Good preparation pays off when it comes to improving the performance and profitability of your organization. One area where planning can have long-range impact is in the selection of employees. The most common method companies use to make hiring decisions is the interview. Obviously, the goal is to find the best people possible for your organization. Research has provided evidence that when done well, the interview is one of the best predictors of successful job performance. By investing resources into improving your interview process, you will make better hiring decisions. One of the best ways to improve selection interviews is to make them structured interviews. Here are some reasons why you should add structure to your interviews.

Structured interviews contain questions that are prepared in advance. The development of questions requires that job related competencies are identified before the interview. As a result, all of the questions asked of applicants are value added -- they address characteristics needed to be successful on the job. Standardized interview questions lessen the chance that an interviewer might be influenced by extraneous information that is not job related. In addition, the guidelines, scoring rules, and procedures for conducting the interview are pre-determined. Adding structure to the interview results in consistency. Each applicant is asked the same questions and as a result, comparative information is acquired from each applicant. All of the applicants are rated on the same rating scale, which provides a measurable way to compare each person and assess agreement among interviewers. Putting structure into your interview makes it much easier to make comparisons and smart hiring decisions. Since all candidates are asked similar, job-related questions, structured interviews will improve your selection process, as well as the legal defensibility of your decisions.

Structured interviews are commonly behavior based. Instead of asking vague questions such as, "Tell me your three strengths and three weaknesses", structured interview questions focus on a candidate's past behavior (i.e., performance). Candidates are asked to comment on specific situations they've encountered and to describe how they have dealt with those situations. It is important in predicting job performance to find out what the applicant typically does in job related situations. The best way to do this is look for examples of what they've done in the past. Finding out what someone has done answers the question of how that person is likely to perform on the job. Questions such as, "Describe a time when you convinced other team members to work together. What did you do?" elicit specific behaviors that give you this kind of critical information. Structured interviews allow follow up questions to gain further information about the applicant's response. In addition, the interviewer is encouraged to take notes about the applicant's behaviors, decreasing the likelihood that the interviewer will have to rely on memory for evaluating the applicant.

Are there disadvantages to using structured interviews? Obviously, the structured interview requires more time and coordination of efforts to develop job related questions. Some managers are reluctant to standardize their interviewing process. They may feel they are giving up control of the hiring decision. This is often the result of a misunderstanding of structured interviews. A well-developed structured interview is a script that each interviewer must follow. However, skilled interviewers can use this structure as a springboard to probe for detailed information that confirms or negates their initial gut feeling about a candidate.

For more information on structured interviews you are encouraged to see the resources referenced below or review EASI·InterviewsTM at www.easiconsult.com/interviews. Take the stress out of decision-making; take the time to add structure to your selection interviews!

References:

Gatewood, R.D., & I, H.S. (2001). Human resource selection, 5th ed. Harcourt: Orlando, FL.

Van der Zee, K.I., Bakker, A.B., & Bakker, P. (2002). Why are structured interviews so rarely used in personnel selection? Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 176-184