nonombre wrote on Mar 17
th, 2006 at 1:20am:
Hey, I have a question:
I understand structured questions on an oral interview are designed to solicit and evaluate specific responses. So let's say the interviewee thwarts the process by coming on a website such as this one and being given advise on how to manipulate his responses...
Isn't that a "countermeasure?"
Gee maybe we should eliminate oral boards???
Regards,
Nonombre
Imagine if the first question asked of all oral board interviewees was, “Have you ever researched the oral board process or studied any ways to improve your score?”
If the oral board was conducted like the polygraph, anyone who answered in the affirmative would have to then be warned to ignore anything they’ve studied or they would automatically fail the oral board.
Any interviewee who wanted to score well so they could be hired and thereby took the time and effort to research how to stay calm during the oral board and how to not let the pressure get to them would be instructed that if they were detected using any of that knowledge they would fail the board due to “purposeful non-cooperation.”
I believe most people would perceive that scenario as being hideously unfair to the interviewee. Anyone who answers all oral board questions with honesty and integrity should not be penalized simply because they also display the very admirable trait of not allowing themselves to become unduly stressed during a stressful situation.
But that is exactly what happens to polygraph examinees all the time. The polygraph is purportedly used to detect deception. Anyone who submits to a polygraph exam and is not deceptive in any way should pass. But that doesn't happen all the time, and not even the examiners on this board can claim it does. An interviewee exhibiting the ability to keep themselves calm in a stressful situation should not be seen as a problem, since that is in fact a highly desirable trait for a law enforcement officer to possess.
I think the comparison between oral boards and polygraph exams is actually a fairly illustrative one. Both rely on subjective reactions in order to score the interviewee/examinee. Both tend to be seen as a stressful situation by those who have to submit to them. Yet only the polygraph carries with it such untenable restrictions as, “You cannot breathe in a manner other than how I tell you,” and “You cannot think about something that might distract you from my question.”
I think that if anyone tried to place similar restrictions on oral boards they would immediately be seen as arbitrary, unfair, and virtually unenforceable. Yet they are commonplace on polygraph exams. If they were ever to become commonplace on oral boards I’m sure it wouldn’t be long until a web site with the name “AntiOralBoard.com” popped up.