This is a comprehensive guide on different Types of Interviews. Read our related content on Face-to-Face Interviews, Phone Interviews, Video Interviews, Panel Interviews, and Behavioral Interviews.
As a recruitment agency, your key role is to deliver the best possible candidates for your clients. To be able to do that, you need to understand the nuances of the interview process and your position during this process. Moreover, you must be aware of different types of interviews to ensure you deliver your promises.
This guide covers 3 types of interviews: traditional, virtual, and behavioral.
Traditional Face-to-Face Interviews
Structured Interviews
The first type of interview that we cover is the Structured Interviews. They are part of the traditional face-to-face category that is well-known among recruiters worldwide.
Structured interviews are the ones during which you ask a predetermined set of questions to all the candidates. The main characteristic of this type of interview is to ensure fairness and consistency in the hiring process. By using the same set of questions for all candidates, the recruiter can objectively evaluate the person in front of them. This diminishes the chances of personal biases.
As with any other form of interview, structured interviews have some advantages and disadvantages that you should consider. Let’s analyze them one by one.
Advantages and disadvantages
One of the main advantages is that it provides a standard approach to the interview process that encourages fairness and objectivity. Another advantage is that it promotes reliability and helps you avoid personal biases in the recruitment process. Moreover, having the standard questions centered around skills, this type of interview helps you have more predictability in terms of future performance.
When it comes to disadvantages, one of the main ones is the lack of flexibility. Since you have to follow the same approach and questions for every candidate, you have little to no flexibility to adapt the discussion for the person in front of you.
Another significant disadvantage is that candidates might come with rehearsed answers to the interview. Since structured interviews are a common practice and recruiters usually use similar sets of questions, there might be cases when candidates come to the interview with the prepared answers. This makes it harder for the recruiter to assess the validity of the answers properly.
Moreover, you should also be aware that since structured interviews are more focused on professional skills, they might not offer a complete picture of the candidates’ personal skills and overall fit with the organizational culture.
Tips for conducting structured interviews
Considering the disadvantages, we have some tips to help you make the best out of this type of interview.
First of all, we recommend you prepare a standardized interview guide. You can add evaluation criteria, notes about each role, and key competencies you are searching for. This guide can be used by the interviewer to ensure fairness during the recruitment process.
Secondly, invest time in training the interviewers. Apart from offering them a guide, you should help them understand exactly what your clients are looking for and what is the expected behavior. You can also do some simulations to help them get accustomed to the structured interview format.
Thirdly, train your recruiters in the art of active listening and notes taking. It is crucial to be able to come back to your clients with specific feedback about each candidate.
Unstructured Interviews
The second category that we look into is unstructured interviews. These types of interviews are polar opposite from the structured ones. In unstructured interviews, the recruiter engages in a more informal conversation with the candidate.
The main purpose of the unstructured interview is to get a deeper understanding of the candidate’s interpersonal skills and overall fit with the organizational culture.
Advantages and disadvantages
Similar to structured interviews, unstructured ones have their advantages and disadvantages.
The main advantage is that it helps you gain a more in-depth understanding of the candidate in front of you. Since you ask open-ended questions, you can get insights about their personal characteristics and previous experiences.
Another advantage is that you have flexibility and can adapt the questions to the person in front of you. Moreover, these type of interviews are usually more engaging and helps the candidate feel more relaxed.
The main disadvantage, however, is that due to the lack of structure, you might not have consistency and reliability in how the interview is conducted. Moreover, it might be a fertile ground for personal biases and difficulties in comparing candidates and making the right choice.
Tips for conducting unstructured interviews
As we did for the structured interviews, let’s see 3 tips you can apply for unstructured interviews.
First of all, develop an interview framework. You don’t have to have something super structured but it is essential to have a framework with some key areas you want to cover in each interview and the red flags you are searching for.
Secondly, active listening becomes even more critical. Train your recruiters to observe the posture and tone of voice and probe the answers with follow-up questions.
Thirdly, don’t forget about taking notes! Take notes and assign some scores to help with choosing the right candidate.
Panel Interviews
The last type of traditional interview on our list is the panel interview.
Panel interviews are when multiple interviewers participate in assessing the candidate. The purpose is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the candidate.
Advantages and disadvantages
You might have already guessed the main advantage, the diversity. Having multiple interviewers analyzing the same candidate allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the candidate.
Another advantage is that since it is a collective decision, panel interviews create the ground for a more balanced approach to the recruitment process. Moreover, panel interviews are more time efficient since all the decision-makers are in the same room.
However, some disadvantages might affect your candidate’s experience. One of them is that panel interviews are usually intimidating for candidates. Being in a room full of people asking you questions might sometimes feel like being in an interrogation process.
Another disadvantage is related to the rapport between interviewers. If the dynamic isn’t right, it might also affect the candidates’ perception of the role and the company.
The third disadvantage is that you have no consistency in evaluating candidates.
Tips for conducting panel interviews
Our main tip to help you reduce the negative effects of the panel interviews is to establish clear roles from the get-go. When entering the interview room, everyone should know their responsibilities and what they are searching for.
Another thing that you can do is to pay extra attention to the room vibe and create a welcoming atmosphere.
Thirdly, make sure you set time apart for debriefing.
