Definition
A structured interview is a standardized interviewing method where candidates are presented with randomized questions from a pre-designed question pool ensuring consistent difficulty and comprehensive skill coverage.
Candidate responses are evaluated using a predefined scoring system, reducing subjectivity. Structured interviews minimize biases, and enable a fair, consistent and data-driven evaluation process. Structured interviews significantly improve the accuracy, candidate experience and reliability of the hiring process.
Key Features of a Structured Interview
- Skill Matrix – A skill matrix is a tool to identify and assess the skill requirements of a job description. It contains a comprehensive list of skills, their corresponding proficiency level and their classification as mandatory or optional.
- Question Pool – A question pool is a curated set of questions designed to assess specific skills while maintaining a consistent difficulty level. For each skill listed in the skill matrix, a corresponding question pool is created and linked to ensure thorough evaluation.
- Rating Guidelines – Rating guidelines provide reference answers for each question on a structured rating scale, helping interviewers assess candidate responses accurately.
How To Design a Structured Interview
- Finalize the job requirements: Job descriptions are typically written from the candidate’s perspective. Engage the hiring stakeholders and finalize the skills to be covered during the different interview rounds
- Develop a set of structured interview questions: Cover behavioural, situational, technical, coding and design (if needed) and other formats of questions as needed. Take care to ensure consistency in the difficulty level of the questions
- Create a rating system: Design a clear and consistent rating scale (e.g., 1 to 5, where 1 represents “Needs Improvement” and 5 represents “Exceptional”). Link expected responses to scores within the rating system to guide interviewers in evaluating candidates objectively.
- Create templates: Organize the skill sets and associated question pools in templates for easy access and reuse. This standardizes the process across hiring teams and reduces redundancy, ensuring consistency in future recruitment efforts.
- Train interviewers: Ensure interviewers are well-versed in the interview process, the structured questions, and the rating system. Conduct calibration sessions if necessary to align interviewers on evaluation criteria and expected responses.
- Conduct the interviews: During each interview provide interviewers with a randomized list of questions from the established pool. Collect detailed feedback for each candidate and make adjustments to the interview structure when necessary to continually improve the hiring process.
Benefits of a Structured Interview:
- Ensures fairness and objectivity in the hiring process.
- Supports high reliability and consistency in candidate evaluation.
- Facilitates data-driven hiring decisions by providing quantifiable insights.
Structured Interview Vs Unstructured Interview
| Aspect |
Structured Interviews |
Unstructured Interviews |
| Definition |
A standardized interview method where candidates are asked pre-designed questions. |
A flexible interview method where candidates are asked questions based on the conversation’s status and interviewer’s discretion. |
| Question Format |
Fixed set, designed in advance |
Spontaneous, evolving based on the candidate’s response |
| Evaluation Criteria |
Pre-defined rating scale to assess responses |
Based on subjective judgement |
| Consistency |
High – all candidates go through a similar evaluation process and experience |
Low – each interview tends to be different
|
| Bias |
Minimum bias due to standardization |
Prone to unconscious bias due to interviewer discretion |
| Reliability |
High – ensures fair and consistent evaluating improving hiring efficiency |
Low – difficult to compare candidates |
| Reusability |
High – templates once created (& perfected) can be used across the organization |
Low – approach taken by an interviewer typically remains limited to the individual |
Structured interviews are important for organizations that want to improve their hiring process. They help ensure that the best candidates are selected based on clear and fair criteria.
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