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The employment interview is among the most versatile of staffing tools. Yet, the interview is rarely studied as a multipurpose tool. If the interview is used to serve multiple goals, then the interview can be effective (i.e., valid), and effectively designed, in multiple ways. The current study uses qualitative methodology to develop an inductive theory of interview goals and design based on conversational interviews with 29 experienced professional interviewers. Transcript data were analyzed with template analysis grounded in a postpositive epistemology and objectivist ontology. Results suggested that the interview is primarily used to serve three broad goals: performing a targeted assessment, making a positive impression, and informing the applicant. Interviewers reported a variety of strategies for adapting the interview to achieve and balance these goals. In short, findings suggest that the interview is used in multiple ways that have received very little research attention. These findings imply that the concept of interview validity should be expanded to include multiple interviewing goals, and that interview design should be understood as a complex function of these goals. Further implications for the research, theory, and practice of employment interviews are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) are a form of one‐way, technology‐mediated selection interview that can help streamline and increase flexibility in the hiring process and are used to hire millions of applicants per year. Although applicant reactions to AVIs in general tend to be more negative than with traditional interview modalities, AVIs can differ widely in how they are designed. For instance, applicants can be provided with more or less preparation time, response length, rerecording options, or rely on different question formats. This study examines how AVI design features impact applicant reactions, as well as the moderating role played by applicant age and gender. Data from 27,809 real job applicant's AVI experiences were collected in 11 countries (69.3% English‐speaking) from 33 companies and relating to 72 types of positions. Data were fitted with linear mixed‐effects models to account for nesting. Results showed that allowing more preparation time and offering the opportunity to rerecord responses were related to more favorable reactions, while including more questions was related to more negative reactions. Applicants above the age of 31 reacted especially negatively to AVIs with more questions while those below the age of 30 preferred being allocated longer maximum response lengths. Women reacted more positively to increased preparation time. These findings might help both AVI vendors and hiring organizations design AVIs that facilitate a positive applicant experience. Our research also expands knowledge on applicant reactions to interviews, highlights crucial differences from traditional formats, and calls for integrating applicant characteristics into current theoretical frameworks on applicant reactions to AVIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Asynchronous video interviews can use many configurations of design features to create the interviewee experience, but not all designs are equal. Design features may influence interviewees' deceptive and honest impression management, their reactions to the procedure, and interview performance evaluations. Three experiments using mock interviews tested the effects of preparation time and self‐views (N = 206, from Prolific), reviewing and re‐recording (N = 230, from Prolific), and giving faking warnings with human versus automated evaluation (N = 297 university students) on interview outcomes. The design had limited effects on interviewee behavior, but some features may increase interviewees' willingness to fake when used in combination. Opportunities for longer preparation time and re‐recording increased interview performance ratings. Warnings and evaluator type did not affect behavior, reactions, or performance. The implications of these effects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent studies have highlighted the potential for background cues in asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) to inadvertently disclose non‐job‐related information about job applicants, researchers have yet to explore the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) cues. This study investigates whether background cues about SES (specifically cues not available in a face‐to‐face interview) introduce unique biases in the hiring process. We examined if evaluators could discern SES differences based on a job applicant's background and whether these cues influenced the perceived hireability of the job applicant. To enhance the realism of our findings and understand when such biases may be exacerbated, we simulated the conditions a hiring manager might face by inducing cognitive load (CL). In a working sample of N = 260 American Cloud Research Connect participants, we used a 2 (low; high SES) by 2 (low; high CL) between‐subjects experimental design. We found that although evaluators could identify differences in SES and did experience a difference in CL, these two factors did not directly influence the perceived hireability of the job applicant. We also investigated the role of evaluators' characteristics, such as their own SES, attitude towards poverty, and social dominance orientation. Although these did not directly influence their ratings of the job applicant, we identified noteworthy correlations: participants' perceptions of the SES of the background correlated with the job applicant's (a) perceived hireability, and (b) perceived SES. These findings emphasize the need for further research into the subtle cues that evaluators might use to gauge SES, which could impact a job applicant's AVI evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The employment interview is used to assess myriad constructs to inform personnel selection decisions. This article describes the first meta‐analytic review of the criterion‐related validity of interview‐based assessments of specific constructs (i.e., related to task and contextual performance). As such, this study explores the suitability of the interview for predicting specific dimensions of performance, and furthermore, if and how interviews should be designed to inform the assessment of distinct constructs. A comprehensive search process identified k = 37 studies comprising N = 30,646 participants (N = 4449 with the removal of one study). Results suggest that constructs related to task (ρ = .30) and contextual (ρ = .28) performance are assessed with similar levels of criterion‐related validity. Although interview evaluations of task and contextual performance constructs did not show discriminant validity within the interview itself, interview evaluations were more predictive of the targeted criterion construct than of alternative constructs. We further found evidence that evaluations of contextual performance constructs might