Interview Guidelines
Employment interviews at WSU must be job related, standardized, and objective to ensure equal opportunity as required by federal and state law.
The Human Resources officer must officially approve interview questions before interviews are conducted.
While an interview allows you to get to know an applicant, it also lets the applicant get familiar with you and the workplace.
Keep this information in mind to make sure the interview process is a pleasant one for all parties involved.
Focus your attention on job-related abilities and avoid questioning in areas which:
- make no difference to job performance
- are none of your concern
- could open you to a charge of discrimination
Follow the same procedure, in the same setting, with the same questions for all candidates. This consistency allows you to make a fair comparison of their abilities in relationship to the demands of the job.
Keep the entire process job-related, standardized, and objective. Not only will you avoid charges of discrimination, but you will gain a selection of more suitable employees.
Unless there is an overriding job related, documented necessity to know, do not inquire into a candidate’s:
- Age or date of birth
- Arrest or conviction records
- Citizenship
- Credit or garnishment records or public assistance status
- Family situation, including number and ages of children or childcare plans
- Marital status
- Disabilities
- Political or religious affiliations or activities
Although certain questions related to these topics may not necessarily be illegal or discriminatory, it is still best to avoid these topics.
Additionally, answers to such questions may have a negative effect on the opportunities of women, racial or ethnic minorities, or older persons in consideration for employment.
Questions should be avoided that may trigger the interviewer’s biases, positive or negative.
Interviews must be handled impartially and focused solely on the job. If not, a candidate may feel they have experienced discrimination or the use of inappropriate interviewing procedures.
Therefore, do not allow your words or actions to convey an incorrect or biased impression by:
- Patronizing or presuming
- Joking or talking down to candidates
- Using terms which trigger negative reactions such as referring to women as “gals” or “girls” and identifying staff as “minorities” or “handicapped”
How to Conduct an Interview
1. Define the major job duties
From your knowledge of the job and from the written position description, decide which tasks are more important for successful job performance.
2. Define the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities
For each of the major job duties, decide what a person must know or be able to do to perform them.
3. List other job-related factors to consider
Consider days and hours of work, possible overtime and travel, or other job-related factors which might influence an applicant’s interest in employment.
4. Develop questions to learn about necessary abilities and job-related factors
All the questions you develop should be job related. They may concern the applicants’ previous education and work experience, interest in the job duties, and willingness to accept the working conditions.
Questions may also be based on hypothetical situations where you ask the applicants to tell you how they might handle a particular situation.
5. Schedule interviews in an appropriate setting
Interviews should be conducted in a quiet, private area where interruptions will not occur. Allow enough time for each candidate so that you can get complete answers to all your questions.
6. Conduct the interviews
Begin the interview by trying to put each candidate at ease. Ask the same job-related questions of all candidates and record the major points of their answers.
7. Rate the candidate
Review each candidate’s answers and determine how much of the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities each candidate offers as well as their willingness to accept the working conditions or other job-related factors.