The Importance of a Structured Interview
Interviews have long been a vital part of the employee hiring process, as a face-to-face, job-relevant conversation between the employer and the applicant provides valuable data for properly evaluating the fit between the two parties.
In technical terms, there are two types of interviews that can be conducted: structured and unstructured. The difference between the two concerns the level of structure in the questions asked, follow-up questions allowed, and scoring of the interviews. A structured interview is one that, “reduces interviewer-to-interviewer variation in the type and content of the questions asked or in the criteria used to evaluate responses to those questions.”1 The general consensus is that only structured interviews should be used in a selection context, because structured interviews show much higher reliability and validity — and predict job relevant outcomes — as compared to the unstructured interviews.1 So, if you use interviews as a part of your selection process, make them structured interviews for maximum impact.
How do you create a structured interview? You start with a job analysis. A job analysis determines what key skills, abilities, and knowledge are required for a specific job. Then, building upon the job analysis, you structure interview questions based on the requirements that are important for job performance and employee success. Two types of questions can be created: situational, which ask respondents about future behavior (“what would you do if…”), and behavioral, which ask respondents about past behavior (“tell me about a time when you…”). After creating these questions, you must construct a rubric that allows all interviewers to rate all interviewees the same way.
The more standardization and structure inherent to the interview process, the better the results for everyone involved. The importance of structured interviews to a selection process cannot be overstated, as these provide immense benefit as compared to unstructured interviews.
Huffcutt, A., & Youngcourt, S. (2007). Employment Interviews. In Applied Measurement Industrial Psychology in Human Resources Management.
