A third step is the in-depth personal interview. This interview usually is conducted by the individual who will supervise the salesperson. In addition to obtaining insight into the candidate’s background, the interview allows for judgments to be made about the candidate’s communication style, personality, and mental abilities. Firms tend to use one of three interview methods .One method is the structured interview, which follows a set list of questions. The advantage of this approach is that it allows all candidates to be compared on the same dimensions. Its weakness is that the manager often cannot deviate from the list without compromising the interviews. In this interview format, the applicant is encouraged to talk freely on a range of subjects. The interviewer acts almost like a focus group moderator (as discussed in Chapter5), asking a few probing questions; unstructured interviews require a well-trained interviews. The third variation of the interview process is a stress interview. The interviewer places the applicant under stress using role-playing exercises such as handling multiple customer objections or a rude customer. The goal is to assess how the candidate will behave under actual on-the-job conditions.