Job Interview Background
A job interview is a mechanism by which a prospective employee is judged by an employer for potential employment in their company, organization, or firm. It’s not a new idea and was first conducted about 500 years ago.
A job interview generally precedes the hiring decision, and is used to judge the candidate. The interview is usually heralded by the evaluation of submitted CVs from potential candidates, then selecting a small number of candidates for interviews. The interview is thought to be one of the most useful tools for evaluating potential employees. It also demands significant resources from the employer, yet has been demonstrated to be notoriously unreliable in identifying the optimal person for the job.
Multiple rounds of job interviews may be used where there are many candidates or the job is particularly challenging or desirable. Earlier rounds may involve fewer staff from the employers and will typically be much shorter and less in-depth. A common initial interview form is the phone interview, a job interview conducted over the telephone. This is especially common when the candidates do not live near the employer and has the advantage of keeping costs low for both sides.
Once all candidates have been interviewed, the employer typically selects the most desirable candidate and begins the negotiation of a job offer. In medicine doctors (both trainee doctors and those going for consultant posts) often have to go for medical interviews before they are appointed in their medical training post or consultants post.
