The Skills of Interviewing

According to the notes on the jacket "this book has developed out of the authors' long collaboration in conducting management courses on industrial psychology and human relations"; and where the authors are discussing their own experiences and ideas it has an authentic and satisfying ring. Their synthesis of theoretical insight and awareness of the practical realities of the day-to-day industrial scene is particularly successful. The authors begin by discussing some of the studies which cast doubt on the reliability and validity of the interview as a method of assessment and they stress the fact that few of these include any useful information about the interview method under review. They give some examples of what passes for an "interview" in practice and make the point, which has so far been seriously under-emphasised in the literature, that many so-called interviews are so bizarre that it is hardly surprising that they produce so little in the way of useful results. They conclude that "experiments to test the value of the interview as a method of selection which are