Employment interviews are designed to judge the qualifications and desirability of a candidate for a job. Studies find that interviews are incredibly important in getting the right job. The Bureau of National Affairs recently polled 196 personnel executives in an effort to pinpoint the most important factors in hiring applicants. The studies' results showed employment interviews are the single most important factor in landing a job.

For this reason, the employment interview has been referred to as the most important interview of a lifetime. Consider the stakes. At the age of 21, we have 44 years of work ahead of us--that is 2,000 hours at work each year, amounting to 80,000 hours over the course of our careers. Seeing that we spend half of our waking hours at work, it is important to enjoy the job we choose. But recent studies show that 70% of people are unhappy with their jobs. If you are unhappy at work, that unhappiness is bound to effect your non-working hours as well. Each time you switch jobs, it costs time and money. Therefore, it is essential to take the interview process seriously to enable yourself to secure a good job.

Unfortunately, research shows that interviews are not reliable measures of one's skills. A 1989 study found that a variety of factors influenced a candidate's rating, including time of day, the sex of the interviewer and interviewee and the employer's mood. Therefore, the best candidate does not necessarily get the job. Rather, in most situations, the person who knows the most about getting hired usually gets the job. This homepage aims to familiarize the reader with the interview process.

Alder, R.B., & Elmhorst, J. M. (1996). Communicating at work: Principles and practices for business and the professionals (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.