Why Behavioural Interviews are More Effective than Traditional Interviews

Why Behavioural Interviews are More Effective than Traditional Interviews

Behavioural-based interviews offer a better opportunity to predict how an employee will adapt. Unlike traditional interview methods where candidates get questions based on hypothetical situations in behavioural-based interview they get questions based on their past experiences.

What is a Behavioural Based interview?

Behavioural based interviews are the interview techniques which employer uses to evaluate the candidates past behaviour in different situations in order to predict their future performance.

In a behavioural- based interviewing method potential employers ask the candidate open ended questions about the specific situation they encountered in their past employment. Probing of questions help to get a better and detailed response.  This results in better hiring decision which leads to less cost.

Benefits of Behavioural- based Interview vs. Traditional Interview?

Behavioural based interview offers a better chance at predicting how an employee might fit in. Unlike traditional interview methods where candidates get questions based on hypothetical situation in behavioural – based interview they get to ask questions based on their past experience.

Behavioural- based interview uses skill-based questions by share real life examples or anecdotes. Situation where the candidate answers how he/ she react. Based on their answer the employer can assess their skills more effectively and objectively. But in a traditional based interview the candidate gets the straightforward questions about his/her strengths and can give incorrect answers to deceive employer.

Why is Behavioural- Based interview effective?

Using past behaviour is a proven technique that can be used to more accurately determine an individual’s future performance or success. Behavioural questions ask candidates to describe their actual work behaviour in the past, which can help you predict their future behaviour.

What type of interview is more effective?

Face to face interview is more effective and popular for an assessment. Face to face interview allows the interviewer to assess the candidate more effectively through observation of body language and tone.

Why is Behavioural approach the best?

The Behavioural Approach brings psychological, social, and contextual explanations of human behaviour to design policies  and provide innovative, complementary and usually inexpensive solutions for policy improvement.

What are the disadvantages of Traditional Interview?

• It is time-consuming especially when there are many candidates.
• The interaction is limited making it hard to make a decision: This happens as the right questions are not been asked and superficial questions are asked.

• Lack of Diversity: In traditional interview there is scope of bias in terms of gender, caste, religion etc. The candidate may not be hired according to their capabilities but on the basis of gender or region. As traditional recruitment methods rely heavily on human opinion it creates the risk of making unconsciously biased hiring decisions. Human decision-making is personal and can be influenced by many factors that are not relevant to the job role.
• Restricted flexibility of job posting: You will face quite a few hurdles in merely posting the job ad. In most print ads, there isn’t enough space for the entire job description and requirements. This is equivalent to selling yourself short.
• Excessive Cost: Traditional recruitment is an expensive process. The company has to put in lot of money if there is a face-to-face interview.
• Low quality hire: The hiring of the candidate is poor quality as traditional method of interview is done.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Behavioural Interview?

• Enables the candidate to consider their behaviour.
• Helps streamline the interview and hiring process.
• Provides customizable questions based on candidate.
• Allows candidates to expand on information.
• Understanding how someone behaved in the past is an easy way to predict how they will perform in the future. There is always something to learn, not only from the story itself, but also from how a candidate tells it – things like their reasoning, motivations and perspective often come through and can tell you a lot about what kind of worker the candidate will be.
• This interview style can get into deeper detail than other interview questions. With a couple of probing follow-up questions, you can reveal some important details about a candidate that may not come out in other interview formats. For example, you can get specifics about a candidate’s real contribution to a project, learn how they deal with unexpected complications, or find out how readily they adjust their habits or work style in response to their changing environment.
• The focus on storytelling enables almost all candidates to answer questions more effectively. Some people will always be better storytellers than others, but even candidates who are naturally shy or introvert can give accurate response when you ask them behavioural interview-style questions. It is much more comfortable and easier for a candidate to tell you a story than respond to a firing squad of questions.

Disadvantages of Behavioural Interview:

• Questions must be designed with behaviour in mind: When done write the behaviour interview can be a great predictor for future behaviour. But if the question is poorly designed, then it may lead to information that is not useful.
• Interview needs to be trained to conduct behavioural event interview.
• The efficiency of BEI interviews depends heavily on the skills of the interviewer.

What percentage has behavioural interviewing been found to improve hiring outcomes over traditional interviewing?

Behavioural interviewing, in fact, is said to be 55 percent predictive of future on-the-job behaviour, while traditional interviewing is only 10 percent predictive. Behavioural-based interviewing is touted as providing a more objective set of facts to make employment decisions than other interviewing methods.

Conclusion:

Traditional Interview Vs Behavioural Interview

Traditional Interview:

• Focuses on technical skills and job knowledge
• Questions on how the candidate ‘shall’ behave
• Answers may not be based on actual performance
• Generic questions
• Responses can be manipulated

Behavioural Interview:

• Focuses On Technical Skills, Job Knowledge and Behaviours Critical to Job’s Success
• Questions On How the Candidate ‘Did’ Behave
• Answers Are Referring to Actual Past Performance
• Probing Questions
• Responses Are Genuine