Be Prepared 9 Types Of Interviews For To Outshine Your Competition!

So, you have been invited for an interview awesome. But, do you know what type of interview it will be and what to expect. In this article I’m going to explain nine different types of interviews so, you know exactly what to be prepared for so you can outshine your competition.

You know that excitement you feel when you finally get that phone call or e-mail you’ve been waiting for inviting you to an interview for your dream job. You enthusiastically confirm the date time and location and eagerly hang up the phone or hit send on that e-mail. But, did you remember to ask what type of interview it will be or what to expect? If, you read my recent article on what to do when you get a call for an interview. You might remember me explaining the two most important questions you need to ask the caller, who’s booking you for the interview appointment time? Whom will you be meeting with? get the full names and titles and what style of the interview will it be? There are many types of interviews and I’m going to explain the nine most common so, regardless of which type your schedule for you’ll know exactly what to expect and how to improve your performance.

1. Immediate screening interviews

An immediate screening interview is when an interviewer calls you and asks if they can ask a few questions will right at that moment. The purpose is usually to narrow down a large pool of candidates. By asking a few key questions to determine if, you should be included or excluded from the next stage. These types of interviews are often performed by an HR person, recruiter, or an assistant, and usually involve three or four questions. If you receive the call during an inappropriate time, for example, you’re in your present job; you’re driving, or in the middle of a grocery store then make sure you communicate that and reschedule a time which is appropriate for you. Listen carefully to the questions and respond clearly with confidence. Before concluding the call be sure to ask what the next steps will be?

2. Pre-screening Interviews

A pre-screening interview is similar to an immediate screen the only difference is the interviewer will usually contact you and book a day and time. This is ideal because it gives you the time to research the company and review the posting ahead of time to ensure your answers are aligned with what they’ll be looking for. In 98% of my recruitment projects, I perform pre-screening interviews. I use the style for several reasons, to narrow down my shortlist when I have too many great candidates to consider. To screen out candidates that may not match some of the key things like salary expectations, and to determine whom I want to meet face to face or recommend my client for an in-person interview. I usually ask seven or eight questions which usually take 20 to 30 minutes.

This gives me an opportunity to get a sense of a person’s personality, potential, and scope of experience to determine if they could be a good fit for the position, the team, the industry, and the company culture.

3. Preliminary Reference Checking

This is a technique I sometimes use when recruiting as a consultant for a corporate client. I do this after a brief immediate or pre-screening interview. When I like the impression I have of the candidate and their resumes perfectly fit with what I’m looking for or when I have several candidates. But, my client only wants to meet a maximum of three final candidates. Doing a preliminary reference check hopes me narrow down to my top three. I’ll usually speak to at least one or two references before deciding to move a candidate forward. So, if I call you and ask for references and you can’t supply me with their names and contact information within 24 hours I will likely disqualify you. This is why is really important when you start your job search to have your references picked out, lined up, and ready.

4. Scheduled telephone or video interviews

A scheduled telephone or video interview is just that, it’s an interview performed by telephone or live video with a recruiter employer, or hiring manager. This is often a stage one or stage two in the hiring process. Phone and video interviews are extremely popular right now, due to the impact of the COVID 19 virus. Check out my article 10 tips to ace your video interview to learn how to prepare for your video interview. Telephone and video interviews are often used one candidate is not local to the area, where the positions located or if the interviewer is in a head office which is not in the same geographic location as the position. It may be a one-to-one interview or with a team or panel of interviewers that all the, which I’ll talk about more in minute.

i. Hot tip # 1

Ask for the names and titles of who will be on the call. You want to know who your audience is. So, that you can tailor answers and give examples that they can relate to the most.

5. Traditional one-to-one interviews.

A traditional one-to-one interview is one of the most common followed by a panel interview. It tends to be more casual in style, often conversational rather than complex or behavior-based interview questions. However, it can be a more formal structured style with specific questions of various types. Depending on the size is in the company a one-to-one is often performed by an immediate supervisor, a general manager, company owner, or HR professional if they have one. Usually, it will be the first in a series or at the very least a two-part interview hiring process.

