At a time when HR teams are under pressure to identify top talent, they’re increasingly turning to objective and predictive hiring tools. Traditional hiring methods such as résumés and unstructured interviews force HR teams to rely on subjective impressions and judgments to make hiring decisions, and these methods often fail to provide sufficient information about how a candidate will perform in a role. Objective methods such as structured interviews and preemployment assessments have a much better record of predictive validity.
For example, structured interviews allow hiring managers to evaluate each candidate consistently and rigorously on the same set of questions and metrics. This doesn’t just generate reliable and actionable information on candidates; it also allows candidates to showcase their abilities. By making the hiring process fairer and more data-driven, structured interviews improve the candidate experience, demonstrate the company is committed to minimizing bias, and show candidates recruiters are prepared to review their applications holistically.
According to the latest Criteria Candidate Experience Report, which is based on a survey of over 2,000 jobseekers around the world, the types of interviews HR teams conduct have a significant impact on candidates’ perceptions of the company. Let’s take a closer look at how structured interviews improve these perceptions and help hiring managers make more informed decisions about whom to hire.
Traditional Hiring Methods Are Falling Short
Although unstructured interviews are central to the hiring process for many companies, the evidence for their effectiveness is conspicuously absent. A recent study in the journal Judgment and Decision Making emphasized the “vast literature suggesting that [unstructured interviews] have little validity” and recommended against their use. Meanwhile, Criteria’s 2022 Hiring Benchmark Report found that two-thirds of hiring professionals think structured interviews improve hiring decisions.
Beyond the predictive power of structured interviews, they also appeal to candidates. Google’s hiring team found that structured interviews are “more predictive of job performance than unstructured interviews” and reported an “uptick in candidate satisfaction in feedback scores for structured interview candidates.” The 2023 Candidate Experience Report notes that 84% of jobseekers believe they’re able to demonstrate their full potential to employers—a reminder that candidates just want an opportunity to show recruiters what they’re capable of.
At a time when over three-quarters of candidates say a diverse workforce is an important factor when deciding where to work, structured interviews show jobseekers a company is actively working to mitigate bias and make fair hiring decisions. And when 88% of candidates are confident they’ll be able to land a satisfying new job, they’ll welcome the use of structured interviews as an opportunity to compete on a level playing field.
Structured Interviews Address Candidate Pain Points
An exceptional candidate experience is a major competitive advantage, and structured interviews can help HR teams drastically improve this experience. The top candidate pain point is poor communication from recruiters, and structured interviews increase the quality of engagement while making the hiring process more focused and efficient, which shows candidates the company values their time. Perhaps most importantly, structured interviews help candidates present their qualifications for a role as clearly as possible, which allows HR teams to evaluate them carefully and impartially.
The 2023 Candidate Experience Report identifies several key sources of frustration among jobseekers, including “too many rounds of interviews” and the view that recruiters are “taking too long to make a decision.” In fact, over one-third of candidates say they’ve abandoned a hiring process because it was taking too long. Structured interviews can address this problem, as they streamline the interviewing process by giving recruiters a set of standardized questions that can be administered quickly and systematically. Because answers are assessed according to predefined rating scales, this aspect of the process is more robust and efficient, as well.
Google found the shift to structured interviews saved “on average 40 minutes per interview,” while recruiters reported they “felt more prepared” after adopting this approach. Beyond the time candidates save with structured interviews, they’ll also avoid “unusual or personal interview questions”—another pain point cited in the Criteria survey. By addressing many of the most frequently cited problems with the hiring process, structured interviews have a critical role to play in improving the candidate experience.
How HR Teams Can Get the Most Out of Structured Interviews
There are many myths about structured interviews that need to be corrected. For example, there’s the stubborn misconception that structured interviews are robotic and impersonal—a view that treats the strengths of structured interviews (standardization and consistency) as weaknesses. However, this view exposes a lack of imagination about how structured interviews can be conducted, as well as how they fit into the hiring process.
Recruiters can have open conversations with candidates about the role, benefits, expectations, and a wide range of other issues. They should explain what structured interviews are, summarize the benefits for candidates, and outline what to expect. Considering the fact that a majority of candidates (54%) have walked away from the hiring process due to poor communication, recruiters need to make transparency and consistent engagement core elements of this process. There should be consistent communication at every stage, from discussions about how candidates are evaluated to feedback on their performance. Seventy percent of candidates say assessments help them demonstrate their potential beyond experience, while 90% prefer feedback on their results. Recruiters should provide feedback on structured interviews, too.
The Criteria survey found that 17% of candidates have been laid off in the past year. Structured interviews help hiring managers look beyond gaps in candidates’ résumés to objectively determine whether they’re suited for a particular role. This won’t just help companies recruit promising candidates at a time when the competition for talent is intense; it will also help candidates showcase their abilities in a way that goes beyond the lines on their résumés.
Josh Millet is founder and CEO of Criteria.