BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT WITH HONOURS

SEMESTER MAY 2019

BBPB2103

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

STUDENT NAME :
MATRICULATION NO . :
IDENTITY CARD NO. :
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

1.0 INTRODUCTION 2
2.0 INTERVIEW AIM AND PURPOSE 3
3.0 INTERVIEW OBJECTIVE 3
4.0 GATHERING NECESSARY INFORMATION 4
ABOUT THE CANDIDATES
4.1 INFORMATION SOURCES 4
4.2 EMPLOYMENT TEST 6
5.0 JOB INTERVIEW 7
5.1 TYPES OF INTERVIEW 8
6.0 GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWEING 10
7.0 STEPS IN AVOIDING BIAS 11
8.0 REACHING SELECTION DECISION 12
8.1 SIMPLIFYING CANDIDATE INFORMATION 12
8.2 DECISION STRATEGY 13
9.0 FINAL DECISION 14
10.0 CONCLUSION 15
11.0 REFERENCES 16

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 EFFECTIVE JOB INTERVIEW

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Currently, the unemployment rate in Malaysia exceeds the supply of vacancies in the
market. According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (April 2019) conducted by the
Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), the unemployment rate in 2018 is 3.3% which
equals to 504,300 people out of total labour force in Malaysia. Whereas, vacancies offered
on the same year is 196,466 (2.3%) from total positions in the market. The results indicate
that there were 4:1 ratio of job-hunter for every vacancy available. Figure 1 and 2 show the
statistics for labour force and demand in Malaysia.

Figure 1: Principal Statistics of Labour Force in Malaysia, 2018

(Source: Labour Force Survey, Department of Statistic Malaysia)

Figure 2: Labour Demand in Malaysia

(Source: Employment Statistics First Quarter 2019, Department of Statistic Malaysia)

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 Imbalance of supply and demand in employment creates highly competitive market and
organisations are able to utilize the opportunities in acquiring the best possible candidate
as part of their workforce. Changes and development of workforce in an organisation is
part of the responsibilities carried by the Human Resource Department (HR). The Human
Resource Management (HRM) Department carries many functions such as staffing, human
resource development, compensation and benefit, safety and health and also work
relations. In term of staffing, HR Department will conduct recruitment and selection
process to find suitable candidates for every vacancies. The most crucial step in acquiring
new hire is through the interview session, hence, we will consentrate deeper into it.

2.0 INTERVIEW AIM AND PURPOSE

The interview is defined as the formal meeting between two or more people where the
interviewer asks questions to the interviewee in order to obtain information (Krishna
Reddy). It is the most common method used in the selection process which is utilized
together with the application forms and resume, references, background check, cognitive
and personality test.

The aim of an interview is to reduce the time and cost in training by selecting the most
suitable and capable candidates, able to fulfill HR requirements for the development of the
organisation and also potential candidate can help in achieving the organisation’s
objectives. The interview also conducted to maximize the accuracy of selecting qualified
employees and reducing the risk of inefficiency and unqualified manpower.

The purpose of the interview is to evaluate and validate on the applicants’ personality,
competencies, capabilities and achievements.

3.0 INTERVIEW OBJECTIVE

Through the interview process, an organisation is able to verify the information acquired
from the application form and tests. It helps to ascertain the accuracy of the provided facts

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 and information about the candidate. It is a common method used to distinguish the
candidate’s knowledge, skills and ability in performing tasks and also able to determine the
candidate’s motivation, interest and personality traits. Finally, through the interview, the
organisation is able to select the most suitable candidates to fulfill the job description and
job specifications required by the job vacancy.

4.0 GATHERING NECESSARY INFORMATION ABOUT THE CANDIDATE

The first step to conduct an effective interview is by compiling sufficient information about
the candidates before the actual interview. Preparing for the interview will ensure that the
questions prepared are precise and accurate, the disposition and poise during the interview
is professional and the information is solid. There are two common method used to acquire
information about the candidate such as:

4.1 INFORMATION SOURCE

Application Form and Resume

Both application form and resume contain the same information about the candidate
such as personal information, educational background, working experience, skills,
abilities and so forth. Application forms act as tools for obtaining information about
the candidates which is prepared by the organisation itself. Meanwhile, a resume is
prepared by the candidates themselves following their own format.

