Before interviews begin, the team agrees the questions, what each one is meant to assess and how answers will be scored. Interviewers then ask the same questions in the same order, take notes and score each answer independently before comparing views. Questions are usually behavioural, such as 'Tell me about a time you handled an upset customer', or situational, asking what the candidate would do in a given scenario.
Research on selection methods has repeatedly found that structured interviews predict job performance better than unstructured conversations, and they leave less room for bias. They also make decisions easier to explain to candidates and auditors. The main risk is drifting back to informal chat, so short interviewer training, a written guide and regular calibration on scored answers help keep the structure in place.