Structured interviews are interviews that ensure the applicant to have an equal opportunity to provide information and to be assessed accurately and consistently. It is the mean of collecting data through an interviewee not paper and pencil. Some of the more prominent characteristics are the following: 1) questions are based on job analysis, 2) the same questions are asked of each candidate, 3) the response to each question is numerically evaluated, 4) detailed anchored rating scales are used to score each response, and 5) detailed notes are taken, particularly focusing on interviewee's behaviors. (459) Questions for the applicant are created prior to the interview with very few open-ended questions. It is not a free flow style as the unstructured interview can be. It provides the precision and reliability required for certain situations and KSAOS. The structured have higher levels of validity (assessment method intended to measure job performance) and reliability (rating consistency among interviewers) compared to unstructured interviews. Structured interviews have demonstrated a high degree of validity, reliability and legal defensibility. It is important that all members of the interview team be properly trained on how to conduct structured interviews and how to assess applicant to ensure fairness in the staffing process.
There is a disadvantage to this method that the nature of this style reminds applicants that they are in an evaluation situation and will want to show themselves in their best way. Therefore, the applicant may try to filter the information they provide.
The unstructured