Structured interview

A structured interview is the opposite of “let’s just have a chat and see.” The questions, the order and the standard for a good answer are all decided before the first candidate walks in. It’s one of the most widely recommended practices in selection research, and one of the most often skipped.

The four parts

1. Job-related questions. Each one ties back to a skill the role needs, not to curiosity.
2. The same questions for everyone. Follow-ups can probe for detail, but the core questions don’t change.
3. A rating scale with anchors. Each score level has a written description of what an answer at that level sounds like.
4. Independent ratings. Each interviewer rates before discussing with anyone else.

Why it matters

Unstructured interviews drift toward whoever the interviewer clicks with. Two candidates get different questions, one gets a harder follow-up, and the comparison falls apart. Structure makes answers comparable, reduces the room for interview bias and gives you a clear record of why a decision was made.

An example

For a customer success role, one structured question might be: “Tell me about a customer who was about to leave. What did you do?” The anchors might read:

• 1: No specific example, or blames the customer.
• 2: A real example, but vague on their own actions.
• 3: Clear situation, specific steps, a result.
• 4: All of the above, plus what they changed afterwards so it didn’t happen again.

Every interviewer uses the same anchors, so a “3” means the same thing on Monday and Friday.

Semi-structured interviews

Many teams use a fixed set of core questions with freedom to follow up. That keeps most of the benefit while letting a conversation breathe, as long as the ratings stay tied to the anchors.

How teams break it

• Skipping questions for candidates they already like.
• Adding “tell me about yourself” small talk that ends up influencing the rating.
• Writing anchors after interviewing, shaped around a favorite.
• Discussing candidates before everyone has rated.

Scripted AI interviews enforce the first two parts automatically. The structured interviews guide covers the rest.