Structured interviews are crucial for building successful teams, as they eliminate bias and focus on objective criteria. Unlike unstructured interviews, which rely on gut feelings, structured interviews use consistent questions and grading to ensure you hire the best candidates for the role. This guide covers how to design a structured interview process that will improve your hiring outcomes and drive your company's success.
The importance of structured interviews.
Why Unstructured Interviews Don’t Work
Many companies rely on unstructured interviews, a process where the interviewer asks questions in a spontaneous order, based on how the conversation flows. The problem with this approach is that it often leads to decisions based on gut feelings rather than objective criteria. Research consistently shows that unstructured interviews are ineffective in selecting high-performing teams. In fact, you’re better off randomly selecting candidates from a resume pool than relying on an unstructured interview process.
The Case for Structured Interviews
So, what’s the alternative? A structured interview process. This method involves asking all candidates the same set of questions in the same order and evaluating their responses using a consistent grading system. By doing this, you eliminate personal biases and focus on selecting candidates who are genuinely suited to the role, regardless of their background.
How to Design a Structured Interview Process
Designing a structured interview process doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s a quick guide to get you started:
Read the Right Books: Two books I highly recommend are How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, and Who by Geoffrey Smart. These books provide valuable insights into the structured interview process, though I suggest taking Smart’s advice on reference checks with a grain of salt.
Choose Your Categories: My structured interview process evaluates candidates in five core categories: raw intellectual intelligence, emotional intelligence, work ethic, past performance, and job-specific skills. Each category is weighted equally, ensuring a balanced assessment of the candidate’s capabilities.
Select Peer-Reviewed Questions: For each category, use peer-reviewed questions to assess the candidate’s abilities. For example, when evaluating intelligence, research shows that curiosity is a strong indicator. Dive into academic journals to find the best questions for your needs.
Develop a Grading Scale: Create a five-point scale for each question. To calibrate this scale, have your top 20 employees take the questionnaire. Their responses will help you determine what constitutes a five (top 5%), a four (top 25%), a three (middle 50%), a two (bottom 25%), and a one (lowest).
Apply the Process Consistently: Once you’ve developed your structured interview process, apply it consistently across all candidates. This ensures that you’re comparing apples to apples and selecting candidates who will genuinely excel in their roles.
Dan and his team at DataBased have streamlined the structured interview process to save founders and sales leaders on their most precious resource — time. So they can hire quality sales talent. Fast.
Building a High-Performing Team
By using a structured interview process and setting a high threshold—like my standard of 3.8 out of 5—you’re ensuring that you’re hiring better-than-average performers. This method will help you build a successful, high-performing team that drives your company forward.
I hope this guide helps you design your structured interview process.
Happy hiring!
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