Different Types of Interview Styles and How to Adapt

There are a variety of different interview methods that employers use today to question job candidates. But they all have one goal – finding the right person for the job, someone with the skills, knowledge and experience needed to do the job well. Employers also use the job interview as a way to find someone who will fit in with the company culture.

Although you may not know exactly what kind of interview you will undergo, there are still certain common elements in the way you need to prepare for each interview. For example, no matter what kind of interview you face, you will still need to know as much as you can about the company and the industry it is a part of. You will also need to practice your answers to some of the more common interview questions, as well as practicing how you will sell yourself to the hiring manager. In addition, you should also have questions of your own prepared. Here are a few of the different types of interviews:

Screening Interview

As the name suggests, the purpose of this type of questioning is more to weed people out, rather than hone in on the right person. It is usually conducted by a recruiter or a human resources specialist. The questions are usually straightforward, simply designed to learn more about you.

Serial Interview

Another type of interview is the serial interview. This is where a series of people talk to you one after another during the course of the day. Then they compare notes.

Panel Interview

With the panel interview, a candidate is questioned by a group of people. This type of interview can be tough, because the candidate is going to be getting a variety of questions from different people. It is difficult in such a situation to try and establish a rapport with the interviewers.

In the case of the panel interview, some career specialists counsel the candidate to focus on just one or two people on the panel and try to establish a relationship with them. However, you need to be sure to make eye contact with everyone on the panel. 

Audition Interview

As the name states, the candidate in this type of interview is doing an audition for the job. He/she is given some type of task which he must perform. For example, a computer programmer may be asked to write some code, or a reporter may be sent out to cover a story.

There is no particular way to prepare for such an interview. The candidate, for the most part, needs to rely on the skills he has acquired during the course of his career. The best preparation is similar to how you would prepare for any test – get good night’s sleep and eat a nutritious breakfast.

Behavioral Interview

This kind of interview is becoming more popular. Here, the interviewer tries to assess a candidate’s qualifications through learning about past behavior. The interviewer will pose a problem to the candidate and ask how he/she solved such a problem in the past, what actions he/she took, or the candidate might be asked to describe a situation where he/she used particular types of skills to handle a problem.

The best way to prepare for this type of interview is to become as familiar as possible with the duties of the job to get a sense of the skills it requires. That way you will have some idea of what skills the interviewer will be asking you about, so you can prepare instances where you used those skills.

If you are an experienced insurance professional, and are looking to advance in your career, or just looking for work, Insurance Relief™ can help find the right job for you. We are among the best insurance recruiting firms in the industry. Give us a call today.