Technology-mediated interviews as selection instruments

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Klaus G. Melchers
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 456756420

Selection interviews are the most common instrument for personnel selection. They are used by nearly all organizations at some point during the selection process – often even as the only selection instrument at all. Usually, these interviews are conducted face-to-face (FTF). However, because of the technological progress during recent decades, technology-mediated interviews such as telephone or videoconference interviews have become much more common nowadays. Moreover, given the current Covid-19 pandemic the actual usage of these interviews has further increased considerably. In addition, there are also asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) that are administered via the internet and that do not require direct interaction between applicants and organizations. Even though technology-mediated interviews have several advantages such as cost and time savings, previous studies found that applicants in these interviews usually obtain lower ratings and that they also perceive them as less fair in comparison to FTF interviews. However, the reasons for these differences have not been resolved sufficiently so far. Furthermore, it is also unclear whether differences in interviewees’ performance ratings also lead to differences concerning the criterion-related validity of technology-mediated interviews. Accordingly, the aim of the present project is to close several important gaps in our knowledge concerning the comparability of technology-mediated and traditional TFT interviews. Therefore, the following questions shall be answered by means of this project:1. Does eye contact contribute to performance ratings in videoconference interviews?2. Are the potential effects of eye contact weaker when standardized rating anchors are provided for interviewers?3. Do performance ratings from AVIs for which preparation time is provided correlate stronger with cognitive ability than ratings from AVIs without preparation time?4. Do performance ratings from AVIs with preparation time correlate more strongly with applicants’ correct identification of the evaluation criteria than ratings from AVIs without preparation time?5. Are performance ratings from AVIs with preparation time more criterion valid than ratings from AVIs without preparation time?6. Are performance ratings from FTF interviews more criterion valid than performance ratings from videoconference interviews?7. To which degree do impression management and interviewers’ perceived quality of eye contact contribute to the criterion-related validity of videoconference interviews?8. What is the overall state of research on technology-mediated selection interviews within and outside of psychology?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Canada
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Nicolas Roulin