Common errors strip the interview of its validity. The interview
is a critical part of the hiring process and is one of the few
times, if not the only time, that the applicant's job-related
skills are assessed. The written examination may have measured
cognitive ability and, in some cases, personality traits.
However, the interview is aligned to measure critical skills
such as interpersonal orientation, customer service, problem-
solving, verbal communication, etc. Despite the unique and
valuable contribution of oral interviews, they are often the
most poorly executed part of the entry-level hiring process. In
order for an interview to be effective, it must be both valid
and reliable. Validity is a matter of designing questions that
assess skills that are job-related and essential to police
officer performance. Reliability is a matter of designing and
deploying the interview in such a way that candidates can be
accurately assessed. There are a number of ways in which the
validity and reliability of interviews