The Importance of a Structured Interview Process for Successful Hiring

Most of our clients involve multiple decision-makers (interviewers) during the interview process. Even though the primary hiring manager is the major decision maker, their manager, peers, and subordinates often evaluate the candidate.

A problem arises when secondary interviewers evaluate the candidate based on what they think is important, not what the hiring manager thinks is important. (There is no consensus on what is essential.) they are using their decision criteria, not that of the hiring manager.

So the best way to avoid evaluating the candidate based on multiple interviewer criteria, which might not be the criteria that the hiring manager desires, is for the hiring manager or human resources to set the decision criteria before the candidate interviews.

At Connexis Search Group, we provide a Scorecard to each person interviewing the candidate, so they know exactly how to grade the candidate and why it's essential. The Scorecard is given to each person involved in the interview process, and they are asked to evaluate the candidate based on the criteria provided. The hiring manager creates the decision criteria, with input from their direct report, selection team, and HR, before any interviews begin. Typically we also offer interview questions if the person doing the interviews needs some help creating questions that will reveal the desired skills and experience.

For example, let's say you're hiring a Director of Regulatory Affairs that reports to the VP of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance. During the interview, the VP of RA and QA would decide the top five criteria they want to assess. These interview or decision criteria can contain experience requirements and assess the candidate's intangible skills. Such as how creative they are and how good a communicator they are. In this example, evaluating somebody's communication skills would be much easier than assessing somebody's creativity. But if you need help with questions that will help evaluate creativity, we can provide those.

After the candidate has completed their interview, the interviewers meet to discuss their observations. Using the Scorecard provides an objective way for everyone to discuss and compare their observations.

Without a Scorecard, we often hear that one of the interviewers didn't like the candidate. Still, the reason for rejecting the candidate was a personal preference that may not impact the candidate's ability to do the job. In other words, with the decision criteria, you remove any bias from the process, either negative or positive.  

According to a Harvard Business Review article titled "How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews," research has shown that interviews are notoriously unreliable predictors of job performance. One study found that unstructured job interviews are only 14% more effective than random chance in predicting job performance.

To reduce interview bias, it's essential to use a structured interview process, with standardized questions for all candidates and a scoring system focusing on objective qualifications rather than subjective impressions. Additionally, it's essential to train interviewers to recognize and avoid bias in their hiring decisions.

Get a Custom Scorecard:

We're eager to assist you if you want Connexis Search Group to generate a Scorecard. You must email us your job description and your desired five critical decision criteria. From this information, we will send you a Scorecard containing your decision criteria, a section to rank the candidate based on your evaluation of each criterion, and one or two interview questions you should ask for each decision criterion. There will also be a section to add your observations from the interview.

About Connexis Search Group:

Connexis Search Group has helped more than 400 Molecular Diagnostics, Life Science, CLIA Laboratory, and Medical Device companies fill vital staff roles from C-level senior management to genetic counselors and experts on infectious diseases. Thanks to key industry relationships and access to a diverse and vast candidate base, we can successfully place candidates in various companies, from national clients to emerging startups. Let our dedicated life science recruiters help you build a team that delivers results for your business.