Mastering Interview Styles: Different Types and How to Use Them Effectively

Interviewing is one of the most crucial parts of the recruitment process. It plays a decisive role in selecting the right candidate who aligns with your organization’s needs and culture. No matter how experienced a recruiter is, understanding the art of conducting interviews can smoothen the hiring journey and help make more informed decisions. Interestingly, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to interviews. The style you adopt should depend on the role, the seniority level, and even your comfort as an interviewer. Whether you’re hiring a fresh graduate or a senior executive, the interview styles you choose can make a huge difference in identifying the right fit.

In this blog, we’ll take a deeper look at the different interview styles, when to use them, and how you can make the most out of each one to find the best talent for your organization.

Also Read: Interview Outsourcing: A Strategic Approach to Talent Acquisition

What are the Different Interview Styles?

Choosing the right interview style is not just about asking questions; it’s about getting the most out of your interaction with the candidate. Every style offers unique advantages and works well in different situations. Let’s dive into some of the most common interviewing styles used by recruiters worldwide.

The Conversational Interview

The conversational interview is one of the most common and relaxed styles of interviewing. It follows an informal approach where the interviewer skims through the candidate’s resume and initiates questions naturally, without strictly adhering to a set questionnaire.

Why use this style?

This style works wonders in putting candidates at ease. Since it feels more like a casual conversation rather than a formal evaluation, candidates tend to open up about their experiences, interests, and personality traits. It helps uncover aspects of a candidate that may not appear on paper, making it easier to assess cultural fit.

Limitations to be aware of:

Despite its friendly tone, the conversational interview lacks predictive validity when it comes to measuring future job performance. Candidates may provide answers that sound good but don’t reflect their actual skills or capabilities. Additionally, there’s a risk of bias since the conversation can sway based on personal chemistry rather than objective evaluation.

Pro tip:

Prepare a few standard questions beforehand to maintain consistency. Even if the tone remains informal, having a set of pre-planned questions allows you to compare answers across candidates fairly. Combine this style with aptitude tests or skill-based assessments to get a complete picture of the candidate’s potential.

The Direct Interview

The direct interview style is structured and straightforward. In this approach, interviewers present specific, clear questions aimed at gauging the candidate’s skills, knowledge, and attitude. It leaves little room for ambiguity, keeping the conversation focused and on track.

Why use this style?

This method is great for roles that require precision, expertise, and specific skills. It helps keep the interview on schedule and prevents candidates from drifting off-topic. Since the questions are pointed, it becomes easier to evaluate responses and assess the candidate’s technical or functional expertise.

Challenges to watch out for:

Direct interviews can sometimes make candidates nervous, especially if the tone comes across as too rigid or interrogative. Nervousness might prevent candidates from fully expressing their abilities, which could lead to undervaluing good talent.

Pro tip:

To balance the pressure, include open-ended questions that give candidates room to elaborate on their experiences. You can also incorporate situational or past behavioral questions that prompt candidates to share specific stories, offering a better view of their problem-solving and decision-making skills.

The Behavioral Interview

Behavioral interviews are widely popular for assessing how candidates have handled real-life situations in their past roles. Instead of focusing on hypothetical situations, this style digs deep into the candidate’s actual experiences and the decisions they made in those scenarios.

Why use this style?

This style is grounded in the belief that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance. It helps interviewers understand how candidates react under pressure, deal with conflicts, or manage complex tasks. It’s especially useful for roles that demand leadership, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Typical questions include:

• Tell me about a time when you had to solve a complex problem. How did you handle it?
• Can you describe a situation where you had to deal with a difficult team member?
• What was the most challenging project you worked on, and what was the outcome?

Pro tip:

Focus on listening actively. Don’t just hear what the candidate is saying—probe further to understand their thought process and decision-making. Follow-up questions like “What was going through your mind at that time?” or “What would you do differently if faced with a similar situation again?” can give you deeper insights into the candidate’s reflection and learning.

The Structured Interview

Structured interviews follow a rigid format where every candidate is asked the same set of questions, in the same order, with their responses evaluated against a predefined scoring system. It is the most objective interviewing style designed to minimize bias and ensure fairness.

Why use this style?

If you’re looking to hire at scale or want to maintain consistency in your hiring process, structured interviews are a perfect choice. Since everyone faces the same set of questions, it becomes easier to compare candidate responses, score them, and make unbiased decisions.

This format also aligns well with legal requirements and compliance, reducing the risk of discrimination claims.

Challenges to keep in mind:

While structured interviews ensure fairness, they can sometimes feel robotic or too rigid. Candidates may not get enough space to showcase their personality or elaborate on their experiences.

Pro tip: 

Design your questions carefully to cover all critical aspects of the role. Incorporate a mix of competency-based and scenario-based questions. You can also allow a short unstructured segment at the end for candidates to talk freely or ask their own questions.

Technical Assessment Interview

Technical assessment interviews are designed to evaluate a candidate’s hands-on skills and job-specific knowledge. Rather than relying on theoretical knowledge, this style tests candidates in real-time through coding tests, practical assignments, or case studies.

Why use this style?

This interview style is essential for roles that require a strong technical background—such as software development, data science, or engineering. It ensures that the candidate not only claims to have the required skills but can also demonstrate them effectively.

What makes it effective:

Seeing a candidate solve a problem in real-time gives you clear visibility into their thought process, problem-solving skills, and how updated they are with the latest technologies and tools.

Pro tip:

Make sure to align the technical tasks with the actual job requirements. If you’re hiring for a coding role, test them in a live coding environment or give them practical challenges that reflect your real-world projects. This will give you a true sense of their capabilities.

