What is a psychological interview?

Question

I had an interview a couple of days ago with three different managers, and they have called me to come for a second interview. However one of the managers has told me that a human resource manager will conduct the final interview, he had told me that this interview will sort of be a psychological interview. what is this interview? and what are my chances?

Answer 1

In general, psychological tests can be broken into 6 broad categories

1. Personality Tests
2. Ability tests - these may be general or more specific including Abstract, Verbal and Numerical reasoning tests.
3. Aptitude Tests -tend to be job related and often carry names pertaining to a specific aptitude eg; Management Aptitude, Programmers Aptitude. Aptitude tests are utilised typically to help assess potential in a specific work related area.
4. Motivation / Values questionnaires
5. Interest / Beliefs Inventories
6. Integrity Tests

Of these, the most commonly used in selection settings are Personality, Ability, Aptitude and Motivation / Values scales, as these are deemed the most useful when trying to predict someone's future level of performance in a particular role or to gauge their likely level of "fit" with the company.

The main methods of testing are:

Group Testing: to simultaneously screen large numbers of candidates

Individual Assessment: more commonly conducted for Management, Executive or "confidential" high status recruitment, although it may be used in graduate selection.

Assessment Centres (a methodology not a place): commonly utilised for Executive, Graduate Recruitment and employee promotion purposes. 8-10 short listed applicants complete a number of tasks including role-plays, simulation games, interviews and other relevant activities. Applicants are rated on their performance throughout the session.

Answer 2

It means the questions you'll be asked will have a psychology-based origin. Your chances are as good as the next person's. Don't worry about it. Just answer truly, don't try to give them the answer you think they want to hear. You'll do fine. If they don't hire you based upon that interview, it's probably not the company for you.