Interviews - how many interviewers?

[barbola]

My boss (VP of Finance) is interviewing for a A/R payroll person in our company tomorrow. The last one he hired quit after a week.

Yet he insists on interviewing alone, not including the HR manager or me or anyone else from the Acctg dept. I have 15 years background in A/R and Payroll and I am mentor to that position and set up procedures and update/test all the systems.

The last guy he hired (Controller) we are still trying to figure out how he fits into the organization.

The HR manager told me she emailed him and suggested he ask me to sit in to ask some questions, since he didn't include her, and also told him that she told me she was asking him to include me.

Is it normal in this day and age to only have one interviewer? I've always seen 2-3-4 people grill me with questions!

 

[IT4EVR]

Interestingly enough most of the jobs I have taken were one-person interviews. I found them to be a more direct, relaxing environment instead of being grilled by 4 so called "SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS".

And in each case the job worked out well for both parties.

It's somewhat intimidating for me to have four people firing questions at me.

 

[barbola]

It's somewhat intimidating for me to have four people firing questions at me.

I think that's one of the reasons, to see how you handle yourself under the pressure. An interview shouldn't be relaxed. You have to prove yourself right from the get-go.

I am the systems administrator for the accounting system(incl payroll) I develop all the procedures that need to be followed using the system, and I am responsible for data integrity (the database itself). As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am also the mentor/supervisor of the payroll function.

I'm also the internal support person for the system and develop any new procedures and integrations between systems, and all the reporting (financial, production, payroll, etc).

I have to follow up with every employee and department to ensure they are using the system properly and reinforce training as we all know procedures get "lost" from one person to the next.

So yes, I have a valid interest in the person who is hired to do this job, but not only that, if there WAS to be a second person in the interview, it should have either been the HR manager or myself and she even recommended me, and he ignored her recommendation. He hired someone who is starting in two weeks, so time will tell.

I am not the bitter employee feeling snubbed as I may have sounded earlier. I am truly concerned that this person be able to do the job properly, as I said, I will have to put out the fires... and hey, it's my paycheque she will be preparing!!!

 

[IT4EVR]

An interview shouldn't be relaxed.

For the most part I disagree with that one but it depends on how much stress the person would deal with on the job.

The more relaxed a person is, the more likely they will be at ease in the interview and be able to show what they can do.