4 x 2 + 4 x .1+ 4 x .1+ 4 x .1). Either of the last two approaches is recommended. The authors would like to thank capital of Minnesota Osting (Vice-Chairman, Human Resources, Ernst & Young, New York, NY), J. Breck Boynton (Director of Human Resources, Elliot, Davis, & Company, Greensville, SC) and Patricia G. Roth (Clemson University) for their comments and suggestions.