Structured Interview Guide: How to Build and Run One, With a Template

A structured interview asks every candidate for a role the same job-related questions in the same order, then rates each answer against an agreed scale. The guide contains the questions, approved follow-ups, and descriptions of weak, average, and strong answers.

Recruiters build one when a hiring manager or client wants a more consistent process, or when a panel keeps disagreeing about the same people. The guide lets several interviewers assess the same requirements in the same way, so the debrief compares like with like.

What is a structured interview?

A structured interview is one where the questions, their order, and the way answers are judged are all decided before anyone is interviewed. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) addresses this in its assessment guidance. It describes interviews that "employ rules for eliciting, observing, and evaluating responses."

The U.S. Department of the Interior's interviewer training, a June 2022 presentation for its hiring panels, lists the core features. Questions are based on job-related competencies, and every candidate hears the same questions in the same order. All responses are evaluated against the same rating scales, and each candidate gets the same amount of time.

Structured vs unstructured interviews

An unstructured interview lets each interviewer decide what to ask and how to judge the answers, while a structured one sets both in advance. The OPM guidance links more structure to "higher levels of validity, rater reliability, rater agreement, and less adverse impact" in the research it summarizes. In plain terms, structure is linked to better prediction of job performance and closer agreement between interviewers.

Less adverse impact isn't the same as none. OPM notes that some differences in interviewer ratings by race have been found, depending on factors such as job complexity and the questions asked.

Structure also changes how the interview feels, and the same guidance notes that interviewers and applicants often favor less structured formats. A warm opening, flexible probes, and open time at the end help it feel like a conversation.

The table compares the two formats at each part of the process.

Steps to build a structured interview guide for your role

You build a structured interview guide by working from the job toward the questions: competencies first, then questions, probes, and a rating scale. You can draft much of it in one working session with the hiring manager or client.

Choose the competencies the job requires

Competencies are the skills, knowledge, and behaviors a person needs to do the job well. The Interior Department training suggests choosing around four to six per interview, with one or more questions for each.

In the working session, ask what the person will spend most of their time doing and what has set strong performers apart. Also ask which skills the team can teach after hiring, since those can stay off the list. Then write a one-line definition for each competency. "Communication" can mean almost anything, while "explains technical decisions to colleagues outside the team" tells the panel what to listen for.

Agency recruiters can bring a draft guide to the client's panel, tying the search and interviews to the same requirements. The client still owns the final questions and the decision.

Write behavioral and situational questions

Behavioral and situational questions do most of the work in this format. Behavioral questions, in the Interior Department's words, "draw from a candidate's past experiences." Situational questions "present realistic job scenarios or problems and ask how candidates would respond."

Behavioral questions suit competencies where candidates have past examples, such as handling a disagreement. Situational questions help when candidates may not have faced the situation yet, such as early-career applicants or people changing fields. Either way, keep each question open and tied to the job, because the same training warns against asking about non-relevant, potentially discriminatory information.

Add approved probes for each question

Probes are the follow-up questions interviewers may ask when an answer is incomplete. The Interior Department guidance gives each question "a list of acceptable probe questions," so interviewers can draw out detail without inventing questions other candidates never hear. Probes also make the interview feel less scripted because interviewers choose follow-ups that fit what the candidate just said.

Write a rating scale with behavioral anchors

A rating scale describes what an answer looks like at each level, so a three means the same thing to everyone on the panel. These descriptions are called anchors, and they're most useful when they name something the interviewer can hear in an answer. Writing them before interviews start fixes the standard before the panel meets a candidate it likes, the same approach you'd take with an interview rubric.

A structured interview guide template to use before the first interview

The template lists each field the guide needs and what goes in it, so you can copy it into a document for each new role.

• Role and level: Job title, team, seniority, and the hiring manager or client contact.
• Competencies: The agreed competencies, each with a one-line definition for this role.
• Lead question: One or more questions per competency, worded exactly as interviewers will ask them.
• Approved probes: A short list of follow-ups for each question that ask for detail without suggesting an answer.
• Rating scale: A description of a low, middle, and high answer for each competency.
• Notes: Space under each question to record what the candidate said and did.
• Rating: The interviewer's score for each competency, recorded before any panel discussion.
• Interviewer name and date: Who conducted the interview and when.
• Opening script outline: Introductions, a brief description of the role, and how the interview will run.
• Wrap-up script outline: Time for the candidate's questions, next steps and timing, and thanks.

