What is Structured Interview?

Interviewing is frequently a hurdle many people face in their personal, professional, and academic life. If you embark on your academic career, this guide will provide you with the necessary information about structured interviews.

Structured interviews are popular for their benefits of limiting bias, encouraging a full question and answer process, allowing for follow-up questions, and prompt serious thought from candidates rather than an easy yes or no answer. Let’s know a few things about structured interviews.

See: Factors to qualify an interview

What Makes A Structured Interview?

A structured interview is one where the interviewer has defined a set of questions and asked them in the same order to each candidate. Because it helps to make equal comparisons between candidates, rather than using an unstructured interview which allows the interviewer to ask any question they want at any time.

How Do You Conduct A Structured Interview?

Here are a few steps to consider if you are conducting a structured interview.

●     Analysis the Job

All structured interviews should begin with a job analysis. This should be performed by the hiring manager, H.R., or whoever has been assigned to the role. For this, you’ll need to think about the position, its importance, and what skills and abilities you’ll want to see in your new hire.

●     Find Out Requirements

You’ll need to consider the job’s requirements and what you’d consider be the most important skills and abilities for that role. For example, a graphic designer will need good knowledge of graphics software (Photoshop, etc.), know how to use it, and understand how images work. You’ll want to write these down so that you can ask candidates about them when you interview.

●     Develop Your Lead And Probing Questions

You’ll also need to decide on your lead and probing questions. Your lead questions are the ones you’ll ask at the very beginning of the interview, for example, “Can you tell me about your biggest strengths?” Your probing questions will come from their answer, for example, “What does that mean?”.

●     Decide Grading Scale

You’ll need to decide on a grading scale to rate each candidate. It’s always a good idea to have some kind of spreadsheet where you can keep track of their scores and answers. You’ll also want to rank them in the order that they will be interviewed.

●     Conduct the Interview

When you start the interview, it’s worth noting how long you think each candidate will take to answer your questions so that you can be prepared to move on if they take too long. It’s also a good idea to ask well-known questions because you’ll know what you’ll ask in advance, and it’s easier for candidates to give their answers.

 

See: Pre-Interview Research to Empower Yourself

Final Words

It’s always important to take notes during the interview, not just so you can remember what each candidate said but also because it will help you recap the interview later. You can improve your structured interviews by improving your job analysis, asking different questions, and dedicating more time to each candidate.