#HireSuccess: Mastering Structured Interviews

Wantedly Hire is launching in Singapore providing a modern recruitment software to solve progressive companies' HR inefficiencies.

In this #HireSuccess series, we offer HR tips for organisations to implement within our Applicant Tracking System to advance their HR and more importantly, achieve their business goals.

Mastering Structured Interviews: A Scientific Approach to Recruitment

In the competitive landscape of talent acquisition, many hiring managers face common dilemmas: "Interviewer evaluations are inconsistent..." or "How can we identify truly high-performing individuals...?". A solution gaining significant attention for these challenges is structured interviewing. This approach moves beyond subjective, "gut-feeling" based selection, offering a scientific framework to identify candidates who are the right fit for your organization.

At a recent seminar hosted by Wantedly, Toshimitsu Sowa, CEO of Talented People Laboratory Inc., and a seasoned HR and recruitment expert who has personally interviewed over 20,000 candidates across diverse industries, thoroughly explained the intricacies of structured interviewing.

The Problem of "Sloppy Evaluations"

A common issue in hiring is what can be termed "sloppy evaluations".

Imagine a scenario where Interviewer A rates a candidate's problem-solving ability as "3 out of 5" and follow-through as "4 out of 5," deeming them suitable as a player. Interviewer B, however, rates the same candidate "2 out of 5" for both, citing a stricter standard for a potential leader role. When asked about the definition of the 1-5 point scale, the response is often vague: "No definition, but full marks is comparable to someone like our top performer". This lack of clear criteria and shared understanding leads to significant inconsistencies in assessment and final judgment.

Solving this challenge of talent assessment and evaluation is precisely where structured interviewing proves invaluable.

What is Structured Interviewing?

At its core, "structuring" involves distilling an objective into its constituent elements and organizing the relationships between them. For example, "organization" can be structured into its components like organizational structure, systems/rules, human resources, and culture. Similarly, an interview, often an ambiguous interaction between people for selection purposes, can be clarified and organized by breaking it down into specific elements.

A "structured interview" systematically confirms each of these elements.

Key Benefits of Structured Interviewing

Implementing structured interviews offers several significant advantages:

Eliminate gaps in questions: By pre-determining which elements to assess, interviewers can ensure all crucial points are covered, preventing oversights or missed information.
Reduce redundancy: Without structure, interviewers may focus on different aspects, leading to repetitive questions. Structured interviews eliminate such overlaps, allowing for a more comprehensive, multi-faceted assessment within the allotted time.
Focus on fundamental elements: This method helps interviewers understand the underlying "cause and effect" relationships behind a candidate's actions, delving deeper into their core personality, values, and reasoning.
Facilitate decision-making: Structured evaluations, when properly recorded, make it significantly easier for subsequent interviewers (e.g., in a second or final round) to understand a candidate's profile. This contrasts sharply with lengthy, narrative-style evaluations that can be difficult to interpret.

Furthermore, data on the validity of various selection methods (correlation with post-hire performance) indicates that structured interviewing is highly accurate, second only to case interview (where candidates perform actual job scenarios). Conversely, unstructured interviews, or "free-talk," where candidates speak freely, tend to have lower validity due to increased interviewer subjectivity. Therefore, some form of structuring is essential to enhance hiring accuracy.

The Three Pillars of Structured Interviewing

To effectively implement structured interviewing, three key elements must be structured: "Target," "Questions," and "Evaluation".

1. Structuring the Target (Defining the ideal candidate)

The foundation of successful structured interviewing is clearly defining the desired candidate profile.

Distinguish MUST and WANT conditions: It's crucial to categorize requirements into MUST-have conditions (essential for the role) and WANT-to-have conditions (desirable traits that can be developed post-hire). Do note that making everything a "MUST" unnecessarily narrows the talent pool.
Align definitions of terms: Vague terms like "communication skills" or "challenge spirit" mean different things to different people. For instance, "communication skills" could refer to logic articulation, reading the room, or negotiation abilities. It is vital to define precisely what specific behaviors or actions your company expects from these abilities and ensure all stakeholders share a common understanding.

2. Structuring the Questions (Designing questions to uncover core qualities)

Effective question design is critical for revealing a candidate's true nature.