References and Background Checking

Most organisations require applicants to prepare their job references such as former
employers or colleagues, teachers or lecturers who can be contacted in order to
validate the information provided by the candidate as stated in the application form
or resume.This steps enables the organisation to double check any particular
information, negative matters or job-related background information which are not
stated by the applicant and usually conducted through telephone calls, letters or
self-investigations.

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Biographical Information Blank (BIB)
BIB is the type of assessment that uses biodata in employee recruitment to help
determine which candidates should be hired for a job. Organisations would take the
information from their job applications forms to see what would be useful in
predicting the job performance of employees. The questions include information
about personal and work experiences, as well as interests, opinions and attributes.

Polygraph Test
Popularly known as lie detector test which is a device or procedure that measures
and records several psychological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse,
respiration and skin conductivity while a person is asked and answers a series of
questions. Questions related to selection process would be in matters regarding drug
abuse, theft or criminal offences that are not detected by others.

Honesty and Integrity Test

Specific type of personality test designed to assess an applicant’s tendency to be
honest, truthworthy and dependable. Lack of integrity is associated with such
counterproductive behaviours such as theft, violence, sabotage, disciplinary
problems and absenteeism.

Graphology
It is the analysis of the physical characteristics and patterns of handwriting to
identify the writer, indicating the psychological state at the time of writing and
evaluating personality characteristics.

Health Examination
It is the process by which medical practitioners will conduct a general health
screening on the applicants and the result showed will determine either the
candidate is healthy and fit for the job. Drug test is conducted together with health
examination to discover any evidence of drug abuse.

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4.2 EMPLOYMENT TEST
Employment test is an objective and standard way to measure knowledge, skills,
abilities and other characteristics of the candidates which can be categorized into
aptitude test (capability of learning new skills) and achievement test (candidate’s
knowledge and current abilities). There are a few types of employment tests, as
follows:

Specific Ability Test

This test measures the abilities needed to perform a particular job. It is also referred
to as aptitude test. This type of test is usually used for job areas such as mechanical,
clerical, sales and physical work.

Physical Ability Test

Typically, this test requiring the candidate to perform job-related tasks requiring
manual labour or physical skill. These tests measure physical abilities such as
strength, muscular flexibility and stamina. This type of test usually found in an
enrollment for policemen, firemen and the military force.

Cognitive Ability Test

The purpose of this test is to measure perceptual speed, verbal comprehension,
numerical aptitude, general reasoning and spatial aptitude. A candidate who
performs well in the cognitive or ability test is usually efficient in learning
something new, able to process complex information, able to solve problems and
make decisions well.

Job Knowledge Test

Referred to as achievement tests, it typically consists of questions designed to
assess technical or professional expertise in specific knowledge areas. Commonly
used in situations where candidates must already have necessary knowledge prior
to being hired. It is particularly useful for jobs requiring specialized or technical
knowledge that can only be acquired over extended period of time such as basic

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 accounting principles, computer programming, financial management and
knowledge of contract law.

Work Sample Test

Test that is used to judge a person’s ability to do an assigned task and evaluating
them based on their performance. Example of work sample test is when a candidate
is being tests based on a simulation or situation based questions. These tests are
used as an indicator of employees’ future behaviour as they are judged under real
life situations or tasks.

Personality Test
The test measures the personality of the candidate’s towards the job. There are five
personality dimensions in the test such as:

(a) Extraversion which projects external characteristics such as outgoing,

talkative, social and assertive.
(b) Agreeableness is when a candidate is considered as trusting, good-natured,
cooperative and soft- hearted.
(c) Conscientiousness regards the candidate as dependable, responsible,
achievement-oriented, persistent.
(d) Emotional stability consider a candidate of being relaxed, secure,
unworried.
(e) Open to experience relates to a candidate being intellectual, imaginative,
curious, broad minded.

5.0 JOB INTERVIEW

A job interview is a conversation between a job applicant and a representative of an
employer which is conducted to assess whether the applicant should be hired.

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5.1 TYPE OF INTERVIEW
There are several types of job interviews depending either on the planning, number
of people, abilities, facilities or task-based interviews.

(a) Planning

Structured interview is the traditional form of an interview, the questions

asked are all in a standard format and the same questions are used to all
candidates. This is to assess the ability of all the candidates impartially. This
method is common for entry level jobs.

