Recruiters from 8 telecommunications companies interviewed applicants or incumbents in four studies of the psychometric properties of structured behavioral interviews for management and marketing positions. Results yielded an interrater reliability estimate of .64 (n = 37), a mean criterion-related validity estimate of .22 (n ~ 500), evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, and small race and sex differences. In a fifth study, 3 doctoral students rated audiotapes and written summaries of 146 interviews conducted by recruiters. Results show that valid judgments are possible from information about interviewees' past behavior even without access to nonverbal cues in the interview itself and that judgmental accuracy is related to amount of relevant behavioral information, which, in turn, is related to interviewers' questioning skills.Early reviews of the selection interview are tinged with pessimism about its reliability and validity (e.g.,

In this study we explored relations between visual cues displayed by interviewees, the content of their answers to interview questions, and supervisory ratings of performance. Sixty managers at 4 companies answered structured interview questions on videotape. Their supervisors assessed their performance on dimensions of managerial effectiveness. Three groups of student raters either watched the videotaped interviews without sound (visual information only), read transcripts of interviewees' answers to questions (content only), or watched and listened to the interviews (complete information) and then made judgments on the same dimensions of managerial effectiveness. Interviewees' specific nonverbal cues were also measured. Results indicate that visual cues have an effect on interview ratings above and beyond the content of responses. Nonverbal cues such as gaze and physical attractiveness seem to have an effect on both visually based and content‐based interview ratings. Furthermore, it is the integration of both verbal and nonverbal information that has the strongest relationship with performance ratings.

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Three studies were conducted investigating the effects of notetaking behavior and the content of notes on validity in a selection interview. Overall, results indicate that when notetaking was voluntary, notetakers made more valid ratings than non-notetakers. But, when notetaking was manipulated non-notetakers made ratings that were just as valid as raters told to take behavioral notes, and actually more valid than those raters instructed to take general notes. With regard to the content of notes, behavioral-type notes were found to contribute to greater validity. In addition, in the first and third study, procedural type notes resulted in lower validity. These results may have important implications for interviewer training for notetaking. ~~ Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Jennifer R. Burnett, Performance Insights, PO Box 10791, Brandenton, FL 34282. COPYRIGHT 8 1998 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, INC. * * p < .01Correlations above the diagonal are for general notetakers (n = 29); correlations below the diagonal are for behavioral notetakers (n = 34). One-tailed *p < .05

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