What are interviews for? A qualitative study of employment interview goals and design

Abstract

The employment interview is among the most versatile of staffing tools. Yet, the interview is rarely studied as a multipurpose tool. If the interview is used to serve multiple goals, then the interview can be effective (i.e., valid), and effectively designed, in multiple ways. The current study uses qualitative methodology to develop an inductive theory of interview goals and design based on conversational interviews with 29 experienced professional interviewers. Transcript data were analyzed with template analysis grounded in a postpositive epistemology and objectivist ontology. Results suggested that the interview is primarily used to serve three broad goals: performing a targeted assessment, making a positive impression, and informing the applicant. Interviewers reported a variety of strategies for adapting the interview to achieve and balance these goals. In short, findings suggest that the interview is used in multiple ways that have received very little research attention. These findings imply that the concept of interview validity should be expanded to include multiple interviewing goals, and that interview design should be understood as a complex function of these goals. Further implications for the research, theory, and practice of employment interviews are discussed.