Unstructured Vs. Structured Interviews: Which Is Better?

It might be wise to combine the two for the best results.

"In today's tight labor market, it's crucial to have a well-planned interview process," said James D., director of people operations at a database platform company. If you want to find the best candidates for the job, take the time to plan and hire for the role you are looking to fill.

The interview process can be a great opportunity for companies to get to know their potential employees better. Structured interviews can help prevent bias by ensuring all candidates are asked the same questions, while unstructured interviews may be more likely to allow personal biases to influence the direction of the conversation.

Advantages and disadvantages of both unstructured and structured interviews - which one is best for your hiring process?

STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

Structured interviews help ensure that all candidates are treated fairly. A consistent interview experience helps all candidates feel valued. Structured interviews help ensure that all candidates are asked the same questions, which makes for fairer comparisons.

UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

Candidates can be themselves in unstructured interviews and this helps the interviewer get to know them better. Behavioral interviews are especially helpful for assessing the unstructured portions of the interview process.

Structure Is Important

James swears by the structured interview process.

He's seen how badly conducted unstructured interviews can be, and as a candidate, has had to suffer through them first-hand. By knowing what to expect during an interview, candidates can go into the meeting with more confidence and perform better.

“It’s important to be aware of what the interviewer is looking for, so you can put your best foot forward,” James explained.

"Structured interviews are also more reliable, which is why we recommend them." - James

It's okay if you're not as experienced as some of the other candidates - companies often have a mix of employees with different levels of interviewing experience and preparation.

Having a clear interview structure helps to ensure that both candidates and companies get the most value out of the interview process.

"You don't want to just throw your money and time away and hope for the best," James said. "You want to be smart about it and make sure you're investing in the right candidate."

This can lead to an interviewer gathering irrelevant information, or worse, making a hiring decision based on personal bias. Having a clear structure for interviews can help interviewers understand their role, evaluate candidates more effectively, and get a better sense of each candidate's strengths and weaknesses.

When interviewers have other job responsibilities, it can be tough to rapidly context switch. Having a process helps interviewers avoid bias and make sure they ask every candidate the same questions.

A bad interview process reflects poorly on a company and can dissuade top talent from applying. "If you want to be successful, you need a platform," James said.

Advantages of unstructured interviews

The interview process should include both structured and unstructured components, according to Ani Khachatoorian, VP of people at e-commerce natural food company Thrive Market. Companies get to know candidates better when interviews are unstructured. Having a framework ensures that you can get the information you need without attacking questions.

Even though you want to ask technical questions in an interview for a technical position, you shouldn't stick to a strictly structured format. "The most important thing for a senior technical interview is not to focus on curated coding questions, but rather to have a conversation about process and software design," said Sonali Moholkar, engineering manager at blockchain analysis company Chainalysis.

"System design and behavioral rounds tend to be more semi-structured,” Moholkar said. “ because there is no one way to design a system. Depending on the [candidate’s] experience, the conversations can go in completely different directions.”

Unstructured interviews can help identify candidates who are able to think outside the box and approach problems from different angles. She'll ask them the standard questions about how many people they’ve managed and their department’s org chart, but she will also ask open-ended questions about their experiences and career journey.

“It’s not just the results that matter — how you break down a complicated project is equally important,” she said. “Because we also want diversity of thought and diversity of experiences. And if we don’t ask for your experiences, and we just ask for that end result, we’re not going to have a team that could approach really big hard problems in a multifaceted way.”

Interview questions should compare to company values

Having a structured interview process with predetermined questions is the best way to find qualified candidates. The hiring process should be designed to reflect the company's values by incorporating questions that relate back to those values.

In sales, you can say something along the lines of, ‘Tell me about a time when you had a particularly challenging relationship with one of your existing clients — how were you able to salvage that relationship and turn it into a fruitful one?’ Asking this question will give me insight into how the candidate deals with difficult situations.

It's important that hiring managers consider what type of employee would excel in their company's environment, he said. If employees are expected to be self-directed, questions about their time-management strategies and methods for prioritizing tasks should be included in the interview.

Preparation Goes a Long Way

Conducting a structured interview? Make sure you have a list of questions ready, and review them with all interviewers before any candidates are involved.

It would be beneficial for hiring managers to go through examples of good and bad answers, as well as the timing of interviews, such as how long introductions, interviewer questions, and interviewee questions should take.

"Preparation is also important for unstructured interviews, Khachatoorian said. All interviewers should be trained on basic interviewing skills, such as understanding what’s appropriate and relevant to ask during the interview process. If the hiring process consists of several interviews with different people, make sure they are not interviewing the candidates for redundant skills."

"It's important that the whole interview team is aware of what's going on, and that everyone knows which areas they need to focus on," she said. "If there are any areas that are very structured, we need to know what they are."

It is always helpful to know what to expect in an interview. This way you can be better prepared and more relaxed during the process.

"Just letting them know that we use graphs a lot can help candidates be prepared for interviews," Moholkar said.