Employment Interview Processes and Applicant Evaluation

Employment interviews constitute a pivotal stage in personnel selection, encompassing a series of preparatory and evaluative steps designed to predict job performance and fit. The process typically begins with job analysis to identify critical competencies, followed by the development of structured or semi-structured interview guides. Structured interviews employ standardised questions and scoring rubrics to enhance reliability and reduce bias, whereas unstructured formats allow greater conversational flexibility at the cost of consistency. Applicant evaluation incorporates multiple criteria, including verbal responses, behavioural examples, situational judgment, and non-verbal cues. Reliability and validity are maximised through interviewer training, panel ratings and the use of standardised rating scales. Contemporary concerns include applicants’ impression management tactics—both honest self-promotion and deceptive faking—and the potential distortion of validity. Technological advances have introduced video, teleconference and automated interfaces, which promise efficiency gains but raise questions about fairness, candidate reactions and the equivalence of ratings across modes. Equity considerations, such as demographic biases and disparate impact, underscore the need for continual validation and fairness checks. In a globalised labour market, cross-cultural adaption of interview protocols and the integration of machine-learning tools for applicant screening have become increasingly significant, shaping both research and practice in human resource management.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Employment Interview Processes and Applicant Evaluation publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in employment interview processes and applicant evaluation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Asynchronous video interview: A format in which candidates record responses to predetermined questions at their convenience, with no live interviewer present.

Impression management: Strategic behaviours by applicants to influence interviewer perceptions, ranging from honest self-promotion to deceptive faking.

Structured interview: An interview format with standardised questions and rating scales applied uniformly to all candidates to enhance reliability and validity.

Algorithmic decision-making (ADM): The use of computer algorithms and machine learning to analyse applicant data and support selection decisions.

Reliability and validity: Psychometric properties indicating the consistency of measurement and the extent to which an interview predicts job performance, respectively.

References

1. Revealing the influence of AI and its interfaces on job candidates' honest and deceptive impression management in asynchronous video interviews. Technological Forecasting and Social Change (2024).
2. Beyond traditional interviews: Psychometric analysis of asynchronous video interviews for personality and interview performance evaluation using machine learning. Computers in Human Behavior (2024).
3. This (AI)n’t fair? Employee reactions to artificial intelligence (AI) in career development systems. Review of Managerial Science (2024).