Early research on the validity of job interviews showed them to be of little value. The first studies suggested one would actually be better off flipping a coin than using an interview to predict someone’s work performance.
One of the earliest investigations of interview accuracy was conducted in 1911 by Alfred Binet. In his experiment three experienced teachers interviewed the same five children and estimated their intelligence levels. Each teacher conducted their interviews as they saw fit, and although all three teachers were extremely confident about the accuracy of their results, Binet discovered that their conclusions totally disagreed with one another.1 As Binet quickly understood, ...
