Module I:

Unstructured and
Structured Interviews
 Performance
Objective

Participants shall be able to discuss

and differentiate the unstructured and
structured interviewing process and
come up with an action plan to
develop your agency’s structured
assessment and selection toolkit

CSI. Shaping the Servant-Hero towards Public Service Excellence.

 Session Objectives
By the end of this session, the participants shall be able to:

1 Discuss and apply the concept and process of interviewing

as a structured assessment tool in both traditional and
competency based environment

2 Compare and contrast unstructured and structured,

highlighting on Behavioral Event Interview (BEI)

CSI. Shaping the Servant-Hero towards Public Service Excellence.

 Session Objectives

3 Practice the use of BEI in the selection process

and as a competency assessment tool

4 Develop an action plan in the formulation of a BEI

assessment toolkit in selecting the right person for the right
position.

CSI. Shaping the Servant-Hero towards Public Service Excellence.

Unstructured
Interviews
What are unstructured
interviews?
• Non-directive interviewing approach
• No predetermined data collection questions
– mostly unplanned
• Open-ended questions
• Free flow order of questioning
When do you use
unstructured interviews?
• Experienced in interviewing
• Exploratory nature
• Contextualization of thoughts, hypotheses,
descriptive data
Sample unstructured
interview questions
• Tell me about yourself.
• What is your ideal job?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Unstructured Interview

Advantages Disadvantages
• Fosters an open environment in • Low reliability when comparing
data gathering about the responses
interviewee • Predisposition to Hawthorne
• Increased rapport and more at- Effect
ease dynamics between the • More time-consuming
interviewer and interviewee
• Low internal validity
• More detailed since questions
have not limit in number
9
Ref: Unstructured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples (scribbr.com) 10
Structured
Interviews
What are structured
interviews?
• Premise is on past behavior being a predictor
of future performance
• Systematic type with pre-determined
questions
• Set order of questioning
• May use close-ended or open-ended
questions
• Same set of questions to all interviewees
Sample structured
interview questions
• How do you find mental health programs
beneficial as an addition to health
maintenance benefits: effective, just about
right, not effective?
• If hired, how would you use your strengths in
contributing to the growth of the company?
Structured Interview

Advantages Disadvantages
• Reduced bias through the set • Rigid in nature
questions and order of • Questions cannot be changed or
questioning not asked without affecting the
• Predetermined nature increases quality of the interview
credibility, reliability and validity
• Less time consuming in
preparation of questions

Published on January 27, 2022 by Tegan George and Julia Merkus. Revised on December 7, 2022. 14
Ref: Unstructured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples (scribbr.com) 15
 Observe – Record – Classify - Evaluate
Structured interviews have good Unstructured interviews
predictive validity are unreliable (different
interviewers come to
Assess certain competencies easily different conclusions), and
e.g. social confidence,
communication skills and
poor predictors (low
appearance predictive validity)

Probe, question or focus on a Interviewer may be biased

particular area by social stereotypes
Semi-
structured
Interview
What are semi-
structured interviews?
• Mix of unstructured and structured
interviews
• Unlike unstructured, there is a clear
direction or idea on what to ask
• Unlike structured, order of questioning is
not set
• Probing is used to further clarify and
elaborate
Sample semi-structured
interview question
• Do you think employers should include
mental health programs?
• If yes, why. If no, why not?
Semi-structured Interview

Advantages Disadvantages
• “Best of both worlds” • Low validity in terms of
• Interviewees can be asked to comparison of interviewee
clarify, explain, paraphrase, and responses
elaborate their answers • Tendency to ask leading questions
• Tendency of interviewees to give
responses that is perceived to be
what the interviewers want to
hear
Published on January 27, 2022 by Tegan George. Revised on November 30, 2022. 20
Ref: Unstructured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples (scribbr.com) 21
Module II:

Behavioral Event Interview

Application and Process
CSI. Shaping the Servant-Hero towards Public Service Excellence.
“Today companies such as Amazon,
Facebook and Google have begun
using behavioural interviewing, to
assess their candidates’ future
performance based on their past
behaviour. This seems to be a no-
brainer when it is said that
behavioural interviews are around
40% more predictive of future, on
the job behaviour than normal
interviews.” (Hansen, K. 2010).
 • BEI questions
focus on the
past while
Behavioral • In a BEI, theoretical
Event interviewees are questions focus
Interviewing asked to • Data about the on the future.
has been describe how past indicates a The response
used for over they dealt with probability of strategy for a
20 years a situation in the behavior cited theoretical
and is widely the past, to be repeated in interview
used by the future. question is
relative to a
skilled similar in
interviewers. competency. structure but
different in
content.
 The central
objective of a
Behavioral Event Behavioral Event
Interview is This “story
Interview is a
technique used getting the sharing”
to identify interviewee to should take up
It is based on the
critical belief that past describe in the bulk of the
interview time
behaviors or behavior and detail and should
performance
competencies. complete provide specific
These identified predicts details to
behaviors will be future behavior stories of discover the
used as a basis and critical competency
performance.
for determining incidents in requirement or
the competency order to predict the competency
profile of a how the demonstrated by
person. candidate will the individual.
perform in the
job.
 TRADITIONAL BEHAVIORAL
INTERVIEWING INTERVIEWING
• Renders little information about the • Makes use of open-ended job-
candidate's knowledge about the related questions to assess the
position potential of success of applicants

• Hones in on a candidate's past

• Focuses on candidate’s experiences in predicting their
achievements and recognitions future performance

• Poses hypothetical situations to the • Uses standard and structured

candidates and make selection questions and documentation
decisions based on the answers
 FEATURES OF BEI

1. All questions are developed on job-related targets.

2. All candidates are asked the same planned behavioral

questions.

3. The panel interviewers take detailed notes on candidates

responses.

4. All responses are evaluated with the same rating scale.

 Why BEI Works?

1. Determines job requirements.

2. Gathering complete information about candidates.

3. Evaluating the collected information.

4. Making hiring decisions based on that data.