What is Interview and The Types of Interviews?

Interview is the main deciding factor in whether you will get the job or not. If you are well prepared, you can leave a great impression on the interviewer. 

In this article, we will learn what is interview and its types in detail that are conducted at individual and group level.

Table of Contents

• What is an interview and its types?
• Importance of Interviews
• Different Types of Interview Methods:

1. Personal Interview

2. Panel Interview

3. Structured Interview

4. Unstructured Interview

5. Stress Interview

6. Case Interview

7. Off-site Interview

8. Informational Interview

9. Working Interview

10. Exit Interview

11.Testing Interview or Task Oriented Interview

12. Video Interview (Computer Assisted)

13. Second Interview/ On-Site Interview

• Modes of Interview
• Different Types of Interviews
• How do Companies Assess A Candidate in The Interview?
• What not to do at an interview?
• Questions to ask in an interview

What is interview and Interview Types?

An interview is a question-and-answer type of round where a person asks questions and the other person answers those questions. It can be a one-on-one two-way conversation or it can be multiple interviewers and multiple participants. First, we will briefly list the different interview types and then you can learn about all the types in detail. 

1. Personal Interview: Face-to-face interview between recruiter and candidate

2. Panel Interview: Multiple interviewers assess the candidate

3. Structured Interview: Every candidate is asked the same set of questions

4. Unstructured Interview: Interviewer changes questions according to the response of the candidate

5. Stress Interview: Questions related to stressful situations are asked in this type of interview 

6. Case Interview: Candidate is assessed through situation-based problem

7. Off-site Interview: This type of interview takes place outside the office 

8. Informational Interview: Interviewer assesses a candidate in the same field to gain knowledge

9. Working Interview: Candidate has to complete a task to prove whether he/she is a right fit for the job

10. Exit Interview: This is a feedback interview where employees who are leaving the company are interviewed

11.Testing Interview or Task Oriented Interview: Problem-solving capabilities are assessed in this interview type

12. Video Interview (Computer Assisted): This type of interview is conducted over video conference

13. Second Interview/ On-Site Interview: This is the final round of interview to assess whether the candidate is a fit for the company or not

Importance of Interviews

Interviews make all of us nervous since these are the deciding factors in whether you will get the job or not. We will be discussing the details of an interview in this article. Interviews are an important part of the recruitment process. They are meant to assess the candidate on different parameters, including the following:

1. Is the candidate the right fit for the organization’s work culture?

This is an important point of judgment since the candidate must fit in the organization’s work culture. This ensures that there are no fundamental conflicts between the company and employees. It also helps the candidate easily adapt to the company policies and guidelines, ensuring a healthy work environment.

2. Does the candidate have the required skillset?

You will be able to assess whether the candidate has the required skill set for the job profile through different interview rounds. This is the most important part of the assessment. It ensures that the company is hiring the most capable employee for that job role.

3. Is the resume in alignment with the candidate’s profile?

The recruitment team can tell if the candidate’s skills and experience justify the resume through various stages of the interview process. The team can also pinpoint areas of conflict while assessing the candidate through different interview rounds. 

4. Can the candidate deal with challenging professional situations?

One important assessment in any type of interview is determining whether the candidate is capable of dealing with challenging work-related situations. Say, a project deadline is suddenly reduced or an urgent add-on task is to be completed. In such situations, how will that candidate actually react? Can the candidate think of a quick solution to tackle the issue at hand? Interviewers try to assess candidates on these parameters.

Explore interview preparation courses

Types of Interview Methods

There are two types of interview methods: individual and group interviews. 

• Individual interviews: These interviews are one-on-one interviews that are conducted between the interviewer and the candidate. Such interviews help in a detailed assessment of the candidate. This helps in a more accurate judgement of the candidate. 
• Group interviews: Such types of interviews are conducted when there are multiple candidates for a job opening. This helps in expediting the screening and recruitment process. The candidates are screened and filtered out which ultimately leads to an individual interview with the prospective employee. 