Unstructured interview is the opposite of a structured interview. The

interviewer has a definite idea in mind about the questions to ask, but there is
no specific format. The interviewer may deviate and turned it into a
conversation type of interview. This type of interview is found in mid-level job
interviews for managerial positions.

(b) Number of People

Personal interview is the most common type of interview. It involves the

interviewer asking questions, both technical and general, to the interviewee to
investigate how fit the candidate is for the job. This method is commonly used
both in small and big organisations

Group interview involves multiple candidates in a session and they are given
a topic for discussion. They are assessed based on their conversational ability,
their personal views and their ability to make others believe in them. The best
among the group gets selected. This method is suitable for entry level jobs and
mid-level sales posts.

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 Panel interview is also known as committee interview conducted by a group
of interviewers from the organisation’s senior level officers. This type of
interview is suitable for mid-level and high-level job positions.

(c) Abilities

Behavioural-based interview is basically set on questions asked regarding

past work experiences and how the candidate dealt with it in a particular
situation. It helps the interviewer to predict the candidate’s future performance
based on their past experiences while assessing the candidate’s behaviour and
responses. This type of interview is suitable for the managerial and executive
positions.

Problem-solving interview or task-oriented interview is where the interviewer

is more concerned about problem-solving (analytical skills). It may involve
either writing and answering a questionnaire set or through technical questions
orally. This type of interview is commonly used for software recruitments,
technical industries and managerial positions.

(d) Facilities/Setting

Job fair interview is also known as career fair interview where the interviewer
does a mini-interview to gather basic information on a candidate’s
qualifications and technical knowledge and later determine if the candidate can
proceed further to the main interview. This is a short and brief interview just to
identify potential candidates. This type of interviews usually held at the
educational institutions.

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 (e) Task

Apprenticeship interview is conducted when the candidate is a novice. The

interview is in formal setting with general and skills related questions asked.
This type of interview is commonly found in training programs in organisations.

Evaluation interview involved a fixed set of questions and a scoring system

that evaluates the points scored. This type of interview negates the scope of
personal bias of the interviewer and is always practiced in corporate
organisations.

Promotion interview is conducted when an employee of an organisation seeks

a higher position for career enhancement and is commonly found in mid-level
posts.

6.0 GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWING

The job of an interviewer spans from preparing the right set of questions to assessing the
answers given by the candidates and then finally selecting the best candidate for the job.
The interviewer should possess good communication skills, objectivity, composure and
mature. The following are a few guidelines for effective interviewing:

Gather all necessary information

Review the application form and resume clearly before the interview process. Well
informed of the candidate’s qualifications, experiences and skill set will give an interviewer
indications of the line of questions to ask the candidates.

List all questions related to the job

This step can help the interviewer get the right assessment of the candidate. Ask questions
related to the role and responsibilities needed by the job vacancies and see if the candidates
is ready to assume the job responsibility.

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 Prepare an outline of the interview
Plan the direction of the interview session. Make a structured plan so that the interviewer
will be able to review the candidate properly, especially when the session is time constraint.

Build rapport
Greet the candidates with a smile and a firm handshake while offering them a seat. Outline
the selection process and objectives before explaining the job roles and responsibilities.

Be a responsible interviewer
Avoid sensitive questions, bias and stereotyping. Assess the candidate throughly whether
on technical skills or creative skills. Concentrate on their communication skills, body
language and how they present themselves. Be a good listener and try to understand the
candidates clearly.

7.0 STEPS IN AVOIDING BIAS

People are naturally biased, which means even when we meant to be fair, the brain has a
hard time being impartial. Subconciously, the interviewer might choose candidates based
on gender, religion, race, first impression, similar mindset or personality as the interviewer.
There are steps to be taken to avoid bias such as:

Standardize the Process

Create a standard list of questions the interviewer plan to ask the candidate before the
interview session. Give everyone an equal chance to impress the intervewer.

Make Notes
While conducting the interview, note down candidate’s comments, opinions and reactions.
The interviewer might not remember everything the candidate talked about during the
interview, the notes will be helpful later when comparing candidates, especially when
interviewing many candidates.

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 Use a Rubric
Ideally, before the interview session, create a rubric containing all the characteristics and
qualities that the interviewer is looking for in the new hire. Indicate the qualifications, hard
and soft skills and experiences required. After the interview session, select numerical range
and rate each person. Rubric helps in avoiding too much credit for one particular experience
or qualifications, thus keeping things balanced.

