Relationship of coaching with performance in situational employment interviews

This field study addressed the question of whether voluntary participation in interview coaching is related to performance in situational interviews. Promotional procedures in 4 different police and fire department jobs were involved, allowing replication in separate samples. In 3 of 4 jobs, when controlling for indicators of candidates' precoaching job knowledge and motivation to do well on the promotional procedures, attendance at a coaching session was significantly related to interview performance. Following a discussion of study limitations, an agenda for future research is discussed, including a proposed general model of coaching process and outcome variables.