Utilize the STAR Method: The STAR framework (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is a powerful tool. It prompts candidates to describe specific past experiences, which helps prevent mismatches and provides a concrete picture of their potential future performance.
Go Beyond STAR with Deep Dives: While useful, the STAR method alone is often insufficient, as candidates frequently only highlight their Task, Action, and Result. To truly understand a candidate's essence, it's essential to delve deeper by focusing on three additional points:
- Environment (Details of situation): Ask about the background of the episode, its scale, and the level of difficulty.
- Thought (Between task and action): This is crucial. Inquire why the candidate chose a particular course of action, and what other options they considered. This reveals their judgment and logical reasoning.
- Difficulty (Between action and result): Another vital area. Ask about the obstacles or "struggles" they encountered and how they overcame them. This illuminates the true value of their achievement and their resilience.
- BONUS tip - Insight: Individuals who claim team achievements as their own ("free riders") often struggle to articulate specific "Thought" processes or "Difficulties" because they haven't genuinely engaged with or overcome challenges themselves.

3. Structuring the Evaluation (Ensuring consistent recording and judgment)

Even with well-defined targets and questions, the evaluation process itself must be structured to prevent inconsistencies.

Design effective evaluation in ATS: The design of your interview evaluation forms, or Applicant Tracking System (ATS) evaluation forms, is paramount.
Avoid simplistic averaging: A common mistake is simply averaging evaluation scores. Instead, it is recommended to use detailed evaluation items as a checklist to validate an initial overall assessment. First, make a holistic judgment, then use the detailed items to confirm if that judgment is accurate.
Separate facts from opinions: In evaluation records, it's crucial to distinguish between objective "facts" stated by the candidate and the interviewer's "opinions" or judgments based on those facts. Clearly documenting the basis of an evaluation—for example, "From this episode, I judged the candidate possesses this ability"—helps eliminate bias and ensures accurate information transfer to subsequent interviewers.

The Synergy of Online and Structured Interviews

Interestingly, structured interviewing pairs exceptionally well with the increasingly prevalent online interview format.

Overcoming virtual friction: Online interviews can make conversation less smooth due to challenges with eye contact and natural conversational flow, making unstructured "free-talk" less effective. Structured interviews, with their pre-determined discussion points, actually facilitate a smoother process in an online environment.
Enhanced candidate motivation: While face-to-face interviews might see higher candidate motivation with free-talk, research indicates that in online settings, structured interviews significantly boost candidate motivation compared to free-talk. This is because the clear questions and evaluation points in a structured online interview make candidates feel genuinely seen and assessed, which increases the company's attractiveness to them.

Tips for Successful Implementation

To successfully introduce and embed structured interviewing within your organization, consider these hints:

Practice, Practice, Practice: Structured interviewing fundamentally relies on manuals and documentation. Therefore, consistent training is paramount. Interviewers must practice repeatedly until they can naturally follow the structured flow of questions without conscious effort.
Present objective evidence: To ensure broader adoption, particularly among experienced interviewers who may be set in their ways, it's vital to demonstrate the effectiveness of structured interviewing with objective evidence. Share data on improved hiring accuracy or compelling success stories.
Align evaluations thoroughly: Perhaps most importantly, interviewers must regularly and meticulously align their evaluations. Engaging in discussions about "why a candidate was considered good" and "what specific facts supported that judgment" is crucial for continually improving the overall interview skills within the organization.

Conclusion

Toshimitsu Sowa's insights highlight that structured interviewing is far more than just an interview technique; it is an effective mechanism to scientifically enhance recruitment accuracy and prevent mismatches. Moving away from subjective, "gut-feeling" based selection requires:

Clearly defining the target candidate profile.
Optimizing questions to accurately identify that target.
Establishing consistent evaluation criteria and robust recording methods.

For organizations looking to embark on this journey, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) like Wantedly Hire can significantly streamline the process. Such systems provide features to register unified hiring criteria and questions, offer sample data for various job types to kickstart implementation, and automatically calculate evaluation scores, ensuring a more efficient and scientific approach to structured interviewing.

Wantedly Hire is an application tracking system optimised for modern hiring practices. Experience seamless hiring with tailored workflows designed to align with your recruitment structure, automated interview scheduling, and actionable insights to optimise hiring performance!