6. Sequenced interview

A Sequence interview usually starts with a one-to-one with an HR professional, a consultant, or a recruiter. Then progresses to one or more interviews with a supervisor or manager, regional manager, director, or owner, and then it may involve a panel interview with the team. Obviously, due to the number of interviews, this process usually takes two to six weeks before a final candidate is selected and an offer is presented. I’ve had clients who’ve gone through this process consisting of four or five steps, sometimes with the last one consisting of testing. Often large corporations or security-sensitive industries such as banking or computer technology and security use a sequenced interview process.

7. Panel interview

A panel interview usually involves two to six people consisting of various roles, management, supervisor, HR other department leads, and sometimes partnership organizations. That will usually have considerable interaction or work closely with the position being hired for. These interviews are usually structured with interviewers taking turns asking the questions, while everyone observed and takes notes. Panel interviews are quite popular and it’s extremely important for a panel interview to use eye contact with all members of the group, not just the person asking the question. This is a mistake I see many candidates make. Holding eye contact with each person in the room demonstrates confidence and your ability to include in engage others in a team or group situation. Remember ask the person who books your interview for the names and titles of the people who will be attending the interview.

ii. Hot tip # 2

Always bring extra copies of your documents to resume cover letter in any addendum items. Because you never know when someone gets subbed in at the last minute due to illness or an emergency comes up and the manager sends another team member in their place. This person may not have been supplied with a copy of a resume so well you come so, won’t you come across highway prepared when you offer them a copy.

8. Team interview

A team interview is usually performed as a second interview with members of the team that you’ll be working closely with. This allows the individuals to meet and engage with you and determine if you’re the right fit and personality for their team. This can be formal with questions that each individual has predetermined they want to ask. Or it can be more informal or conversational to give the team a chance to assess your personality fit with them. Interpersonal skills are very important in these interviews. You want to be prepared with examples that demonstrate your characteristics of collaboration, team contribution, effort, and leadership if that’s what your role is going to be on this team.

9. Group interview

A group interview is when several candidates are brought into a room together and interviewed simultaneously as a group. This valid interview is somewhat unorthodox and is more common in organizations that had a heavily competitive environment or industry or an outside-the-box culture and style, or who are hiring for sales customer service or business development type of roles. These are also sometimes held when a company has several openings for the same position there may be several interviewers involved.

Most candidates particularly introverts find this type of interview very stressful. Because you’re competing live against and in front of your competition. When of the objectives of the style of intuiting is to test how you interact with and involve others in a group, and how you answer questions and solve problems on the spot and how resourceful you’re in high-stress situations. That term group interview is often mistaken for a team panel interview. So, if you’re told it’s a group interview I recommend you clarify if they mean a panel interview or situation involving several candidates being interviewed simultaneously. When you know you’re walking into you can be better prepared.

As I mentioned this is not a common interview practice but, if you’re faced with the style of the interview my recommendation is to realize that part of the test is to see how you in track together with your competition. Start by introducing yourself to each candidate, get their names, and if you want to be bold. Ask them to describe their greatest strength in 10 seconds and make a note of this. Then as questions or challenges are posed either to you directly or to the group you can involve others personally by name in your answer. This will demonstrate your leadership, initiative, and ability to engage others. You want to be confident and jump in as a team member in answering questions but also, be careful not to monopolize all of the answers as this will work against you.

Think about it like being back in high school when the teacher posed the question to the class and multiple students would offer up a variety of answers. Also, think about it like being a member of a sports team when a sports scout is watching in assessing the players for scholarships. You wouldn’t try to sabotage your fellow players as this would make you look bad. Your focus would be on showing your best skills and abilities while helping the team to win the game. I hope today’s strategies intent tips help you power up your job search and prepare you to succeed in your next interview.