What Are Structured Interviews and Why Should We Use Them?
Hiring the right people through the right hiring practices is crucial for ensuring that employees are successful in their roles. A structured interview is a standardized hiring method in which every candidate is asked the same predetermined questions, in the same order, and scored against a consistent rating scale. This approach removes guesswork from candidate evaluation, replacing subjective impressions with objective, job-relevant criteria that can be compared fairly across applicants. Unstructured interviews, by contrast, vary from candidate to candidate, which introduces inconsistency and raises the risk of bias. Research consistently shows structured interviews are among the strongest predictors of on-the-job performance available to hiring teams, while also strengthening legal defensibility and improving the experience candidates have during the hiring process. In this article, SIGMA’s expert consultants explain how structured interviews work, how they compare to unstructured interviews, and what organizations gain by adopting them.
Structured vs. Unstructured Interviews
In the realm of talent acquisition, two principal approaches to candidate interviews stand out:
- Structured interviews
- Unstructured interviews
Structured interviews, with their systematic approach to assessing job candidates, are broadly acknowledged as the most effective strategy for conducting interviews.
What are Structured Interviews?
Structured interviews offer a clear and consistent method to evaluate candidates, wherein each applicant is asked the same set of carefully designed questions. This ensures a uniform assessment framework, which is crucial for the fair and equitable treatment of all candidates.
Advantages of Structured Interviews
By aligning questions with the job’s core competencies, structured interviews target specific skills, knowledge, and abilities essential for success in the role. This is particularly effective for leadership-level hires, where interview questions can be mapped directly to a defined leadership competency framework. Moreover, the use of a consistent and predefined rating system across all candidates guarantees uniformity during the evaluation process, which helps minimize the influence of personal bias. Because questions are standardized and scored consistently, structured interviews are also one of the strongest predictors of future job performance available to hiring teams. This structured approach not only supports legal compliance, but also significantly reduces the risk of discrimination claims, highlighting its objective and equitable process.
For a complete framework for building this kind of interview, see SIGMA’s guide, The Structured Interview.
Did You Know?
The concept of structured interviews dates back to the early 20th century, evolving from industrial psychology principles that aimed to make the workplace fairer and more efficient.1
What are Unstructured Interviews?
In contrast, unstructured interviews offer a more flexible but less standardized approach. The questions in an unstructured interview may vary between candidates, potentially compromising the fairness and comparability of the evaluation process.
Disadvantages of Unstructured Interviews
Unstructured interviews rely heavily on the interviewer’s subjective judgment, which can introduce personal biases, affecting the objectivity and reliability of hiring decisions. In unstructured interviews, an interviewer’s first impression of a candidate can disproportionately influence the assessment.2
While the unstructured format allows for a dynamic conversation, the lack of standardized questions and a consistent evaluation framework can lead to discrimination claims, increasing the organization’s vulnerability to legal challenges. Additionally, the reliance on subjective impressions over quantifiable skills and competencies increases the likelihood of hiring underqualified candidates.
Why Do Structured Interviews Improve Hiring Accuracy?
Structured interviews help employers more effectively identify and select the most suitable candidates for the position. By basing decisions on objective criteria rather than subjective impressions, structured interviews minimize the impact of personal prejudices, ensuring a more reliable and equitable hiring process. Because every candidate is evaluated against the same clear expectations, structured interviews also tend to create a more transparent and organized experience for candidates themselves, reinforcing trust in the process on both sides of the table. In doing so, structured interviews not only foster a fair evaluation environment, but also enhance the overall quality of hiring decisions. These benefits make structured interviews the preferred choice for organizations that want to optimize their recruitment strategy. Organizations can use SIGMA’s Structured Interview Checklist as a practical starting point.
The Future of Interviews is Blended
With advancements in data-driven decision making, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning, the future of interviewing may include a blend of structured and unstructured elements, using tools that both mitigate unconscious bias and promote diversity.
Through data analysis, organizations can identify potential biases in questions or evaluation criteria and adjust their processes, accordingly, aiming for a more inclusive hiring practice. By incorporating the use of AI and machine learning, interviewers can become more adaptive, dynamically adjusting their questions based on a candidate’s previous responses.3 Although this approach begins with a structured framework, it allows the interviewer to explore areas of interest or concern in depth, similar to an unstructured interview, but within a guided and measurable context.
Looking for More?
Are you ready to transform your talent acquisition process and ensure your organization is equipped with top-tier talent? Drawing on industry best practices, SIGMA offers a structured interview process for clients that want to supplement their succession planning efforts and talent pools with strategic external hires. This tailored approach includes the development of standardized interview questions, the use of behaviorally-anchored rating scales to evaluate responses objectively, comprehensive interview guidelines, and the training of interviewers to assess candidates fairly and without bias. This end-to-end solution equips clients with a customized interview process that fits the distinct roles within their organization, ensuring a more effective and equitable selection of candidates. Explore our succession planning consulting services to learn more.
Contact us today and let’s discuss how we can support your goals and set your organization apart with exceptional talent and visionary leadership. We’re here to guide you every step of the way.
Speak with an Expert
Glen Harrison is an organizational transformation consultant and succession planning expert. Over the course of his career, Glen has worked with one-third of the Fortune 500 list and with every level of government in Canada and the United States. Having worked with numerous clients to build robust succession plans from the ground up, Glen has extensive experience in the application of SIGMA’s products and services to help organizations realize their people potential.
1 Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274.
2 Dipboye, R. L., & Gaugler, B. B. (1993). Cognitive and behavioral processes in the selection interview. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 54(2), 414-422.
3 Naim, I., Tanveer, M. I., Gildea, D., & Hoque, E. (2018). Automated analysis and prediction of job interview performance. IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, 11(1), 97-111.
