KSA Interview Techniques & Performance Measurement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which interview technique requires candidates to describe a specific past situation, the task they faced, the action they took, and the result they achieved?
- Funnel questioning
- STAR method (Correct answer)
- Critical incident technique
- Panel debriefing
Correct answer: STAR method
The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is a structured behavioral interview framework used to elicit concrete examples of past performance.
Question 2: A KSA assessor notices an interviewer consistently rates candidates higher when they graduated from the same university. This is an example of:
- Contrast effect
- Affinity bias (Correct answer)
- Recency bias
- Halo effect
Correct answer: Affinity bias
Affinity bias occurs when interviewers favor candidates who share similar backgrounds, experiences, or characteristics with themselves.
Question 3: When measuring interview reliability, the correlation between ratings given by two independent interviewers assessing the same candidate is called:
- Content validity
- Inter-rater reliability (Correct answer)
- Test-retest reliability
- Criterion validity
Correct answer: Inter-rater reliability
Inter-rater reliability measures the degree of agreement between different raters scoring the same candidate, ensuring consistency in evaluation.
Question 4: A structured interview differs from an unstructured interview primarily because:
- It is shorter in duration
- All candidates are asked the same predetermined questions (Correct answer)
- Only HR professionals can conduct it
- It eliminates the need for scoring rubrics
Correct answer: All candidates are asked the same predetermined questions
Structured interviews use a standardized set of questions for all candidates, which increases reliability and reduces interviewer bias compared to unstructured formats.
Question 5: Which performance measurement approach focuses on evaluating employees against defined behavioral anchors at each rating level on a scale?
- 360-degree feedback
- Management by Objectives (MBO)
- Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) (Correct answer)
- Forced distribution
Correct answer: Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)
BARS links rating scale points to specific observable behavioral examples, reducing ambiguity and improving consistency in performance ratings.
Question 6: A KSA assessor is validating a new interview panel's effectiveness. Which metric would best indicate that the interview scores are predicting job performance?
- Face validity coefficient
- Adverse impact ratio
- Predictive validity coefficient (Correct answer)
- Standard error of measurement
Correct answer: Predictive validity coefficient
Predictive validity measures how well interview scores forecast future job performance by correlating interview ratings with subsequent performance data.
Question 7: During a performance review, an assessor overweights a subordinate's most recent project failure despite consistently strong performance over the year. This is known as:
- Central tendency error
- Leniency bias
- Recency effect (Correct answer)
- Severity error
Correct answer: Recency effect
The recency effect occurs when raters place excessive emphasis on the most recent events rather than considering the full performance period.
KSA Interview Techniques & Performance Measurement 2
Which interview technique requires candidates to describe a specific past situation, the task they faced, the action they took, and the result they achieved?