The employment interview requires careful planning, organizing and coordinating, as well as high-level communication skills. Because of this complexity, most interviewers are more concerned about how they are doing in the interview than how the candidate is doing. Frequently a steady flow of conversation is mistaken for securing competency-based evidence of match for the job. This accounts for why some interviewers struggle to validate their assessments of candidates, and instead offer comments like "She wouldn't be a good fit." or "I don’t know. There was something about him.

Conducting Productive Interviews puts teeth into the interview process and avoids the second-guessing that often follows a "seat of the pants" interview. It guides participants through a structured, yet flexible interview format that increases the likelihood that both parties in the interview will secure the information they need to make an informed choice. Upon leaving this program, participants are able to:

• Use an interview plan during the interview process.
• Interview for competency.
• Coordinate with other interviewers to avoid redundancy.
• Comfortably open and close the interview.
• Gather critical information in a conversational manner and within legal guidelines.
• Take notes without interrupting the flow of conversation.
• Probe for hard-to-get, but important information.
• Talk about the position and the company at the right time and in the right way.
• Objectively and systematically compare candidates.
• Make hiring decisions based on sound criteria.