Interviewing during Covid
- Thread starter Bushman
- Start date
Minimise the risk, so have a decent structured process, and as Mr D suggests, start with a phone or online interview.
If you're going to progress to a face to face, then deal with it properly; e.g. ensure it's in a well ventilated space, where social distancing can be enforced, wear a mask and ask candidates to do so too, have hand sanitisers and be responsible.
If you're going to progress to a face to face, then deal with it properly; e.g. ensure it's in a well ventilated space, where social distancing can be enforced, wear a mask and ask candidates to do so too, have hand sanitisers and be responsible.
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Working for places that scored instead of gutted I've worked with many great people.
All of whom scored highly in the one test that counted. Those businesses wouldn't settle for 'someone the interviewer can work with' as a standard to meet.
Best person interviewed works.
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In my industry it has been: Weed out the CVs -> Phone Interview -> Video Interview -> Face-to-face for many years. Nothing has changed due to Covid.
Very few people I can't work with. Those that can demonstrate the required skills and knowledge (even that can be subjective and I never "score" people) win over those that give a "warm fuzzy feeling".
Very few people I can't work with. Those that can demonstrate the required skills and knowledge (even that can be subjective and I never "score" people) win over those that give a "warm fuzzy feeling".
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One of the worst ways to whittle down candidates is through Apitude tests and Personality assessment tests. They are such a waste of time and so many times I have seen really good candidates get rejected due to these 'scores'! It no way highlights your experience and how you can do the job. Alex
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Just a quick point, aptitude and personality tests aren't meant to highlight experience. Other aspects of the interviewing process do that, if it's relevant. Good tests do give valuable information about how well you can perform, but their results need to be interpreted appropriately. They're just tools.
In answer to the original question, I've not heard of anyone having a face to face interview since March. It's all Zoom.
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Where I’m currently working, they’ve easily had 2 dozen face to face interviews since March. My friend got a new job yesterday after 2 face to face interviews. They’re going on all over the place.
I’m just a ‘bod’ in this job, but in my last job I was the hirer. If I was still in that role, I’d be conducting face to face interviews.
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But the questions had nothing to do with the role? It was questions about shapes and random numeric remembering tasks. It eliminated people who had lots of experience and were very good, in the end the company got rid of the test as they realized (far too late in my opinion) that so many good candidates were being rejected through tests that had nothing to do with the role. Alex
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Proven ability tests work well, but there are different ability tests and interviewers are supposed to select an appropriate test. None of them need to *directly* have anything to do with the role, they are there to assess capabilities that are applicable to the role. For example, there's a famous and proven administrative skills psychometric test. Very good at what it does. Very useless if used to measure ability to be a submarine commander. Which test was used in your example?
The test didn't eliminate anyone, the interviewers did.
So in the end the company realised they had either a) chosen the wrong test or b) based their selection process too entirely on a test for a role where experience is apparently incredibly vital (it often isn't). Which makes me wonder, if experience was so vital, why would they use a test at all?
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It was about 5 years ago now so cannot remember the test but it was for a company we worked alongside and the comments were constantly negative. I think the problem was they used the psychometric test was used throughout the company so maybe it was good for one role but terrible for most. I know they used it for about a year and it cost them many many good candidates. I personally don't think they should be used before an interview. If you are going to use them, then use them alongside an interview, not as an alternative to an interview and you will never get to know someone's personality through a test. Alex
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Possibly. Without knowing the test and the context, I can't say, but you have said this was clearly an ability test. Whilst ability tests shouldn't be used across a company, personality tests can be. They're very different tests.
Again, allow me to be a bit picky here - the tests do not lose candidates, the recruitment process as a whole does.
Why not?
Oh hang on, now you're talking about personality tests. But up 'til now we were discussing ability tests. Was it a personality or an ability test which you've been talking about?
The research shows you can get a great deal of insight from them. On what basis you say this?
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Depends where
Of course, with ZOOM you do not need a mask, while in the office I`m wearing mask always
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As they are a waste of time.
No I am talking about a Psychometric test. Nothing to do with an ability test or personality test. Silly questions like 'which word is out of place in this sentence' shows nothing about a persons ability to do the job.
Again you are talking about statistics, no test will ever replace interviewing someone face to face.
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Based on what evidence?
Er.. ability and personality tests *are* psychometric tests... All your posts in our discussion mentioned ability tests, and your last one mentioned personality tests. I'm afraid I don't think you understand the subject matter here.
I am talking about the evidence which shows the tests cannot be dismissed in the way you would like to. Are you interested in evidence?
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Are you being serious? So your saying talking to someone face to face should be abolished? Talking to someone face to face is the best and only way in my opinion to get to know the candidate and understand whether they can fit into your business and culture. So you are saying that if a company is looking to hire a bin man, then they should send a test out and if they put the shapes in the right place then they have a job. Surely no test and a face to face interview would be the only way to see if a person could do the job in this instance? You are being way too general saying that research shows as you are implying this is the case for all sectors, which is just not true!
I know that in my experience *tests* do not work and that is my belief. Saying I don't understand this subject matter is silly as you keep referring to statistics but never actually going back to personal examples? Whenever I have seen *tests* taking place, they have not worked and actually been detrimental to the recruitment process. So I respectfully ask that you have your view and I have mine but saying I don't understand the subject matter is a little rude. Alex
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It is the best way to appoint a candidate in the interviewer's own image, which is a problem in very many ways.
Why would you interview every candidate for a bin man's job? You apply some sort of test to decide who to interview, whether you are aware of it or not.
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You think a 45 minute face to face interview where you ask each candidate common questions is getting to know the candidate and understand whether they can fit into your business and culture?
Congrats, you are able to get far more out of candidates in that timescale than anyone I've ever been on the panel with has done. Or perhaps you had much more zany questions designed to show candidates ability to do the job before you showed them what was involved in the job.
Places I've been interviewing we used a scoring system. Score highest and you get the job. If multiple positions then the highest however many get offered the job.
Use interview to weed out people? Fine. Someone you cannot work with that comes across that way in an interview probably isn't worth the effort.
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Thousand applicants (not apparently uncommon this year) you do a sift. Chuck out everyone identifiable as unsuited to the job. Then deal with the other 950 in whatever other way.
Interview the best 3 for one job.
The getting from the 950 to the 3 should - as you say - be a process of some sort.
Top 3 off the pile may work as well as spending a few seconds scanning each of the application forms.
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@Newchodge is not being way too general. She is citing actual evidence drawn from the entire body of research - academic and applied (as in real life) - which shows interviewing alone is the worst way to appraise a candidate for their suitability for a job. Across the board. Across all sectors. Re-evidenced year upon year for decades.
This of course may seen counter-intuitive to you, and may cause discomfort for you to believe. But stacks of evidence that has studied millions of "personal experiences" and real-life examples has shown interviews are a terrible predictor of performance in a job.
It is not silly and it was not meant to be rude. But you clearly said:
"No I am talking about a Psychometric test. Nothing to do with an ability test or personality test."
If you understood the subject matter, you would know that ability tests and personality tests ARE psychometric tests. If you are talking about psychometric tests that don't include ability or personality tests, then there is nothing left to talk about!
I'll let the irony of that comment pass.
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Smiling here as I recall the recruitment of a new national sales manager who was interviewed by 3 Directors already sat behind a boardroom table. It wasn't until he'd been appointed that one of the receptionists mentioned the oddity of him wearing white terry towelling sports socks with a black business suit and chunky brown shoes.
It turned out that what you see is what you get and so far removed from the culture of the company was he, that he lasted just 3 months.
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