Structured Interview

What is a structured interview?

A structured interview is a standardized way of comparing job applicants. The employer creates interview questions focused on the skills and abilities the company is seeking. Each interviewee is asked the exact same questions, in the exact same order. The employer also creates a standardized scale for evaluating job applicants. Every interviewee is ranked on the same scale.

Employers use this interview format when they want to assess job applicants impartially. Since questions are pre-chosen, and there is a situating structure, there is insignificant probability for absurd or theoretical assessment. It helps examiners with dodging any legitimate issues related to absurd enrolling practices.

It also allows the employer to focus on the specific skills required for the position. With questions focused on specific skills, this interview style is often considered a more effective way of testing a candidate’s potential performance on the job. This interview format also allows employers to assess hard-to-measure skills, like interpersonal skills and oral communication.

Job applicants can also feel confident that they are being judged on their skills, rather than any subjective factors. Since the inquiries are the equivalent for each up-and-comer and asked in a similar request, each up-and-comer knows the person has an equivalent chance to give a similar data.

Why use Structured Interviews?

Without structured interviews, the hiring process can become inconsistent and unorganized, causing delays.

It is difficult to systematically screen and evaluate job applicants based on predetermined traits and skills important for a role. Dangers of running unstructured meetings include: 

• Questioner inclination (sexual orientation, race, age, closeness to the questioner)  
• Affirmation inclination (propensity of questioner to search for characteristics in up-and-comer that affirm an underlying predisposition) 
• Off base assessment of occupation candidates (work candidates are not posed similar inquiries) 
• Infringement of EEO or OFCCP consistence (illicit inquiries questions, one-sided meeting) 
• Erroneous evaluation work candidates' social characteristics and harder-to-gauge qualities

What are the examples of Structured Interview Questions?

While questions vary based on the skills required for the specific job, here are some common questions for a structured job interview:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What makes you an ideal candidate for this job?
• Why are you interested in this job?
• What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
• Would you be willing to travel for extended periods of time for this job?
• Tell me about an incident during the past year in which you were particularly proud of your performance and share it with us.
• Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work. How did you handle the situation? What was the result?
• Describe a situation in which you had to deal with conflict among team members. What actions did you take? What was the result?
• An angry client comes to your desk and complains that she has not received the reimbursement she was told was in the mail. How will you help her?
• You have an important project with an upcoming deadline, but then you are given a second project to be completed immediately. How would you handle this situation?

How to conduct structured interviews?

Keep your interviews structured in 5 simple steps:

1. Develop and write down interview questions to ask job applicants.

2. Create and record a scale that will be utilized to review work candidates answers. (Need a model? Look at Google's evaluating rubric for organized meetings.) 

3. Print out your inquiries and carry them with you to the meeting site. 

4. Take point by point notes of every up-and-comer's answers. 

5. Evaluation your activity candidates' answers as indicated by recently decided scale.