Stages of an Interview

To screen a candidate, multiple types of interview rounds are conducted for a job profile. 

1. Shortlisted candidates are contacted: After the candidates are shortlisted, they are contacted. At this stage, a basic go of the candidate’s resume is done. This may be a phone interview. Once, the recruitment team gets the required details. They shortlist the candidate for further interview rounds. 
2. Candidate is technically assessed: At this stage, a technical assessment of the candidate’s skill takes place. Interviewers ask skill-based questions. This can be a face-to-face interview round or a video interview. There can be different rounds for technically assessing the candidate. 
3. Negotiation with the selected candidate: Once the candidate clears interview rounds, the HR team contacts them. This stage includes a discussion on salary and employment terms and conditions.

What are the different modes of Interview?

We have discussed the methods and stages of interviews. Let us now discuss the different types of interviews. 

1. Telephonic Interview

This is one of the primary kinds of interviews that takes place with either HR or recruitment to assess the candidate in general. It may include asking interview questions based on the resume and the roles and responsibilities of the job profile. In most cases, telephonic interviews are the first and last stage of the interview.

2. Face-to-Face Interview

Once the candidate’s basic profile is screened and shortlisted, it is processed further. The candidate and interviewer meet in person to discuss the candidate's profile. This may include the employer, someone from Human Resources, or a recruitment consultant. Based on the interview round, you will either be assessed in general or on technical grounds. This is one of the most common types of interviews in HRM.

3. Video Interview

These can be considered a substitute for the face-to-face interview since it has a similar purpose. Video interviews happen in remote positions or in situations where meeting the candidate is not possible. Video interviewers were the most feasible types of interview during the peak of COVID-19.

Different Types of Interviews

Let us take a look at the different types of interviews conducted.

1. Personal Interview

Also known as an individual interview, this face-to-face meeting occurs between the recruiter and the candidate. The aim of such an interview type is to carefully scrutinize the aspirant to ensure that he/she is suitable for the job profile as well as the company culture. Questions like ‘Tell me about yourself” or “What are your professional achievements” are often asked in personal interviews.

2. Panel Interview

In this type of interview, there are multiple interviewers who assess the candidate. All types of questions from expertise to future aspirations may be covered in these interviews. These may include different professionals from the team who assess the candidate on different grounds. The decision in such interviews is collective. In such interviews, the candidate is keenly observed based on their skill set and body language.

3. Structured Interview

In such interviews, interviewers ask the same set of questions from all candidates. These can be open-ended or close-ended questions. If it is an open-ended question, then there can be multiple answers for a single question. If it is a close-ended question, there will only be a single answer. In this type of interview, the interviewer compares candidates based on their responses to these questions. 

4. Unstructured Interview

Here, interviewers change questions based on the candidate’s response to the previous questions. There is no set format and there can be all types of interview questions that you may not predict. The interviewer may already have questions or they might base them on the interview progress.

5. Stress Interview

These are challenging in nature since the interview assesses your response to stressful situations. Interviewers want to ensure that your response will be constructive for the company. Such types of interview are common for high-stress job profiles.  

6. Case Interview

Here, the interviewer gives you a situation and the associated problem. This may be an imaginary or a real-life problem. They then ask for a solution to the problem. The aim is to assess how good you are at problem-solving.

7. Off-site Interview

These are informal interviews where the candidate and interviewer meet at a place other than the office. The interviewer may invite the candidate over lunch. The aim of such interviews is to assess your personality outside the workplace.

8. Informational Interview

These interviews are meant to learn the real-life experience of an expert working in a field of the interviewer’s interest. In this type of interview, it is expected to seek advice and learn about a sector, job or employer. Here, experts from different fields are interviewed so that the interviewer gains more knowledge.

