Interview Design & Analysis

Employee & Organizational Development

Human Resources

80 Cumulative Hours

Overview:

One of my interests when joining the I-O program was selection. As I became more comfortable with my job role at the EOD, I began exploring the possibility of chasing my own experiences. I volunteered and accepted opportunities to design and conduct interviews and analyze the responses through the development of an assessment. Interview design and analysis was not a traditional duty of an EOD employee; however, I also created an opportunity to gain more experience in the selection field. Below is a detailed account of my work with the EOD and other VSU departments.

Employee & Organizational Development:

As one of the senior GAs at the EOD office, I was asked to assist in the selection of the new GAs and interns for 2016. I would no longer be a physical presence in the office, which made me the most qualified person to interview and assess each candidate. The interview questions were updated to reflect behavioral, reactionary, and knowledge-based questions. The interview was scheduled to be one hour in length and each candidate was required to complete three in-basket assignments to assess each candidates ability to perform tasks that would be expected from a GA in the EOD office. Both the interview and in-basket assignments were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Once the candidates' results were assessed, I deliberated with Rebecca Murphy and Tim Yorkey to select the most qualified applicant. Out of the five candidates interviewed, we selected one GA and two interns. The materials used to conduct the interview are included below:

Materials:

Applicant Total Scores Spring 2016

In-basket 1 2015 Updated

In-basket 2 2015 Updated

In Basket 3

Human Resources:

The Human Resources department approached Rebecca Murphy about interview assistance because they were aware of the selection committee I was interested in starting. The GA supervisor was willing to act as my own personal pilot group to assess my knowledge of selection procedures. The selection procedure for HR was conducted as follows:

I was approached by the GA/student worker supervisor in HR to assist in the selection process of two new student employees. I created interview questions and rubrics to assess each applicant. I was given each applicant's application, resume, and cover letter to determine the most qualified candidates. I selected three candidates to move forward with the interview process. I collaborated with three HR representatives, the HR GA, and each candidate to schedule interview times. Two days prior to each interview, I would disperse interview questions to the HR representatives and the HR GA. After the interview, all interviewers would deliberate for a few minutes over the candidate's responses, while the candidate completed three in-basket assignments that directly coincide with the responsibilities of the position.  We would separate and grade the responses using the interview rubric. When the interview team reconvened, we would compare our notes and make our argument for our choice candidate. The two candidates that I chose were hired for the positions and remained with HR for the two semesters I remained on campus.

Materials:

HR Interview Questions

HR In-basket 1 Grading Criteria

HR In-basket 2 Grading Criteria

HR In-basket 3 Grading Criteria

HR In-basket 4 Grading Criteria

Selection Committee Initiative:

The selection committee conducted interviews to expand the selection team and to identify performance gaps.

When the selection committee began, we only had seven committed students who were willing to help get the selection committee off the ground. After the interest email was dispersed throughout the VSU campus, we quickly realized that we needed to expand the team. We opened up positions for the 2015 I-O psychology cohort, from which we solicited resumes and cover letters for each candidate. We decided to interview everyone that submitted a resume and deliberated on the best choice for which client based on difficulty level of the project and level of experience of the candidate. All interview questions were created specifically for the selection committee and a rubric was designed to assess each candidate as fairly as possible.

For each client, we requested the GA position descriptions and the initial purpose for contacting the selection committee. The information gathered would be presented to the committee during a staff meeting. Based on the position description and the reported need, we would begin to draft interview questions to reflect the need and create questions of our own to ensure that all needs are being addressed properly. Once the interviews were completed, each team member would draft a report based on the participant's responses and we would identify issues together as a team. Next, we would draft an approximate timeline and schedule interviews with the current GAs in the positions being analyzed.

Student Success Center (SSC): In order to assess what each department needed, we conducted needs analysis to measure what each supervisor requires from a GA versus past experiences with GAs. I collaborated with Korea Black and Benjamin Weil to create interview questions based on position descriptions of the SSC GAs. During the interview, we were able to discover that SSC GAs need to meet a specific requirement, which is passing a specific English course. This requirement severely limited the selection pool for the SSC, so our attention turned to training as the current selection procedure seemed sufficient.

Sullivan Literacy Center: One of the client's that reached out to me for assistance with her GA selection procedure was Dr. Doepker with the Sullivan Literacy Center. We requested copies of the position descriptions of her GAs and quickly identified a need to redevelop the position descriptions. The GAs at the SLC have varied responsibilities at different times throughout the year. Dr. Doepker revealed that she did not have issues selecting GAs but she felt that she would benefit from our services in the future.

IT: The IT department GA supervisor also found interest in the VSEC group. Upon initial conversation, Ben Li revealed that he currently does not have a need for hiring new GAs but he is hoping to expand the IT GA program in the future and would like expert assistance in helping interview new recruits. I assigned a team of I-O students to interview Ben and conduct a needs analysis for the IT department.

I have included some of the materials used below:

Materials:

Potential Interview questions

Potential Interview questions revised

Selection Committee Interview Questions

Interview Questions for IT

Selection Project Interview Questions for SLC

Selection Project Interview Questions for SSC

Application:

I-O psychology is a broad field that can call many jobs a career. One such field is Human Resources. Recognizing the possibility that I may not receive a dream job offer directly after graduation, I sought out opportunities to expand my experience. Interview design and analysis is a valuable skill that I was able to learn in detail during my time at VSU. I now have applicable skills that would assist in a talent acquisition position or HR generalist position. I am able to design custom interview questions to assess the qualifications of candidates and analyze the responses based on a matching customized rubric and assessment. The use of in-basket assignments allows me to gain experience assessing work quality of candidates. I have developed in-basket assignments for HR and improved upon in-baskets used in the EOD office that assess current responsibilities expected to be fulfilled by the GA supervisors.

Links to Pages

Main Home

Next

Previous

Comprehensive Overview of Coursework

Documentation of Practicum Experience