What is a Structured Interview?

Main ideas / concepts

• Structured interviews are a form of traditional employment interview that uses a fixed set of questions.
• These questions are designed to measure specific underlying traits and abilities of job candidates.
• Unstructured (conversational) interviews differ by having no real itinerary: interviewers and candidates interact more flexibly, with less predetermined structure.
• Research indicates that structured interviews are stronger predictors of job performance than unstructured interviews.

Reliability and fairness

A key advantage of structured interviews is reliability:

• Because the process is standardized, it is more consistent, making it more predictive.

Fairness and consistency are also improved by standardization:

• If different candidates receive different questions, some candidates could be placed at a disadvantage.
• With a structured interview format, everyone gets the same questions, helping keep evaluation fair and consistent.

Methodology / instruction list (as conveyed)

• Use a structured interview format that:
  • Predefines a set of questions.
  • Ensures questions are aimed at specific traits and abilities.
  • Provides the same questions to all candidates to maintain fairness and consistency.
• Prefer structured interviews over unstructured ones because they:
  • Are more reliable.
  • Better predict job performance.

Speakers / sources featured

• No specific speakers or named sources are identified in the provided subtitles.
• Only [Music] appears as a non-speaking source.