Situational Job Interviews

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 Situational Job Interviews In situational interviewing, job-seekers are asked to respond to a specific situation they may face on the job. These types of questions are designed to draw out more of your analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as how you handle problems with short notice and minimal preparation.  Situational interviews are similar to behavioral interviews, ecept while behavioral focus on a past eperience, situational interviews focus on a hypothetical situation. !or eample, in a behavioral interview, the interviewer might start a question with, "Te ll me about a time you had to deal with..." In a situational interview, the interviewer asks, "#ow would you handle..."  The key to preparation and success in situational interviews is simply to review your past work eperiences and review the steps you took to resolve problems and make corrections. $o u should also have short stories of some of these past eperiences so you can also incorporate them into your answers to show that you have eperience handling similar situations.  #ere%s one question an interviewer might ask an applicant for a customer-service manager position& "#ow would you handle an angry customer who was promised delivery of the product on a certain date, but because of manufacturing delays, the company was not able to deliver on a timely basis' The customer is demanding some kind of compensation for the unepected delay. "  (r, for a management position, a job-seeker might be asked& "#ow do you handle a disgruntled employee in your department who has made a habit of arriving late to work and causing minor disruptions during the day, as well as a declining morale among the rest of the staff'"  Job satisfaction and commitment[edit] Main article: Job satisfaction Job satisfaction reflects an employee's overall assessment of their job, particularly their emotions, behaviors, and attitudes about their work experience. It is one of the most heavily researched topics in industrialor!ani"ational psycholo!y with several thousand published studies. Job satisfaction has theoretical and practical utility for the field of psycholo!y and has been li nked to important job outcomes includin! attitudinal variables, absenteeism, employee turnover, and job performance. #or instance, job satisfaction is stron!ly correlated with attitudinal variables such as job involvement, or!ani"ational commitment, job tensions, frustration, and feelin!s of anxiety. $ %&& meta(analyses found positive relationships between job satisfaction and life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and the absence of ne!ative affect. [)*]  Job satisfaction also has a weak correlation with employee's absentee behaviors and turnover from an or!ani"ation with employees more likely to miss work or find other jobs if they are not satisfied. #inally, research has found that althou!h a positive relationship exists between job satisfaction and performance, it is moderated by the use of rewards at an or!ani"ation and the stren!th of employee's attitudes about their job.

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Situational Job InterviewsIn situational interviewing, job-seekers are asked to respond to a specific situation they may face on the job.These types of questions are designed to draw out more of your analytical and problem-solving skills, as well ashow you handle problems with short notice and minimal preparation. 

Situational interviews are similar to behavioral interviews, ecept while behavioral focus on a past eperience,situational interviews focus on a hypothetical situation. !or eample, in a behavioral interview, the interviewermight start a question with, "Tell me about a time you had to deal with..." In a situational interview, theinterviewer asks, "#ow would you handle..." The key to preparation and success in situational interviews is simply to review your past work eperiences andreview the steps you took to resolve problems and make corrections. $ou should also have short stories of some ofthese past eperiences so you can also incorporate them into your answers to show that you have eperiencehandling similar situations. #ere%s one question an interviewer might ask an applicant for a customer-service manager position& "#ow wouldyou handle an angry customer who was promised delivery of the product on a certain date, but because ofmanufacturing delays, the company was not able to deliver on a timely basis' The customer is demanding somekind of compensation for the unepected delay." 

(r, for a management position, a job-seeker might be asked& "#ow do you handle a disgruntled employee in yourdepartment who has made a habit of arriving late to work and causing minor disruptions during the day, as well asa declining morale among the rest of the staff'" 

Job satisfaction and commitment[edit]

Main article: Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction reflects an employee's overall assessment of their job, particularly their emotions,

behaviors, and attitudes about their work experience. It is one of the most heavily researched topics

in industrialor!ani"ational psycholo!y with several thousand published studies. Job satisfaction has

theoretical and practical utility for the field of psycholo!y and has been linked to important job

outcomes includin! attitudinal variables, absenteeism, employee turnover, and job performance. #or

instance, job satisfaction is stron!ly correlated with attitudinal variables such as job involvement,

or!ani"ational commitment, job tensions, frustration, and feelin!s of anxiety. $ %&& meta(analyses

found positive relationships between job satisfaction and life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect,

and the absence of ne!ative affect.[)*] Job satisfaction also has a weak correlation with employee's

absentee behaviors and turnover from an or!ani"ation with employees more likely to miss work or

find other jobs if they are not satisfied. #inally, research has found that althou!h a positive

relationship exists between job satisfaction and performance, it is moderated by the use of rewards

at an or!ani"ation and the stren!th of employee's attitudes about their job.

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Performance appraisal/management[edit]

Main articles: Performance appraisal  and Performance management 

+erformance appraisal or performance evaluation is the process of measurin! an individual's or a

!roup's work behaviors and outcomes a!ainst the expectations of the job. [*]+erformance appraisal is

fre-uently used in promotion and compensation decisions, to help desi!n and validate personnel

selection procedures, and for performance mana!ement. +erformance mana!ement is the process

of providin! performance feedback relative to expectations and improvement information e.!.,

coachin!, mentorin!/. +erformance mana!ement may also include documentin! and trackin!

performance information for or!ani"ation(level evaluation purposes.

 $n I0 psycholo!ist would typically use information from the job analysis to determine a job's

performance dimensions, and then construct a ratin! scale to describe each level of performance for 

the job. 0ften, the I0 psycholo!ist would be responsible for trainin! or!ani"ational personnel how

to use the performance appraisal instrument, includin! ways to minimi"e bias when usin! the ratin!

scale, and how to provide effective performance feedback. $dditionally, the I0 psycholo!ist may

consult with the or!ani"ation on ways to use the performance appraisal information for broader

performance mana!ement initiatives.

Leadership[edit]

Main article: Leadership

In I0 psycholo!y, leadership can be defined as a process of influencin! others to a!ree on ashared purpose, and to work towards shared objectives.[1] $ distinction should be made between

leadership and mana!ement. 2ana!ers process administrative tasks and or!ani"e work

environments. $lthou!h leaders may be re-uired to undertake mana!erial duties as well, leaders

typically focus on inspirin! followers and creatin! a shared or!ani"ational culture and values.

2ana!ers deal with complexity, while leaders deal with initiatin! and adaptin! to chan!e. 2ana!ers

undertake the tasks of plannin!, bud!etin!, or!ani"in!, staffin!, controllin! and problem solvin!. In

contrast, leaders undertake the tasks of settin! a direction or vision, ali!nin! people to shared !oals,

communicatin!, and motivatin!.[3]

 $pproaches to studyin! leadership in I0 psycholo!y can be broadly classified into three cate!ories4

5eader(focused approaches, 6ontin!ency(focused approaches, and #ollower(focused approaches.