How to choose the best candidate? Selecting the right applicant for a job is not an easy task. The difficulty of the selection of personnel is to evaluate the candidates in a short period of time and in a very different scenario than the one that will be possible future job position, and is that the ability to conduct a good interview does not necessarily guarantee the ability to perform the job itself.
The eye of a good human resources (HR) technician is ready to read and extrapolate the results of an interview to reality. However, for selection processes where getting it right is essential, there are complements to the traditional interview, such as practical case-solving exercises and behavioral interviews, applied individually or group. In this Psychology-Online article, we will see what the group job interviews, with examples and dynamics useful for evaluating those abilities and skills that a particular job requires.
Group interviews allow:
Evaluate a greater number of candidates
In group tests, many applicants can participate, so they are especially useful in mass selection processes.
Observe the participant in a more natural context
The use of games or challenges has long been a common practice in leading companies, are used to encourage candidates to lose focus of the process itself, showing their true me.
Assess soft skills
These dynamics are especially interesting to assess the soft skills, non-cognitive skills essential to perform a job, but hardly observable in a traditional individual interview.
Assess social skills
You don't really meet a person until you see them interacting with other people.
Show the value of the company
In addition to the value for evaluation, group dynamics are also a positive element in the "Mutual selection process", where the candidate is shown a dynamic, fun, innovative and current.
Discover skills in workers
These dynamics not only serve for an initial selection, but the same logic also applies for the evaluation of the leadership and problem-solving skills of individuals who are internal candidates for a role change or promotion.
From Crimidesa, Fernando Beltrán Aparicio, HR director Until 2018, he tells us about his example: “Taking advantage of a team building event, we were able to verify the team management capacity of a candidate for internal promotion. Obviously, there were many other indicators, but being able to work for an hour on his team was a opportunity to validate previous reports first-hand and we discovered a small area that we needed to enhance before the change of responsibility ”.
In recent years, we have seen new initiatives that are gaining weight: escape rooms, improvisational theater or games of more complex strategy, but the idea remains the same: show the potential of the candidates in an environment spontaneous.
Group activities can range from playing tic-tac-toe to building a cardboard chair, to small video games or card games. The most common dynamics in group work interviews are the following:
Forum
This group dynamic consists of carrying out a conversation on a theme proposed by the evaluators, who observe the opinions and communication skills of the applicants.
- For example, talk about the benefits of reading.
Brainstorming
This group exercise consists of producing ideas on a topic or solutions for a problem. It is useful to assess the creativity, innovation, the ability to concentrate, originality, authenticity and imagination, among others.
- For example, come up with different ideas of merchandising for the company.
Escape room
This group game consists of solving tests in a space set in a story. The objective is decipher the riddles before a certain time. An escape room is a controlled space, where you can observe and listen to the performance of one or more candidates acting without the presence of those who evaluate them.
- For example, the escape game Rombate from The Rombo Code. With a capacity of up to 12 participants, it is a escape room ideal for assessing the ability to cope with problems, strategy and time management.
We spoke with Óscar Grifols, the head of The Rombo Code Barcelona business area: the main escape room with services for Human Resources in Spain. Although the conclusions that we can draw from the environment of an escape game also serve any other dynamic based on the game. “The technicians who evaluate, normally, have already played the game and they know it: it is not so much about hit or miss, but rather about the ability to generate ideas and commit the team to them, analyze the processes of Problem resolution and also how the players relate to each other: this is a very concrete opportunity to analyze soft skills that we can take full advantage of ”.
Grifols refers to the importance of choosing an appropriate theme, for example, that is not scary. It is also important to avoid elements that unnecessarily harm the process, such as bad lighting, and prioritize intellectual and teamwork challenges. Not just any escape room, although almost anyone could be adapted to fulfill this role. He also highlights that above all it is one more complement to the process, but that it provides a very funny point for the candidates that serves to reassure them and that they can be relaxed.
Without a doubt, the escape game as a group dynamic for job interviews is a very original that allows to assess the real performance of an infinity of capabilities: attention, understanding, analysis, resolution, creativity, group work, communication, organization, logic, working memory, perseverance, imagination, work under pressure, self-regulation, safety... Professionals in the sector can advise you to choose the best escape room based on the capacities you prefer assess.
Debate
In this group job interview format, a dilemma is proposed against which each candidate or candidate must position, argue and defend the position, which can be real or assigned randomly. This test allows assessing communication skills, the ability to influence and the ability to persuasion so important in sales, especially.
For example, face-to-face work versus teleworking.
Round table
The objective of this group dynamic for job interviews is to reach an agreement. Interviewers can evaluate applicants' assertiveness, initiative, creativity, negotiation skills, diplomacy, self-control ...
- For example, agree on the priority order of 15 objects for the survival of a group on a ship.
Practical case
For this exercise of role-playing, the evaluators propose a common task in the workplace and observe how each of the participants performs it.
- For example, serving another participant as if he were a customer.
Crisis Cabinet
Role-playing exercise that consists of simulating the resolution of a serious unforeseen problem. Participants must show their ability to resolution problems, the ability to make decisions, flexibility, critical thinking, group work, execution under pressure and security.
- For example, raise situations such as that the business is suffering a robbery or that the office has lost electricity.
