Reliability of a Novel Format for the Selection Interview

Abstract

Since the evidence has shown that the usual selection interview is unreliable, an alternate strategy was developed called the Q by Q Interview. The Q by Q format requires the interviewer to make a series of selection decisions instead of the usual procedure of waiting until the end of the interview to make a global rating. In 3 selection problems the Q by Q Interview resulted in high interrater reliability and in 3 other selection situations, reliability was low. An analysis of the raters' decision making indicated that when applicant responses were similar, there was range restriction which produced spuriously low reliability coefficients.