Virtual Interviews
Video Interviews
Since the pandemic times, one of the most popular types of interviews has become the virtual ones. The name is pretty self-explanatory. You log in to a virtual platform and keep the interviews remotely.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of virtual interviews is that they allow you to connect with candidates from other countries or cities since they can connect remotely.
Another advantage is that it helps you save costs and use the multiple functionalities the virtual platforms offer you.
One of the main disadvantages, however, is specifically related to the virtual platforms. You might encounter technical issues that might affect the overall experience. Moreover, seeing the non-verbal cues and establishing rapport with your candidates is difficult.
Tips for conducting video interviews
The main thing that you can do to avoid the disadvantages is, first of all, to test the connection and the platform you want to use before the interview.
Another thing that you can do is to use a picture background to avoid any type of distractions that might happen behind you. Plus, make sure to start the interview with a warm welcome to help your candidate feel comfortable and break the ice.
Phone Interviews
Another type of virtual interview is the phone interview. You directly call candidates to assess if they are suitable for the role you are looking for.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of phone interviews is that you have flexibility and is much more convenient than one-to-one ones. Moreover, you can use phone interviews as initial screening and this helps you save a lot of time because you efficiently filter the candidates. Plus, it is a great context to focus on verbal communication without distractions.
However, the latest advantage might be a disadvantage as well. Since you talk with the person on the phone you have no visual input about their non-verbal communication. Moreover, phone interviews might not be that great if you want to create a rapport with your candidate.
Tips for conducting phone interviews
Before starting a phone interview, make sure you have the list of questions prepared. Use the fact that you do not need to be on camera to take as many notes as possible from your conversation. If you want to record the conversation, don’t forget to ask for consent before starting the interview.
Live Chat Interviews
The new kid on the block is having live chat interviews. If you never heard of them before, we will cover some aspects in this article.
Live Chat interviews are interviews that take place in real-time by using a messaging platform or chat window.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of live chat interviews is accessibility. You can conduct them whenever you are as long as you have an Internet connection. They are more time efficient since the conversation is more focused and concise.
Moreover, another great advantage is that you have all the notes already written, and you can go through the conversation whenever you want.
Regarding disadvantages, you should consider that you have no personal interaction with your candidate since everything is in writing. There might also be the case when the candidate misinterprets the questions or vice-versa.
Tips for conducting live chat interviews
Like any other type of interview, it is important to have your questions ready and the points you want to follow during the live chat interview.
Moreover, make sure you maintain a rhythm of the conversation and promptly respond to the messages from the candidate.
Another important tip is to communicate clearly and concisely and avoid using complicated words.
Behavioral Interviews
Another category of interviews is the behavioral one. We are covering situational and case interviews.
Situational Interviews
During situational interviews, candidates are presented with hypothetical situations or real-case scenarios related to the job. The main purpose is to see how they would handle such situations.
Advantages and disadvantages
One of the advantages of situational interviews is that you get to see a glimpse of how the candidate would react in a specific situation. Moreover, it also gives you a more standardized evaluation process since you will evaluate them based on the same situation. Also, this type of interview is helpful to provide the recruiter with more predictability regarding the candidate’s future performance.
The disadvantage is that candidates might answer what they think the recruiter would want to hear, not specifically how they would do it.
Tips for conducting situational interviews
One of the things that you can do is to make sure your situations are as close as possible to something that has already happened inside your company.
Also, make sure you ask probing questions to see if there are similar thinking and behavior patterns in how the candidate responds.
Case Interviews
Case interviews are usually the ones where a candidate has a specific problem to analyze and solve.
Advantages and disadvantages
One of the advantages is that this gives recruiters access to the candidate’s problem-solving skills. Furthermore, you can observe their business expertise and how they can apply theoretical knowledge to a practical situation.
However, the case interviews are intense for the candidate and might affect their performance. Plus, it limits the insights into his creativity and interpersonal skills.
Tips for conducting case interviews
To make case interviews more efficient, you should clarify the problem your candidate will solve and offer specific guidance.
Moreover, make sure you offer feedback and that you are available whenever the candidate has questions.
All in all, it is important to choose the type of interview that better suits your clients’ objectives. You can also mix and match them based on the candidate profile you are searching for.
Types of Interviews FAQ
What are the advantages and disadvantages of structured interviews in the recruitment process?
The advantages of structured interviews are that they offer a standardized version of the recruitment process, are reliable, and offer a glimpse into how the candidate might perform later on.
The disadvantages are no flexibility and difficulty in assessing interpersonal skills.
How can recruiting agencies effectively conduct panel interviews?
To conduct effective panel interviews you should clarify the roles of each of the interviewers before entering the interview room. Moreover, you should create a welcoming environment since panel interviews are often intimidating for the candidates.
What are the key tips for conducting successful virtual video interviews?
The key tips for conducting successful virtual video interviews are to test the connection beforehand, use a background picture to avoid distractions and start the interview with a welcoming attitude.
How do behavioral interviews, such as situational interviews, differ from traditional interviews?
Behavior interviewers differ from traditional interviews in terms of their structure. During behavioral interviews, candidates have a specific situation or problem they have to solve. These types of interviewers are focused on assessing the candidate’s reaction and theory into practice approach.
Why is it important for recruiting agencies to understand and utilize different interview types in the hiring process?
It is important that recruiter agencies understand and utilize different interviews in their hiring process because this increases their chances of identifying and hiring the right candidates for their clients, which ultimately leads to successful closing rates.
