Types of Job Interviews

A selection process in the company can be made up of different types of tests aimed at choosing a candidate who meets the competencies of that job position. Each professional acquires greater self-confidence in overcoming these types of dynamics based on their own experience. What are the different types of job interviews ? In psychology, we list which are the most frequent in a selection process.

1. Job interview by phone

The area of communication through which the conversation that centers the interview in an interview of this type is developed is the telephone line. In this type of interview, the information transmitted through body language is not present, but rather that which starts from the words and tone of voice . This type of test is usually short-lived.

2. Individual job interview

It is that interview in which the candidate goes to the company to hold a meeting with the interviewer. The professional conducting the interview asks the candidates questions about their academic and professional life to deepen their knowledge of the curriculum, always observing the selection of talent based on the diagnosis of competencies carried out for said job position.

In this type of job interview, the candidate sends information about himself through his verbal and body language. Discover here the types of non-verbal communication.

3. Group work interview

By differentiating the different types of interviews based on the number of participants, this test can not only be individual but also group. In this case, the interviewer asks questions in a context in which different candidates are present. This creates a particular characteristic that, from a situational point of view, also allows the manager to observe how candidates behave in their interaction with others.

4. Structured job interview

The interviews carried out under this scheme in the context of a personnel selection process are based on a list of fixed questions that are made to the different candidates who apply for said job position. The characteristics of this type of sequence are different from those of an interview with questions that are not predetermined in advance in a free interview that follows a more flexible pace. In this type of job interview, questionnaires such as the Zulliger test for personnel selection may appear .

5. Panel job interview

While in a group interview, an interviewer meets with several candidates or in an individual interview, a single candidate receives the questions of the person in charge of the interview, in a test of this type, the person answers the questions of several interviewers . This type of test is not frequent in a selection process compared to the individual interview, however, it is possible that it is given.

Its approach allows the company to obtain more information about the candidate from the observations made by the different human resources participants that establish feedback.

6. Tension interview

It may happen that the company is selecting a person for a job in which the professional has to manage complex situations from calm . Sometimes companies use the stress interview to find out what the candidate's response is when they are exposed to stressful situations, for example. In other words, they are interviews that have a situational character and that, beyond what a candidate says about himself, they offer the observable confrontation of the experience in an experiential interview.

Creating a climate of this type is the very objective of the interview from the beginning, that is, it is the motivation inherent in choosing this test in a selection process. To do this, the interviewer may pose the questions in an impolite or polite tone. The main feeling the candidate experiences during the interview is discomfort. Although the interviewer can also produce this effect, beyond words, through prolonged silences.

If a job interview always involves going outside of the usual comfort zone , this type of test breaks even more with the predictability of that comfort zone.

7. Online job interview

Finally, in this article on types of job interviews, we will talk about the online interview.

New technologies have opened the door to new communication techniques . The very essence of the individual interview can be transferred to a context other than the face-to-face setting, specifically, it can be developed through an online conversation. Due to the characteristics of this type of test, this interview is especially recommended when the candidate lives in another city.

This type of communication medium has not only strengths, but also weaknesses . For example, technical errors may occur in the Internet connection. Throughout a selection process to apply for a job in a company, a candidate can take several of these tests.