What is a structured interview scorecard?

While interviews are one of the most important parts of the hiring process for any company, it has always been a challenge to effectively quantify them. This is where structured interview scorecards are of great use. A good hiring policy requires the company to gather as much empirical data as possible. It is because companies now want almost all of their decisions to be data-driven as it allows them to eradicate or, at the very least, minimize it.

Therefore, structured interview scorecards are now a must for any company looking to elevate its recruitment process. However, a structured interview scorecard doesn’t come without demerits. If not used properly, it can give misleading data that can cause a chain reaction, making the recruitment process inefficient.

So, what is a structured interview scorecard, and what are its advantages and disadvantages?

What is a structured interview scorecard?

Structured interview scorecards, also known as interview scoring sheets or hiring scorecards, are a technique for measuring all employees’ answers in an interview. To make things fair, each candidate is asked the same questions to ensure there are no biases in the process.

Structured interviews are part of a long process and are usually followed by an interview debrief. We must understand that structured interview scorecards are templates, and if not developed properly, they become impertinent. This process ranges from planning the interview to categorizing the structure of the overall interview.

The quality of structured interviews also depends on the type of questions asked and whether they are relevant to the job. 

Also Read: What is interviewer shadowing?

Structured interview questions 

A structured interview has to cover all the bases while evaluating the candidates. So, structured interview questions can be divided into three parts:

• Basic Information Questions
• Resume Questions 
• Situational Questions 
• Weakness Questions
• Contribution Questions
• Abstract Questions.

Also Read: How are recruitment satisfaction surveys helpful for companies

Basic Information Questions

Basic information questions are used to start an interview. These questions allow the recruiter to get an idea of the candidate’s personality, which they can then use to build the entire interview. 

Examples of basic information questions are:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What can you tell me about the city where you grew up?
• How would you describe yourself in three words?

Also Read: Importance of AI policy for recruitment process

Resume Questions 

Resume questions refer to the interviewer’s questions after going through their CVs. This allows the interviewer to understand the candidate and gives them several topics on which the interview could be further built. Resume questions are also a great way to determine how each candidate can explain their achievements, which shows their communication skills.

Examples of Resume Questions are:

• Why do you want to join our company?
• Describe the best accomplishments of your work career.
• Why do you want to leave your current job?

Also Read: What is recruiting automation benefit and how it improves hiring

Situational Questions 

Situational questions are used to check an employee’s actual reaction to a real-time work-related incident. They are a great way to assess a candidate’s flexibility. Every workplace can have situations where the employee will have to get out of their comfort zone, and asking such questions helps the interviewer get an idea of how flexible a candidate is.

Examples of Situational Questions are:

• Tell me about a time you’d to work with an employee with whom you were not on good terms with
• Tell me about a time when you weren’t able to complete an important task by the deadline. How did you deal with the failure?
• Tell me about a time when you completed your biggest project successfully
• Were you ever loaded with work beyond your means? How did you deal with it?

Also Read: Do we still need people in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Weakness Questions

Weakness questions are those questions which are designed to test what are the candidates weaknesses and what steps do they take to ensure they tackle it. These questions are designed to see how honest a candidate is regarding their own shortcomings. This self criticism is seen as a sign of one’s willingness to always keep learning and improving.

Examples of weakness questions:

• What is your greatest weakness?
• Was there a time when your personal issues got in the way of a critical project?
• Was there a weakness of yours that you managed to overcome?

Also Read: How are recruitment satisfaction surveys helpful for companies

Contribution Questions

Contribution questions are those which ask an employee on what they will bring to the company after they join. It is like what skills (both job and non-job related) will they bring to the company and contribute to its growth. This allows the candidate to explain why they are worthy of the job.

Examples of contribution questions are:

• How will you contribute to the company’s growth?
• What policies will you implement in the workplace to make it better?\

Also Read: Do we still need people in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract Questions

Abstract questions are those questions in which employees are put in a hypothetical situation in order to assess their creativity. These questions may or may not be related to the job and are used to see how good candidates are thinking on their feet.

Examples of abstract questions are:

• Which is a fictional character that holds a close resemblance to you?
• Are you a sea person or a mountain person?

Also Read: How are recruitment satisfaction surveys helpful for companies

Advantages of structured interview questions 

Reduces bias 

The main aim of structured interview questions is to make sure that all the employees are evaluated on the same parameters. While companies can eliminate bias during the early process by the use of Blind CVs, in an interview an interviewer can display bias based on gender, bias or even socioeconomic status.

This is why they always have the same questions to ensure that the process doesn’t become susceptible to any bias.

Also Read: 13 Stay Interview Questions to Retain Your Top Talent

Helps make data-driven decisions 

The importance of data in the modern age has increased so much that companies now want access to as much high-quality data as possible. Since structured interviews are one of the best and easiest ways to quantify an interview, companies rely on them to get useful data.

This data collected from such methods are also unbiased which can help the company form robust hiring policies and fine tune their interviewing strategies.

Also Read: How to support your hiring team overcome busywork ?

Increases efficiency 

Structured interviews contain the same questions which means that the interviewer is well versed in the process making the interview very efficient. This is quite helpful in cases where the companies have to do a large number of interviews in a short span of time.

With such use of AI in the workplace we bring to you our interview intelligence tool BarRaiser that will take your hiring to the next level. Our state-of-the-art tool gives companies the perfect interview tool that makes quality hiring easy. With BarRiaser users get our AI Interview Copilot that helps the recruiters in conducting a smooth, flawless interview.

Our product analyzes the interview and gives helpful suggestions to the interviewers on what questions to ask and to maintain the speed of the interview. In addition, it also analyzes the recruiter to ensure the interview process is not discriminatory in any way. Our tool can raise an alert if the hiring manager is asking for information which may be pertinent to the interview or the job description. This ensures perfect checks and balances in the system.

We also provide interviewer training to ensure organizations  have the perfect team for the job. Furthermore, we also provide interview as a service in which we will conduct the entire interview process on the behalf of an organization.

Using BarRaiser we guarantee you quality hiring that will also bolster diversity and inclusion. BarRaiser is the best AI interview platform that features structured interviews, AI-generated interview notes,  and tools to ensure quality hiring while eliminating biases from the recruitment process. With BarRaiser’s support, you’ll be well-equipped to build a strong team of sales associates who will drive sales and deliver exceptional customer service.