Overview
What do Interviews Measure?
Before describing the PBI process, it is important to understand what the interview is trying to accomplish. Interviews measure a candidate’s knowledge and skills to determine if they have the competencies needed to perform the job. When deciding who the best candidate is, the interviewer will look at the degree to which each candidate possesses the important competencies needed for the job.
Competencies are a collection of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that people need to be successful in a job. Competencies can reflect soft skills, such as communication and interpersonal skills, and technical skills, such as database administration or human resources management. An analysis of the critical competencies most frequently needed in VA showed customer service, communication, attention to detail, interpersonal skills, and problem solving were frequently listed in job postings. These competencies are very likely to appear during an interview at VA. However, applicants should also be prepared to address job-specific competencies and other relevant general competencies listed in the job posting.
PBIs are particularly useful because they are more interactive than other assessment methods and allow for the assessment of difficult-to-measure competencies.
What Is PBI?
As anyone who has participated in multiple interviews can tell you, not all interviews are the same. Interviews often have different levels of structure – that is, the degree to which questions and rating processes are standardized across candidates. PBI is a structured interview technique that offers a better and fairer interview experience because:
- Candidates receive the same questions, providing equal opportunity to demonstrate their ability to do the job.
- Questions are tied to job requirements, making them better measures of each candidate’s proficiency.
- Interviewers rate candidates’ responses using the same rating standards, increasing fairness.
- Interviewers are trained to ask questions, rate candidates’ responses, and avoid common interviewer errors.
What Do PBI Questions Look Like?
There are 2 types of PBI questions. Both capture relevant information but ask candidates about their knowledge and skills in different ways.
One type is the behavioral interview. Behavioral interview questions ask candidates about their past behavior in situations relevant to the current job to assess their prior experience. They are based on the idea that past behavior in similar situations is the best predictor of future behavior (e.g., “Describe a time when…What happened? What did you do?”).
The other type is the situational interview. Situational interview questions use future-oriented questions to ask candidates how they would behave in hypothetical, realistic work situations. Situational interview questions are based on the idea that one’s intentions predict how they will behave in the future (e.g., “What would you do if…?”).
Both question types are valid and reliable ways to assess competencies. An interview at VA could include one or both types of questions.
