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Old 07-12-2016, 12:46 PM
 
Location: Planet Telex
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Do you feel behavioral based interviewing techniques are a proven and effective way of assessing a candidate's skills, experience, and ability to be successful in a particular position or role with the company? Do the strengths outweigh the weaknesses when it comes to performing this type of interview procedure?
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Old 07-12-2016, 01:42 PM
 
Location: In a city within a state where politicians come to get their PHDs in Corruption
2,909 posts, read 2,051,730 times
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It's pop Psychology--in the hands of the average corporate America Interviewer. If done right, that is, administered professionally by a trained Psychologist, it does become a useful tool.
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Old 07-12-2016, 01:43 PM
 
Location: broke leftist craphole Illizuela
10,326 posts, read 17,331,997 times
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Tell me about a time...

Oh goody; story time.



I think it is totally stupid and without merit as if Mr. sociopath is going to tell you about the time he stole coworkers lunches and undermined his coworkers.
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Old 07-12-2016, 01:46 PM
 
Location: Western NY
729 posts, read 960,360 times
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Trying to irritate the interviewee, bash and humiliate them will never determine what a good candidate can do for a company. At least in my work and experience. I'm with MSChemist80 that these companies are just really gone wrong.
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Old 07-12-2016, 02:22 PM
 
436 posts, read 516,495 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MSchemist80 View Post
I think it is totally stupid and without merit as if Mr. sociopath is going to tell you about the time he stole coworkers lunches and undermined his coworkers.
You'd be surprised. A lot of people stumble and incriminate themselves.

It's also a way to gauge their level of competence. How well do they articulate a point while maintaining eye contact and respecting the basic question they were asked. Finally, do they tend to spin things to the positive or negative?

There are a lot of educated weirdos out there.
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Old 07-12-2016, 02:30 PM
 
Location: Western NY
729 posts, read 960,360 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jjmars View Post

It's also a way to gauge their level of competence. How well do they articulate a point while maintaining eye contact and respecting the basic question they were asked. Finally, do they tend to spin things to the positive or negative?
.
The kinds of things I have seen asked in technical/engineering interviews are not about criminal activities, but still they want a talker who charms. Trouble is they are exactly that a "charmer." I have seen the type they hire, talk, talk, talk, look you in the eye the whole time while talking and talking, but can't do a thing for the company. Companies have to learn, just being able to talk is what politicians do, that isn't what is needed in companies to get new products and services going.
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Old 07-12-2016, 04:14 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
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I'm not sure why many people think interviewing (and interview questions) is a black or white matter.
Perhaps for some positions, they can be - - technical interviews where you can quiz the candidate and gauge the extent of their knowledge. But there are many many other positions where such objective assessments cannot be done.

For example, how do you assess a project/program manager? a customer service rep? a social worker? a mid-level manager/director ?

And what's the difference between asking "Tell me a time when ..." and "Have you ever ...? Can you give me an example?"
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Old 07-12-2016, 04:55 PM
 
Location: Western NY
729 posts, read 960,360 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaypee View Post
I'm not sure why many people think interviewing (and interview questions) is a black or white matter.
Perhaps for some positions, they can be - - technical interviews where you can quiz the candidate and gauge the extent of their knowledge. But there are many many other positions where such objective assessments cannot be done.

For example, how do you assess a project/program manager? a customer service rep? a social worker? a mid-level manager/director ?

And what's the difference between asking "Tell me a time when ..." and "Have you ever ...? Can you give me an example?"
I definitely don't think you should quiz technical candidates on technical matters, because that is too broad. Technical matters are wide and deep, those who are technical experts on ABC may only be average in DEF because the past jobs didn't emphasize DEF, but they may be the best person for the job because of what they did with ABC makes DEF a piece of cake or a new dimension or something else. Technical matters are too wide for interview testing.

At same time questions like "Tell me a time when ..." and "Have you ever ...? Can you give me an example?" don't seem to work at all. I have been asked all those many times and have also been involved in interviewing where a co-worker asked something along these lines. In my opinion the interviewers I had and co-workers I saw ask these questions seemed to hate asking these. Almost seems like they themselves are knowing that it is just vomit coming from their mouths, something somebody told them how interviews *must* be conducted. There are no right answers, interviewers know they are just being told they must ask these things but know it won't get them the answers they need for the actual job at hand, or so it seems evident to me.

Mostly what an interview should be about is letting people say what they want to do after the setup is described in person. If what they say they want to do is ideal, they should be considered.
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Old 07-12-2016, 05:48 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
13,520 posts, read 22,001,096 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TestEngr View Post
I definitely don't think you should quiz technical candidates on technical matters, because that is too broad. Technical matters are wide and deep, those who are technical experts on ABC may only be average in DEF because the past jobs didn't emphasize DEF, but they may be the best person for the job because of what they did with ABC makes DEF a piece of cake or a new dimension or something else. Technical matters are too wide for interview testing.

At same time questions like "Tell me a time when ..." and "Have you ever ...? Can you give me an example?" don't seem to work at all. I have been asked all those many times and have also been involved in interviewing where a co-worker asked something along these lines. In my opinion the interviewers I had and co-workers I saw ask these questions seemed to hate asking these. Almost seems like they themselves are knowing that it is just vomit coming from their mouths, something somebody told them how interviews *must* be conducted. There are no right answers, interviewers know they are just being told they must ask these things but know it won't get them the answers they need for the actual job at hand, or so it seems evident to me.

Mostly what an interview should be about is letting people say what they want to do after the setup is described in person. If I hire, say, an auto mechanic, am I supposed to not ask them specific questions about auto repairs to test the extent of their knowledge? If what they say they want to do is ideal, they should be considered.
Ummm ok, so when I'm hiring, say, a C++developer, I should just trust that they know what they say they do? Because the area is so deep and wide, shouldn't I verify the extent of the candidate's knowledge and experience? If technical candidates are not to be interviewed on their technical prowess, then what is more important to ask them about?
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Old 07-12-2016, 05:58 PM
 
Location: Western NY
729 posts, read 960,360 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaypee View Post
Ummm ok, so when I'm hiring, say, a C++developer, I should just trust that they know what they say they do? If technical candidates are not to be interviewed on their technical prowess, then what is more important to ask them about?
Put heart into the deal jaypee, not just the head like you think.

You can ask them for examples of what they wrote in the area maybe? Or forward examples? There are numerous ways to tell, we never had problems without testing people, and we hired some real good programmers on projects.

I had a technical interview question recently which had been named and renamed several times recently so I got the question wrong, and believe me the guy asking the question thought he was so smart asking some textbook question (all head, and no heart interview). But since I advised the company that wrote the whole module I thought it ridiculous. In fact I once spent six months helping the company set it all up since it was a colleague and I who developed many routines which were public domain, but they added things over the years so I didn't know the latest label on one routine they used. So I got that wrong on the "test". You can always ask a technical question that gets the wrong answers, but it does not indicate prowess or basically anything at all. Tests are all head and do not answer where peoples will and heart follow. There is nothing wrong with looking at what people have done, but anyone can get out a textbook with chapter questions and trick anyone on any given day with the head.

Last edited by TestEngr; 07-12-2016 at 06:13 PM..
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