9. Working Interview

Unlike a traditional interview, the job seeker is assigned a task. Based on the performance of this task, the employer assesses the aspirant. Through a working interview, the job seeker can showcase the actual skillset rather than the theoretical expertise. This type of interview is also beneficial for the employee as they get the chance to practically experience the roles and responsibilities of the job profile.

10. Exit Interview

Unlike other types of interviews, exit interview allows companies to gain a perspective on why employees leave their job. Employers interview employees to share their feedback on their work experience at the company. Based on the feedback, the company can make improvements within the workflow.

11. Testing Interview or Task-Oriented Interview

This type of interview is structured in a manner to demonstrate your creative and analytical abilities of problem-solving via several tasks and exercises. This may include a short test for evaluating your technical skills and knowledge. The interviewer may assess how you perform under pressure through a varied set of tasks.

12. Video Interview (Computer Assisted)

This is one of the modern types of interview where the interviewer provides a series of questions on the screen by pressing the keys on keyboard. This type of interview focuses on assessing only the technical knowledge of the candidate instead of focusing on the other aspects of the candidate's personality. In this type of interview, the interviewer may miss out on assessing whether the candidate is a good fit for the company culture or not. 

13. The Second Interview

This is the final round of the interview that takes place between the employer and the candidate. It is one of the interview types where the company makes a final decision to hire you. Also known as on-site interview, the employer can ask challenging questions about the field and industry. The second interview ensures whether you are actually a good fit for the company's culture or not. In this round, candidates can expect meeting reporting manager and senior-level company members.

How do Companies Assess A Candidate in The Interview?

In any type of interview, companies try to assess a candidate based on three things:

• Technical Knowledge: The company wants to assess whether the candidate has good technical knowledge as per his/her experience. This is the most important aspect of any interview since every company wants the most talented candidate.
• Cultural fit: Interviewers also assess whether the candidate is fit for the company's culture. Companies assess the candidate by asking the necessary behavioural questions in the interview.
• Job History: Has the candidate stayed for past companies for the long term, or does the candidate keep on switching jobs? Companies also tend to favour candidates who have stayed for the long term with past employers.
• Passion: Does the candidate seem passionate about the job? If not, the interviewer may not consider that candidate. Every company wants employees who are passionate about growing in their careers.  

Things to Avoid at an Interview

When you sit in any kind of interview, do remember to avoid doing the following:

1. Avoid blaming your previous managers, colleagues and companies. This will leave a bad impression on the interviewer and will show you as a person who lacks accountability.
2. Do not go unprepared about the company’s background for which you are giving the interview. If you do not know anything, interviewers will feel that you are not interested in learning about the company.
3. Do not fidget with things, as this indicates a lack of self-confidence and concentration.
4. Stop checking time since it shows that you have somewhere more important to go, and you do not give the interview much importance.

Questions to Ask At an Interview

You may also get a chance to ask some questions after wrapping up the interview. You must leverage this opportunity so that you can learn valuable things from the interviewer. Based on these insights, you can further decide if the company and the job profile are the right fit for you. You may either ask company-specific or job role-related questions to the interviewer. Below are some of the common yet important questions to ask in an interview:

Q1. What are your expectations from the team members in this role?

Q2. What does the day of an employee in this role look like?

Q3. What qualities are required to succeed in this role?

Q4. How is success defined for this role?

Q5. How does this job profile contribute to the overall company goals?

Q6. What are the core values of your company?

Q7. Which departments will I be closely working with while being in this profile?

Conclusion

Try to be as authentic as possible. Do not give out false information just to impress job interviewers. Before sitting in an interview round, you can look up what are the types of interview and how many types of interview are there. If you present incorrect information, it might go against you when the interviewer asks questions based on that information.

If you do not know the answer to a question, be honest. In interviews, all kinds of questions are asked which means you may not know the answer to some questions. Rather than giving a wrong answer, you can admit that you lack knowledge related to that question.

I hope this article has helped you understand what an interview is and the different types of interviews in business communication in detail.