Also Read: What Are AI Interviews? Everything You Need To Know

How to Make the Most of Interview Styles?

Now that you know the various interviewing styles, the next big question is—how do you maximize their impact? Mastering interviews is not just about choosing the right style but also about implementing it effectively. Here are some best practices to ensure you make the most out of every interview:

Understand the Role and Tailor Your Approach

Before you step into the interview, analyze the role deeply. Understand the key skills, competencies, and personality traits needed. Choose your interviewing style accordingly. For instance, technical roles demand assessments, while leadership roles might require behavioral interviews to evaluate decision-making and emotional intelligence.

Prepare and Structure Your Interviews

Even in conversational interviews, preparation is key. Prepare a basic framework or a question bank to avoid going off-track. For structured and direct interviews, finalize the scoring system and evaluation criteria beforehand. This preparation ensures you evaluate all candidates fairly and reduce unconscious bias.

Combine Multiple Interview Styles

Sometimes, sticking to one style may not give you the full picture. It’s perfectly fine to mix and match. For example, start with a conversational round to break the ice, follow up with behavioral questions to assess past experiences, and conclude with a technical assessment if required. Blending styles often leads to better results.

Listen More, Talk Less

The purpose of an interview is not just to ask questions but to understand the candidate deeply. Practice active listening. Pay attention to what’s being said and what’s not. Look out for body language, tone, and confidence levels. Ask follow-up questions wherever necessary.

Provide a Comfortable Environment

Interviews can be stressful for candidates. As an interviewer, your job is to make them feel at ease so they can perform their best. Start with a friendly introduction, explain the interview flow, and offer them time to think before answering complex questions.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Leverage digital tools and platforms that offer video interviews, technical assessments, AI-driven analytics, and structured templates. This not only saves time but also ensures standardization and transparency in your hiring process.

Keep Diversity and Inclusion in Mind

Bias, conscious or unconscious, can creep into interviews. Structured formats help reduce bias, but it’s also essential to constantly check yourself for assumptions based on gender, ethnicity, or educational background. The focus should always be on skills, potential, and cultural fit.

Also Read: Interview as a Service: Unlocking the Potential to Hire a Techie in Just 2 Days!

Why BarRaiser Interview Planning Tool?

Choosing the right interview styles is crucial, but having the right tools can enhance the process even further. Here is how the BarRaiser Interview Planning Tool helps you conduct structured, efficient, and bias-free interviews:

Reduce Bias with Structured Evaluation

One of the biggest challenges in interviews is minimizing unconscious bias. Sometimes, interviewers may unknowingly favor candidates based on shared interests, educational background, or personality traits instead of assessing their actual skills or job fit.

Consider a scenario where two candidates are applying for a software development role. One shares a similar college background with the interviewer, while the other doesn’t. Without a structured evaluation, the interviewer might naturally lean toward the candidate they relate to, despite the other having stronger technical skills.

BarRaiser’s tool helps avoid this by ensuring that every candidate is evaluated on the same set of predefined parameters. Structured interviews, supported by BarRaiser, provide a comprehensive view of the candidate’s performance on every competency, technical skills, problem-solving, communication, and cultural fit. This clear framework ensures fair comparison and reduces the chances of bias influencing the final decision.

Structured Process for Identifying Top Talent

BarRaiser upgrades your traditional interview methods by turning them into structured sessions where every question has a clear objective, and every skill is measured against set benchmarks.

Suppose you are hiring a marketing manager. Instead of relying on random or generic questions like “Tell me about yourself,” the BarRaiser tool helps you create structured interview plans with role-specific questions such as:

• “Describe a marketing campaign you managed that didn’t perform well. How did you handle it?”
• “What strategies would you use to improve customer engagement for a new product launch?”

Such targeted questions help gauge the candidate’s real-world experience and strategic thinking skills directly related to the role. This structured approach ensures consistency across all interviews and helps identify the best-fit candidate based on performance, not intuition.

Faster Hiring Decisions with Real-Time Feedback

One of the most time-consuming parts of recruitment is gathering feedback from different panel members and aligning their opinions. This delay often slows down the decision-making process, leading to losing out on good candidates who accept offers elsewhere.

BarRaiser solves this problem by offering real-time interview feedback features. While the interview is in progress, interviewers can record observations, rate responses, and flag areas of concern or excellence, all within the platform.

Imagine conducting multiple technical interviews for a frontend developer position. With BarRaiser, each panel member can immediately record feedback on the candidate’s coding ability, knowledge of frameworks like React or Angular, and understanding of UI/UX principles. By the end of the final round, hiring managers have complete, real-time insights to make quick, well-informed decisions without going back and forth for days.

This faster turnaround not only improves the candidate experience but also allows organizations to close positions quickly and efficiently.

Also Read: 17 Interview Questions to Gauge Decision-Making Skills

Conclusion

Mastering different interview styles is essential for any recruiter or hiring manager aiming to find the best fit for their organization. Each style, conversational, direct, behavioral, structured, and technical, serves a unique purpose and fits different roles and scenarios.

The key is to understand when to use which style and, more importantly, how to execute it effectively. Combining multiple styles often yields the most accurate results, offering a balanced view of a candidate’s skills, experience, and cultural fit.

Remember, interviews are not just about assessing candidates; they are also about leaving a positive impression of your organization. A well-planned and executed interview reflects professionalism and helps you attract top talent.

Whether you’re conducting interviews in person or virtually, always aim to create a fair, consistent, and engaging experience. By refining your interview styles and approaches, you not only hire the right people but also build a strong employer brand that candidates aspire to work with.