TYPES OF INTERVIEW//PART-10

Mealtime Interview:

The mealtime interview is used to determine what a candidate is like in a social setting. But, interviewing over a meal can be a candidate's worst nightmare or challenge. The interviewers want to not only know how you handle a fork but how you treat your host, any guests and the serving staff. A candidate must take cues from the interviewer and always remember she is the guest. These tips will help yo with mealtime interviews.

• Do not sit down until the host does.
• Always order something less extravagant than the interviewer.
• Choose manageable food items, if possible.
• If the interviewer wants to talk business, please do so. But if the interviewer and/or guests want to discuss upcoming travel plans or their families, do not, under any circumstance, launch a business discussion.
• Remember ordinary manners: thank the host for the meal and their time.

have been on a number of these types of interviews. I no longer find these difficult. You have to take your time while eating and talking. Never order messy food and limit alcoholic beverages. Real Estate companies and firms hiring salespeople will conduct these kinds of interviews. They want to make sure that the candidate can represent the company in a social setting without embarrassing the company.

Follow-up Interviews

Companies bring candidates back for second and sometimes third or fourth follow-up interviews. There are a number of reasons for this. Sometimes they just want to confirm that you are their ideal candidate. Sometimes they are having a difficult time deciding between a short-list of candidates. Other times, other decision-makers in the company want to gain a sense of who the candidate is before a hiring decision is made.

Additional interviews may go in a variety of directions. When meeting with the same interviewer, a candidate can focus on cementing rapport, understanding where the company is going and how his/her skills mesh with the company vision and their culture. Candidates may find themselves negotiating a compensation package. Or they may find themselves starting from the beginning with a new interviewer.

From my personal experiences, if a candidate is asked back for more than two or three interviews, the company is not sure what they want or need in a candidate. This can be a waste of time and resources for both the candidate and the company.

Conclusion

Interviews are time consuming and training is needed to do them well. They are a flexible method for assessing and selecting candidates for all levels and types of positions. They generate data, which enables the interviewer to analyze the data to generate information about whether a candidate is a good fit for the company. However, information from different interviews is potentially difficult to manage. It has these characteristics.

• Hard to bring together coherently;
• Open to potential interviewer bias;
• May miss certain areas of knowledge, skills, and ability;
• An interview may stress one area and neglect others;
• All kinds of potential problems in the interpretation and analysis of the information obtained; and
• There is always the possibility of distorted impressions.

It is imperative that companies find interviewing styles and formats that are beneficial to the needs of both the company and its potential employees. You'll build bench strength and get the right people in the right seats, moving forward on the bus.