particularly benefit from the adoption of more structured interview scoring procedures. However, we expect that new research on interview design factors may find additional moderating effects and we point to critical gaps in our current body of literature on employment interviews. These results illustrate how a construct‐specific approach to interview validity can spur new developments in the modeling, assessment, and selection of specific work performance constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interviewees' use of impression management (IM) in job interviews is clearly related to individual differences such as personality. However, research has paid less attention to how interviewee cognitive capacities (i.e., cognitive ability and executive functions) influence IM use, even though interviewees' cognitive capacities and IM are theoretically linked. The current research aimed to address this research gap through two studies. In Study 1, 166 undergraduate business students participated in mock face‐to‐face interviews with real recruiters. In Study 2, 294 job‐seeking participants recruited through Prolific completed a mock asynchronous video interview. Overall, cognitive ability was negatively related to deceptive IM while perceived incongruency (i.e., a gap between desired and perceived current impressions conveyed to others) was positively related to deceptive IM in both studies. Furthermore, cognitive ability and working memory updating, but not inhibition and shifting nor incongruency, were negatively related to honest IM in Study 2. Additionally, in both studies the relations between personality traits and interview IM were generally in line with findings from prior research. Overall, our findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of how interview IM relates to interviewee individual differences and interview performance in different forms of job interviews. Practitioner points: While interviewee personality traits have shown to highly influence their use of impression management in job interviews, the role of their cognitive capacities was less clear.Across two studies in face‐to‐face (Study 1) and asynchronous video interview (Study 2) settings, applicants lower in cognitive ability used more deceptive IM, and more honest IM in Study 2.The role of executive functions was more limited, and the relations between deceptive or honest IM and interviewee personality traits generally aligned with prior research.Organizations should design interviews so that a greater number of interviewees feel comfortable using honest IM, to even out opportunities for applicants to succeed and thereby improve the fairness of interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined how variations in the design of asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) impact important interviewee attitudes, behaviours, and outcomes, including perceived fairness, anxiety, impression management, and interview performance. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, we investigated the impact of two common and important design elements on these outcomes: (a) preparation time (unlimited versus limited) and (b) the ability to re-record responses. Using a sample of 175 participants completing a mock AVI, we found that whereas providing such options (i.e., unlimited preparation time and/or re-recording) did not impact outcomes directly, the extent to which participants actually used these options did affect outcomes. For instance, those who used more re-recording attempts performed better in the interview and engaged in less deceptive impression management. Moreover, those who used more preparation time performed better in the interview while engaging in slightly less honest impression management. These findings point to the importance of investigating the effects of AVI design on applicant experiences and outcomes. Specifically, AVI design elements produce opportunities for applicants not typically present in synchronous interviews, and can alter interview processes in crucial ways. Finally, not all applicants use these opportunities equally, and this has implications for understanding interview behaviour and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) have become popular tools for applicant selection. Although AVIs are standardized, extant research remains silent on whether this novel interview format could introduce new forms of bias. Because many applicants complete AVIs from their homes, their video background could provide evaluators with information about stigmatizing features that (a) are usually "invisible" in traditional selection contexts but become observable in AVIs, (b) are not always legally protected, and (c) can impact evaluators' judgments. Across three experimental studies, we examined how cues indicating parental status (Study 1), sexual orientation (Study 2), and political affiliation (Study 3) can impact perceptions of applicant warmth and competence and ratings of interview performance and potential work performance. The effect of background information varied by stigmatized feature. Applicants depicted as parents were perceived to be higher on warmth and received higher interview performance ratings but were not evaluated more negatively on competence or potential work performance. There was no effect of sexual orientation on any outcome variables. However, applicants who supported the same political party as the evaluator were viewed as warmer and received higher ratings of interview performance and potential work performance. Thus, organizations should encourage applicants to use neutral backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors obtained self- and observer reports of personality from pairs of well-acquainted college students. Consistent with previous findings, results of Study 1 showed strong cross-source agreement for all 6 HEXACO personality factors (rs [approximately equal to] .55). In addition, the authors found modest levels of similarity (r [approximately equal to] .25) between dyad members' self-reports on each of 2 dimensions, Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience. For these same 2 factors, dyad members' self-reports were correlated with their observer reports of the other dyad member (r approximately equal to] .40), thus indicating moderately high assumed similarity. In Study 2, Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience were the 2 personality factors most strongly associated with the 2 major dimensions of personal values, which also showed substantial assumed similarity. In Study 3, assumed similarity was considerably stronger for close friends than for nonfriend acquaintances. Results suggest that assumed similarity for Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience reflects a tendency to overestimate one's similarity to persons with whom one has a close relationship, but only on those personality characteristics whose relevance to values gives them central importance to one's identity. Keywords: personality, values, observer reports, agreement, assumed similarity