What is a structured interview?
A structured interview, also known as a standardized or formal interview, is a type of job interview that evaluates candidates based on a series of predetermined questions. The interviewer prepares the questions they want to ask candidates based on the required skills for the position. Typically, the interviewer asks each candidate the same questions in the same order. It's helpful to develop a system for grading answers, such as a scale of one to five, to evaluate each candidate fairly. While structured interviews can vary depending on the job and industry, they commonly include questions about a candidate's skills and behavioral questions to assess their responses in specific situations. Some common structured interview questions are:- Can you tell me about yourself?
- What's one challenge you've faced in your career and how did you overcome it?
- Can you speak about a time when you experienced conflict in your job and how you handled it?
- How are you uniquely qualified for this role?
- What do you enjoy most about your current job?
Advantages and disadvantages of structured interviews
This type of job interview has many advantages for interviewers. Structured interviewers can help to:- Create an objective process: Structured interviews can create an objective process for hiring new employees because each job candidate receives the same questions in the same order.
- Compare candidates: These interviews provide an effective way to compare candidates by reviewing their answers to the same questions. This process can help you determine each candidate's skills and qualifications for the role.
- Fill multiple positions: Structured interviews can be helpful when you're filling multiple positions at once. For example, if you're looking to hire 10 new developers and you have 50 candidates, you can use a structured interview to help you grade each candidate based on their answers and select the top ones to advance.
- Take time to develop: Structured interviews can take time to develop because interviewers create, test and review questions to make sure they measure a candidate's qualifications for the position.
- Create a generalized experience: These types of interviews can create a generalized experience for candidates and make it challenging for interviewers to assess how they may fit into an organization.
What is an unstructured interview?
An unstructured interview, also known as an informal or casual interview, is a job interview in which a hiring manager asks unplanned questions based on a candidate's skills. During an unstructured interview, the interviewer asks questions unique to that specific candidate. There are typically no standard scoring systems for these interviews. Instead, the interviewer selects candidates to move forward based on how well they answer questions and the interviewer's own experience with them. In an unstructured interview, you may ask questions to assess a candidate's soft skills, such as communication. It's common to ask open-ended questions in an unstructured interview to help you learn more about a candidate's qualifications. Some common unstructured interview questions include:- How have you coped with stressful situations in the past?
- What are your future career goals?
- What type of leadership style do you prefer in a manager and why?
- How do you collaborate with team members who have different work styles than you?
- What's your typical role in a team?
Advantages and disadvantages of unstructured interviews
There are many benefits to conducting an unstructured interview. This type of interview can help you:- Create an individualized approach: Unstructured interviews allow you to create an individualized approach for interviewing each candidate, which can help you evaluate their unique skills. In this interview format, you can ask follow-up questions if you want to learn more or seek clarification on a candidate's answer.
- Make candidates feel comfortable: Since there are no prepared questions, unstructured interviews often feel more like conversations between the interviewer and candidate. This environment can help candidates feel comfortable sharing information or anecdotes about their professional experience.
- Assess soft skills: By engaging with candidates in an unstructured format, you can assess some of their soft skills, such as nonverbal communication and friendliness. This approach can be helpful when you're interviewing candidates for positions where personal traits are important, such as customer service positions.
- Make it challenging to compare candidates: When asking candidates different questions, it can be challenging to compare their answers and evaluate candidates objectively.
- Lead to unintentional bias: Asking different questions to various job candidates can lead to unintentional bias and may create an unfair hiring process.
What is a semi-structured interview?
A semi-structured interview, also known as a hybrid interview, is a type of job interview that combines elements of both structured and unstructured interviews. In a semi-structured setting, the interviewer prepares some questions or topics to ask candidates but also has the flexibility to ask other questions. This type of interview ensures each candidate receives some of the same questions but allows the interviewer to guide the interview based on each individual candidate. It gives the interviewer freedom to explore various topics depending on a candidate's answers to questions. Semi-structured interview questions typically help the interviewer learn more about each candidate's specific qualifications. Some examples of semi-structured interview questions include:- What's a typical day like in your current position?
- How would you describe yourself?
- Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What makes you the right person for this job?
Advantages and disadvantages of semi-structured interviews
A semi-structured interview can have several advantages for interviewers who choose this format. These interviews can:- Provide an effective comparison: Since you're asking each candidate some of the same questions, a semi-structured format can help you effectively compare candidates based on their answers to those questions.
- Offer flexibility: Unlike a structured format, a semi-structured interview still offers some flexibility in the types of questions you can ask candidates, which can allow you to ask in-depth questions or pursue different topics.
- Save time: Semi-structured interviews can help you save time in preparing for interviews because you're only planning some questions, rather than all of them.
- Lack objectivity: Although you're asking some of the same questions to each candidate, a semi-structured interview still lacks the objectivity of a structured interview. It may be challenging to compare candidates based on their answers to unplanned questions.
- Limit conversation: When asking different types of questions in a semi-structured interview, you can limit conversation between yourself and the candidate. This approach can make it more difficult to evaluate a candidate's qualifications.