And, then resorting to a straw-man argument? Wow. No expectation of "guarantor" or "sure-fire predictor" was mentioned, nor is it known. But, your assumption that "insight" might be gained is a statement that valuable predictive improvement in selection might be made by unstructured and holistic questions. Unfortunately, there has been ample study of the "insight" gained from such interviewing techniques, and it shows such an approach is unhelpful.
Not that all of your questions are of that type. The 7th, 8th and 9th are all more-or-less critical incident style questions. These can be useful and can be predictive of job performance depending on the followups used by the interview team. The next to last question is patently strange and will tend to make a candidate not want to come work for the organization, IMO. The last question is illegal in my opinion. It assumes the candidate practices a religion in which a eulogy is uttered at a funeral. That is not universal. For instance, in Catholicism eulogies are not considered appropriate, as I understand it. By asking the question a candidate can reasonably infer that "Catholics are not welcome here." http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/8496/What-Every-Catholic-needs-to-know-about-funerals.aspx Make it a good and realistic day. Paul On Nov 9, 2013, at 12:23 PM, Louis Eugene Schmier wrote: Well, if you're looking for guarantors and sure-fire predictors for performance, vis-a-vis insight, it ain't goin' happen. The HBR is replete with such research. Make it a good day -Louis- Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org 203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com Valdosta, Ga 31602 (C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__ / \ / \ / \/ \_ \/ / \/ /\/ / \ /\ \ //\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/ \_/__\ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains,\ /\ _ / \ don't practice on mole hills" - / \_ On Nov 9, 2013, at 11:54 AM, Helweg-Larsen, Marie wrote: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/26/why-job-interviews-dont-work/ Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor l Department of Psychology Kaufman 168 l Dickinson College Phone 717.245.1562 l Fax 717.245.1971 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html -----Original Message----- From: Jim Clark [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2013 10:38 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE:[tips] Random Thought: "Tell Me About" Interview Questions Hi And here's one for those doing the selection: Tell me about the research literature on the validity of interviews as selection tools, especially for unstructured and holistic interviews. Take care Jim Jim Clark Professor & Chair of Psychology 204-786-9757 4L41A -----Original Message----- From: Louis Eugene Schmier [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2013 5:31 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Random Thought: "Tell Me About" Interview Questions Well, here at VSU we're beginning a hunt for a Provost/VPAA. I'm sure the headhunters and VSU search committee will vet all the applicants. I'm sure the finalists will have outstanding resumes. But, resumes go only so far as I discovered when VSU was hunting for a new President way back 2012 and the finalists for the position had meetings with a group of interested faculty. What I learned was that if you want to get a good sense of how people feel and think, if you want to get insights into who they are, ask them to tell you stories, personal stories. Why? Well, stories put flesh on the bones of fact. They live in the most intense and sacred places and moments. They're the primary text upon which everything else is commentary. They're containers for meaning. They're canvases on which is painted inner landscapes. They offer insights to the way a person sees the world. They reveal a person's social, personal, and professional identity. They are poetic truth of personality that go beyond Joe Friday's bland, "Just the facts, ma'am." These are some of the "tell me about" stories I would ask of any applicant for any position to recite: * Tell me about which of all the positions you've held was your favorite. Why? * Tell me about which of all that you've done in your life you feel is the most important. Why? * Tell me about what do you enjoy the most. Why? * Tell me about what do you enjoy the least. Why? * Tell me about what do you do for fun, what feeds your soul. Why? * Tell me about something you've done that was creative. * Tell me about a problem with a student (colleague, faculty member, etc) that you needed to solve. How did you solve it? Why did you solve it that particular way? * Tell me about a situation where you didn't have anyone telling you what to do, but you had to go do it. What did you do? Why did you do it that particular way? * Tell me about something complicated and complex, something you know a lot about, in plain and simple language, without jargon, using only clear and crisp and complete terms, so I understand it. * Tell me about who you are. Forget and make no reference to all your personal roles such as father, friend, husband (wife), son (daughter), forget and make no reference to all your professional roles, your past and present titles, forget and make no reference to your degrees and all your positions, forget and make no reference to what you have, forget and make no reference to all that you have done. Just tell me about who you are. * Tell me about the one sentence you want others to say about you at your eulogy. There are a bunch of other "tell me about" stories I could ask. And, coming to think about it, we ought to use these "tell me about" stories, and more, to interview ourselves. Make it a good day -Louis- Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org 203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com Valdosta, Ga 31602 (C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__ / \ / \ / \/ \_ \/ / \/ /\/ / \ /\ \ //\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/ \_/__\ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains,\ /\ _ / \ don't practice on mole hills" - / \_ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=29953 or send a blank email to leave-29953-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-29953-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. 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