Publication Date

8-1-2000

Degree Program

Department of Psychology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

The preference for the use of employment interviews over other selection measures is evident in the wide usage, popularity and the vast amount of research on the utility and psychometric properties of interviews over the last 60 years. Although the vast majority of interview research has focused on the factors influencing the interviewer's rating and comparing unstructured to structured interviews formats, little in the way of comparing structured formats (i.e., the situational interview and patterned behavioral description interview) has been performed. This researcher addressed this specific concern in regard to soft-skills in a retail setting. After development of situational and patterned behavioral description interview questions, the validity of both types of interview questions in predicting job performance was measured. Both interview formats had good inter-item and inter-rater reliability. Overall, the situational interview was a better predictor of current "Customer Service" performance and overall year-end performance than the patterned behavioral description interview. The situational interview accounted for significant incremental validity beyond the patterned behavioral description interview for the overall performance data but not for the current "Customer Service" performance.

Disciplines

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

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