[IPAC-List] Question about US OPM's STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE (2008)

Tue Jan 28 13:50:53 EST 2020

Joel –

It helps to think of the hiring process in three broad phases: (1) Collecting applicants; (2) rating and ranking applicants; and (3) selecting applicants for a job offer. These three broad phases apply to most organizations, but may be operationalized quite differently from organization to organization.  In the typical Federal government hiring process, the rating and ranking of applicants occurs as part of the process to create a register.  Once the register is complete, a list of applicants from the register is provided to the selecting official.  Typically, no rating and ranking is done in phase 3 - selecting applicants for a job offer.  The guide you are referencing was designed to assist in the rating and ranking phase, hence the note that the rating scales do not apply to the selecting official’s interview.  OPM recognizes the value of a structured process in the selecting official’s interview, but since rating and ranking is typically not done at this phase, rating scales per se would not be included.

I am not a member of OPM’s Employee Services Division and this is not intended to be a policy description or interpretation.  Rather, I hope it helps to clear up your question regarding the note in Section I.4 of the guide.

Michael D. Blair
Lead Personnel Research Psychologist
United States Office of Personnel Management

P: 202-957-5427 | M: 202-957-5427
Michael.Blair2 at opm.gov<mailto:Michael.Blair2 at opm.gov> | www.opm.gov/HRS<http://www.opm.gov/HRS>

From: IPAC-List <ipac-list-bounces at ipacweb.org> On Behalf Of Lance Seberhagen
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 11:36 AM
To: 'Joel Wiesen' <jwiesen at appliedpersonnelresearch.com>; 'IPAC-List' <IPAC-List at ipacweb.org>
Subject: Re: [IPAC-List] Question about US OPM's STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE (2008)

Step 4 is not applicable because the Selecting Official does not necessarily use a structured interview or a common rating scale to evaluate finalists.  OPM should have done a better job of explaining this.  The fact is that Selecting Officials in the Federal Government are free to conduct the final interview almost any way they want.

Lance Seberhagen, Ph.D.
Seberhagen & Associates
9021 Trailridge Ct
Vienna, VA 22182
Tel 703-790-0796
www.seberhagen.com<http://www.seberhagen.com>

-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Wiesen <jwiesen at appliedpersonnelresearch.com<mailto:jwiesen at appliedpersonnelresearch.com>>
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 11:45 AM
To: Lance Seberhagen <sebe at rcn.com<mailto:sebe at rcn.com>>; 'IPAC-List' <IPAC-List at ipacweb.org<mailto:IPAC-List at ipacweb.org>>
Subject: Re: [IPAC-List] Question about US OPM's STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE (2008)

Hello Lance,

What you write makes sense concerning scoring, but if all the selecting official is doing is confirming qualifications, why go thru the job analysis and question development steps?

Why is only step 4 noted as not applicable to the selecting official?

Thx.

Joel

P.S. Here are the 8 steps, from page 5 of the Guide:

1. Conduct a Job Analysis

2. Determine the Competencies to be Assessed by the Interview

3. Choose the Interview Format and Develop Questions

4. Develop Rating Scales to Evaluate Candidates

5. Create Interview Probes

6. Pilot-Test the Interview Questions

7. Create the Interviewer’s Guide

8. Document the Development Process

Joel P. Wiesen, Ph.D., Director

Applied Personnel Research

62 Candlewood Road

Scarsdale, NY 10583-6040

http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelwiesen

(617) 244-8859

http://appliedpersonnelresearch.com

Continuing Education website (home study of recent journal articles): https://www.aprtestingservice.com/

Note: This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information. Please do not forward any contents without permission. If you have received this message in error please destroy all copies, completely remove it from your computer, and notify the sender. Thank you.

On 1/28/20 11:26 AM, Lance Seberhagen wrote:

>

> The Introduction of OPM report (p. 3) says:

>

> /Interviews are typically used for one of two purposes in the Federal

> Government. First, the interview may be used as part of the formal

> selection process in which candidates are screened or ranked based on

> their scores. Second, a “selecting official's interview” may be used

> to verify candidates’ qualifications for a job after they have been

> rated using other assessment methods, but prior to making a hiring

> decision. In a selecting official’s interview, candidates’ responses

> are typically not scored./

>

> The Selecting Official’s Interview is unstructured and more flexible

> than the Screening Interview because the goal of the Selecting

> Official is to identify the best qualified candidate from among a

> small group of finalists who are likely to have relatively equal

> qualifications.

>

>

> Lance Seberhagen, Ph.D.

> Seberhagen & Associates

> 9021 Trailridge Ct

> Vienna, VA 22182

> Tel 703-790-0796

> www.seberhagen.com<http://www.seberhagen.com> <http://www.seberhagen.com>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: IPAC-List <ipac-list-bounces at ipacweb.org<mailto:ipac-list-bounces at ipacweb.org>> On Behalf Of Joel

> Wiesen

> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 9:09 AM

> To: IPAC-List <IPAC-List at ipacweb.org<mailto:IPAC-List at ipacweb.org>>

> Subject: [IPAC-List] Question about US OPM's STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS: A

> PRACTICAL GUIDE (2008)

>

> OPM's guide is here:

>

> https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/assessment-and-selection/str

> uctured-interviews/guide.pdf

>

> Page 8 says:

>

> << 4. Developing Rating Scales to Evaluate Candidates << NOTE: This

> step is not applicable to a selecting official’s interview.

>

> My question is, why is this step not applicable to a selecting

> official’s interview?

>

> Thank you.

>

> Joel

>

> --

>

> Joel P. Wiesen, Ph.D., Director

>

> Applied Personnel Research

>

> 62 Candlewood Road

>

> Scarsdale, NY 10583-6040

>

> http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelwiesen

>

> (617) 244-8859

>

> http://appliedpersonnelresearch.com

>

> Continuing Education website (home study of recent journal articles):

> https://www.aprtestingservice.com/

>

> Note: This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and/or

> legally privileged information. Please do not forward any contents

> without permission. If you have received this message in error please

> destroy all copies, completely remove it from your computer, and

> notify the sender. Thank you.

>

> _______________________________________________________

>

> IPAC-List

>

> IPAC-List at ipacweb.org<mailto:IPAC-List at ipacweb.org> <mailto:IPAC-List at ipacweb.org>

>

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