Behavioral interviewing essentials (and why you should care)

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2016-0097
Published date10 April 2017
Date10 April 2017
Pages81-85
AuthorLeela Srinivasan,Maya Humes
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour
On another note
Behavioral interviewing essentials
(and why you should care)
Leela Srinivasan and Maya Humes
Leela Srinivasan is CMO
and Maya Humes is
Content Marketer, both at
Lever, San Francisco,
California, USA.
Abstract
Purpose A candidate’s cultural fit is often just as important as their skill set, but more difficult to screen
for. Behavioral interviewing, which involves probing into a candidate’s past behavior to predict their
future behavior and performance, gives recruiters a reliable indication of whether or not a candidate will
succeed in a specific role and carries the significant added benefit of helping minimize the influence of
unconscious bias.
Design/methodology/approach The authors explore three reasons why behavioral interviewing is
more relevant now than ever before. They also outline specific recommendations for how companies
can implement behavioral interviewing.
Findings While it is hard to find enough hours in the day without adding the burden of interviewer
training to your plate, there is never been a better time to embrace behavioral interviewing. Failure to
train hiring managers and interviewers how to interview effectively can result in a poor candidate
experience, and an over-reliance on alternatives such as skills-fit and culture-fit interviewing techniques
will prove far less effective in determining the best candidate for the job.
Originality/value This article explores three key topics among HR practitioners – hiring, culture and
retention – and helps to identify how companies can alter their hiring/interviewing process to achieve a
better candidate fit for their organization.
Keywords Human resource management, Culture, Recruitment, Employee engagement,
Talent management
Paper type Viewpoint
Behavioral interviewing, which involves probing into a candidate’s past behavior to
predict their future behavior and performance, is hardly a new phenomenon. But
despite having been around for decades, behavioral interviewing techniques
remain in use today – and have probably never been more vital, for three reasons.
First, in an era of unprecedented transparency (thanks to the rise of Glassdoor, Twitter and
numerous other platforms), candidate feedback has made it painfully obvious that most
companies do not spend enough time prepping interviewers to do their jobs well. When a
candidate comes onsite for an interview panel, they often spend their time in back-to-back
sessions with prospective colleagues who have neither had the time to digest their resume
nor put sufficient thought into the questions they should be asking. The result: a dreadful
candidate experience which can end up being exposed on social platforms, creating a
negative impression with future candidates. For heads of recruiting and employer
branding, this makes it more imperative that interviewers understand how to effectively
evaluate candidates and increases the attractiveness of techniques like behavioral
interviewing.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-11-2016-0097 VOL. 16 NO. 2 2017, pp. 81-85, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW PAGE 81

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