Get Input from Others

While going through the rubric and justifying choices, it is worth seeing other interviewer’s
opinions too. Receiving feedback from others and comparing data collected will influence
and ensure better decision making.

8.0 REACHING SELECTION DECISION

While all of the steps in the selection process are important, the most critical step is the
decision to accept or reject applicants. Due to the cost of placing new employees on the
payroll and the short probationary period in many organizations, it requires systematic
consideration of all the relevant information about candidates. It is common to use
summary forms and checklists to ensure that the related information have been included in
the evaluation of candidates.

8.1 SIMPLIFYING CANDIDATE INFORMATION

Basically, an employer is interested in what a candidate can do and will do. An
evaluation of the candidates should focus on these two factors. The “can-do” factors
include knowledge and skills, as well as the aptitude (potential) for acquiring new
knowledge and skills. The "will-do" factors include motivation, interests and other
personality characteristics. Both factors are essential for successful performance on
the job. The employee who has the ability (can do) but is not motivated to use it
(will not do) is much better than the employee who lacks the necessary ability. Test
score can be used as a tool to measure a candidate’s abilities. The result of the
interview can be a basis to predict what the candidate will be able to do in the future.

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8.2 DECISION STRATEGY
The strategy used for making hiring decisions for one category of job is different
from another category. The strategy for selecting managerial and executive
personnel is different compared to selecting clerical and technical staff. While
many factors had to be considered in hiring decisions, the following are some of
the questions that managers must consider:

(a) Should the individuals be hired according to their highest potential or

according to the needs of the organization?
(b) At what grade or wage level should the individual be started?
(c) Should initial selection be concerned primarily with an ideal match of the
employee to the job, or should potential for advancement in the organization
be considered?
(d) To what extent should those who are underqualified but had the qualities
needed be considered?
(e) Should overqualified individuals be considered?

In addition to these types of factors, managers must also consider which approach
they will use in making hiring decisions. There are two approaches to selection
process such as:

Clinical Approach
In this approach, those making the selection decision review all the data on the
candidates. Then, based on their understanding of the job and observation upon
those who have been successful in that job, they will reach for a decision. Different
individuals often reach at different decisions about candidates because each
evaluator has different weights to the candidate's strengths and weaknesses. It is
subjective in nature but is often practiced in most organisations.

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 Statistical Approach
It is more objective approach and more accurate than clinical approach which
involves identifying the most valid indicator and evaluating it through statistical
methods such as multiple regression. Candidates with the highest scores is selected.
In this approach, a candidate's high score on one indicator (e.g., cognitive ability
test) will compensate for low score on another indicator (e.g., the interview). The
data acquired from the candidates will be considered in detail and the forecaster
will be identified statistically. There are a few models in this approach such as
follows:

(a) Compensatory Model

High score in one area can compensate for a low score in another area

(b) Multiple Cut-off Model

Requires a candidate to achieve minimum level of proficiency on all
selection dimensions

(c) Multiple Hurdle Model

A sequential strategy in which only candidates with high scores at initial
test stage will proceed further to subsequent stage. This approach is useful
when the testing or training procedures are lengthy and expensive.

9.0 FINAL DECISION

After the preliminary selection process made by the HR Department, those short listed
candidates are then referred to departments having vacancies. Those candidates will be
interviewed and evaluated by the managers or supervisors which then make the final
decision and deliver the result to the employment department. The HR Department then
responsible in notifying the candidates of the decisions and making the job offers for
successful candidates. The HR Department should confirm the details of the job, working
arrangements, wages and all related matters regarding hiring process.

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10.0 CONCLUSION

Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) produced a statistics showing that there are 4:1
ratio of job-hunter to vacancies offered in 2018. These big differences creates an
opportunity for an organisations to acquire the most suitable and promising candidate to
join the workforce and thus expanding the organisations further. This steps, however, is a
responsibility held by Human Resource (HR) Department to recruit and select the most
suitable candidates. Upon receiving applications, preliminary interview is conducted to
screen all the applications and validate informations given by the applicants. Short-listed
candidates are selected after going through different stages of screening and testing.
Interview session is conducted to evaluate and finalise the short-listed candidates before
turning them over to respective department vacancies for final decision.

(3151 words)

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Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2019). Labour force survey report, Malaysia, 2018. Putrajaya,
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Excerpts/chap05.doc)

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