A filled example to check before you write your own

The Interior Department training includes a worked example for interpersonal skills, which fits the template like this.

• Competency: Interpersonal skills, the ability to handle tense or difficult interactions with others.
• Lead question: "Describe a situation in which you dealt with individuals who were difficult, hostile, or distressed."
• Approved probes: "Who was involved? What specific actions did you take? What was the outcome?"
• Level 1 (low): The candidate handled interpersonal situations involving little or no tension or discomfort.
• Level 3 (average): The candidate handled interpersonal situations involving a moderate degree of tension or discomfort.
• Level 5 (high): The candidate handled interpersonal situations involving a high degree of tension or discomfort.

The anchors on this five-point scale increase with the difficulty of the situation, and levels two and four cover the middle ground. For your own roles, you can add a line to each anchor about how the candidate handled it, so the scale reflects their actions too.

Example structured interview questions by competency

Strong structured interview questions target one competency each and ask for a specific past example or a realistic decision. The questions below are practice drafts that show the format; adapt them to the role with the hiring manager or client.

Each question still needs its own probes and anchors before it goes into a guide. For situational questions, the hiring manager or client should confirm what a sound decision looks like on their team.

How to conduct a structured interview

To conduct a structured interview, open warmly, ask the lead questions in order, and use approved probes where an answer is incomplete. Take notes on what the candidate says, and close with time for their questions.

The opening is where you can ease the stiffness some people feel in structured formats. Introduce the panel, explain that every candidate gets the same questions, and mention that interviewers will be writing as they listen.

During the interview, ask each lead question as written. If an answer is short, an approved probe such as "What specific actions did you take?" is fairer than moving on. A nervous candidate, or one new to the format, may only need a prompt. In a panel interview, agree beforehand who asks which question so two people don't probe the same point.

Notes should capture responses rather than impressions. The same training says to "take detailed notes on the responses, not the candidate," and to leave demographic characteristics out of them. A simple interview-notes template helps newer interviewers record what the person said, close to their own words.

Close by leaving time for the candidate's questions and explaining what happens next.

How to score answers and reach a decision

Each interviewer rates every competency against the anchors on their own, before the panel talks. The OPM guidance describes this as the usual approach for panels: each member rates individually, then joins a group discussion to resolve significant discrepancies.

Rating first keeps each score a record of what that interviewer heard, not a reaction to whoever spoke first. It also limits some rating errors, such as judging a candidate against the person interviewed just before, a pattern known as contrast bias.

In the discussion, focus on competencies where ratings differ widely and ask each interviewer to point to what the candidate said. A gap may come from one interviewer catching a detail the other missed, or from an anchor that reads two ways. A well-run interview debrief keeps that conversation on the evidence.

The ratings inform the decision without making it, and the hiring manager or client still weighs them alongside references. A shared scorecard format gives the panel one place to record final ratings and reasons.

When a lighter version of the process fits

A lighter version fits roles where the full development effort is hard to justify, such as a one-off or less critical hire. The Interior Department training lists the costs plainly. Development requires subject-matter expert (SME) involvement, and administration and rating take resources; assessors must also be trained.

The OPM guidance calls costs generally low, depending on the job's complexity, the number of questions, and the training involved. It also points to a high return when applicants need specific, critical competencies from the start.

For a lower-volume or less critical role, you can keep the essentials and skip formal pilot testing and long review cycles. The essentials are job-related competencies, the same lead questions for every candidate, an anchored scale, and independent scoring. Keep a short briefing for interviewers too, since a guide only helps when the panel uses it the same way.

Deciding how far to go is a judgment call. For a senior hire or a role the client fills repeatedly, the fuller version can be worth it.

Start with the competencies before you schedule interviews

The parts of the process depend on one another. Competencies give each question a purpose, anchors make answers comparable, and independent ratings give the debrief evidence to discuss. For your next role, agree on the competencies and write one lead question with a low, middle, and high anchor for each before you book interviews.