Assessing job applicants' emotional competency in interviews

Abstract

There is confusion between the concepts of emotional intelligence (EI) and emotional competency (EC) in the literature. Following the classification of Ashkanasy and Daus (2005), we define EI as a set of interrelated abilities, while EC refers to employees' behaviors that lead to high performance in a particular emotional job context. The present study attempts to bridge the theoretical foundation of EI with the practical concern of selecting people with the appropriate EC for a particular job by designing interview questions based on specific job contexts. Using the customer service office as example, we find particular job are designed. We then compare the hiring decisions using EI measures versus selection interviews based on the questions developed in the first stage. Finally, we examine the relationship between interview question answers and EI measures in a student sample and the predictive validity of those answers on job performance and turnover intention in an employee sample. The implications of our findings are then discussed.