Are we asking the right questions? Predictive validity comparison of four structured interview question types

Abstract

This research contributes to the interviewing literature via an empirical study that includes all four major structured interview question types: past behavioral, situational, background, and job knowledge. The latter two question types are often used in practice but have received little scholarly attention, and no research has looked at all four in the same study. We theoretically derive a conceptual model comparing and contrasting all four question types, with each being hypothesized to predict job performance directly and predict turnover (as mediated by job performance) indirectly. Results indicated that ratings of background, situational, and past behavioral interview questions significantly predicted job performance. Further analysis revealed that both past behavioral and background ratings had a significant indirect relationship with turnover, as mediated by job performance ratings.