How to Conduct a Structured Job Interview:
Four easy steps on how to conduct a successful structured interview.
Create a compelling job description.
Define the job's responsibilities.
Conduct a job analysis to ensure the role's objectives and duties are clearly defined. Then, add specific requirements and qualifications to ensure you attract the best possible candidates.
Develop compelling questions.
Add both situational and behavioral questions to your interview to ensure candidates are able to perform the required duties.
Focus on evaluating around six to ten core attributes for a comprehensive interview.
Decide on a standard order for the questions to avoid implicit bias.
Decide on a grading scale.
Structured interviews typically use a standard rating scale to make it easy to compare candidates. A typical rating scale allows you to rate candidates from 1-5 on their preparedness for the position based on each question asked.
Be sure to add examples of behaviors for each grading level specific to the position to streamline the process.
Standardize and conduct the interviews.
Try to keep each interview as standardized as possible, and remove as many variations as possible, such as time of day or location.
Be meticulous in your interview planning and prepping to avoid unplanned or unanswered questions.
Structured Interview Questions:
- Talk about how you would handle [common job challenge].
- Give me an example of a time you had to [important job skill].
- Who is the best [position they’re applying for] you’ve worked with? Why?
- Which other companies in [your industry] do you admire? Why?
- What is the most challenging thing about [position they’re applying for]?
- What is your favorite thing about [position they’re applying for]?
- What do you think will be your biggest challenges with [position]?
The Difference Between Structured and Unstructured Interviews:
Structured interviews are focused on standardization. Each candidate gets the same questions, in the same order. The questions focus on qualifications, rather than cultural fit. Unstructured interviews are more casual. There are typically few planned questions, and the order in which they're asked varies.
