Defining and Enhancing Competent Interview Behaviour Using the Verbal Interaction Analysis System

Abstract

Abstract The development of a new approach to evaluating interpersonal competence is described and applied to job interviews. Preliminary validation data are reported for the Verbal Interaction Analysis System (VIAS) followed by a study which provides a more extensive follow-up investigation. In this study, 26 persons involved in personnel selection or training rated videotapes of eight subjects engaged in simulated job interviews. The subjects of the videotape recordings were selected as high- or low-competent in their interviews on the basis of prior scores generated by the VIAS. Mean ratings strongly confirmed the discriminative validity of the VIAS, despite the variability of responses made by raters. Findings are interpreted to give support to the hypothesis that competence in interpersonal interactions is determined by the effects that one participant's verbal utterances have on those of the other participant and vice versa. Discussion is mainly concerned with how interviewees can make use of these findings to maximise their competence in the interview, and the implications for interviewers.