You’ve invested time into properly structuring the qualifications of the role, now it’s time to make sure your interview questions will get you info related to these qualifications. Structured interview questions help ensure consistency and objectivity. Furthermore, it allows for easy comparison of answers from different candidates, and it's easier to identify patterns of answers which can be used to identify the best fit for the position.

STEP 1: Build out a few questions for each topic you will cover in your interview. Prepare your questions in advance

A good answer will not be given if it has no place to go! A good rule of thumb to make sure your interview stays focused on relevant topics is to focus on asking behavioral questions in your interviews. This means focusing on actual work experience and not on theoretical future situations.

You can structure your interview questions using a popular technique given in candidate interview trainings, the STAR Method:

S - Situation (e.g. “Tell me of the last project you delivered on time!”)

T - Task (e.g. “What was the goal of the project?”)

A - Action (e.g. “How did you structure the project?”) 

R - Results (e.g. “What was the impact of the project?”)

Having 3-4 STAR questions ready is usually enough for a 45-60 min interview.

By using STAR questions, you will:

• keep control of the interview in case the candidate talks too much/too little

• make sure you get an appropriate amount of depth for each question, and subsequently,

• ensure that the candidate has the best chance possible to shine in the interview

• Be able to take high-quality, job-relevant interview notes, because these questions usually allow the candidate to give detailed answers. A 2021 study with over 7000 subjects recently found a distinct positive correlation between the quality of interview notes and a candidate’s job performance and retention. Taking good notes enables you to make objectively better hiring decisions based on facts and not on memory. 

STEP 2: Use the same interview structure for each candidate

Come up with an interview structure and questions to ask each candidate. It’s important to make the conversation natural, so don’t try to get through every question with each candidate at all costs. Whatever you are not able to address, you can have the next interviewer follow up on. 

Let’s further illustrate bad vs good questions:

In the final part of our Hiring High Performers series, we will go through best practices for a creating a job post that attracts top talent.

This post is part of an ongoing series, Hiring High Performers. To read previous posts, check out the Resources section on our website!

You can also find an interactive G sheet template here which guides you through all the best practices in this series.

Need some more inspiration for good questions? Look here!