Structured Interview

A structured job interview is a standardized way of comparing job candidates.

The employer creates interview questions focused on the skills and abilities the
company is seeking. Each interviewee is asked the exact same questions, in the
exact same order. The employer also creates a standardized scale for evaluating
candidates. Every interviewee is ranked on the same scale.

How to Do a Structured Job Interview:

1. Create a job description that accurately describes all duties and

responsibilities.
2. Develop a set of questions that test if candidates can perform the duties and
responsibilities.
3. Decide on a standard order for the questions.
4. Decide on a scale that will be used to grade all answers.
5. Keep each interview as standardized as possible.
6. Try to remove as many variations as possible, such as time of day or location.

Structured Interview Questions:

 Talk about how you would handle [common job challenge].

 Give me an example of a time you had to [important job skill].
 Who is the best [position they’re applying for] you’ve worked with? Why?
 Which other companies in [your industry] do you admire? Why?
 What is the most challenging thing about [position they’re applying for]?
 What is your favorite thing about [position they’re applying for]?
 What do you think will be your biggest challenges with [position]?
Structured Interview Questions Example

HR ASSISTANT

1. How do you handle completing multiple tasks under tight deadlines?

This illustrates the candidate’s ability to multi-task.
2. How do you manage conflict between employees?
This indicates the candidate’s ability to resolve conflict.
3. What methods do you use when following instructions?
This illustrates the candidate’s ability to accurately follow instructions.
4. How has your knowledge of Labor law improved your work?
This illustrates the candidate’s understanding of industry laws and regulations.
5. How do you maintain the calendars of the HR management team?

HR SPECIALIST

1. How would you ensure all employees understand and adhere to company
policies?
Tests the candidate’s communication and team management skills.
2. Your employees are not happy with upper-management and demand a change.
How would you handle this situation?
Demonstrates the candidate’s problem-solving skills.
3. What effective methods or systems have you used to ensure all employee records
are kept up-to-date?
Highlights the candidate’s organizational skills.
4. How do you ensure you stay up-to-date on the latest labor laws?
Tests the candidate’s knowledge of labor law resources.
5. Can you describe the methods you use to recruit skilled and qualified employees?
Demonstrates the candidate’s knowledge of recruitment processes.
HR COORDINATOR

1. How do you handle completing multiple tasks under tight deadlines?

This illustrates the candidate’s ability to multi-task.
2. What methods do you use to resolve conflict between employees?
This indicates the candidate’s ability to resolve conflict.
3. What is the biggest challenge that you are faced with in the recruitment process?
This illustrates the candidate’s ability to solve problems.
4. What process do you follow when you realize that you made a bad decision?
This illustrates the candidate’s decision-making ability.
5. How do you handle a difficult administrative request from an employee?
This illustrates the candidate’s administrative ability.

HR MANAGER

1. What is the most challenging aspect of HR? How do you handle this?
Shows responsiveness.
2. Describe some of the processes you’ve implemented/improved at other jobs.
What impact did it have?
Reveals more about work history.
3. How do you handle coaching or firing employees and policy enforcement? Use
experiences to support.
Tests ability to handle stress.
4. Which trends in benefits are you excited about? Why? What trends do you hope to
see?
Shows industry awareness.
5. How do you ensure that you’re hiring and retaining top employees?
Tests hiring/coaching skills.
CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR CASHIER

1. A customer wishes to return their meal because it’s incorrect. What process do
you follow?
Highlights the candidate’s knowledge of restaurant processes.
2. How would you handle an aggressive customer?
Tests the candidate’s interpersonal skills.
3. A customer asked you a question but you don’t know the answer. How do you
respond?
Reveals the candidate’s experience in a customer service role.
4. A customer enters the restaurant and places a large order. How would you
guarantee the order details are accurately communicated to the kitchen staff?
Tests the candidate’s communication skills.
5. What strengths do you have that prove your ability to work as a cashier?
Highlights the candidate’s possible strengths.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

1. How would you deal with an angry customer?

A candidate who mentions listening carefully, empathizing, and following
company policy is a good pick. Red flags that indicate an interviewee is a bad choice
include being rude and not having any previous experience dealing with difficult
customers. An inexperienced candidate may make a good pick if their other answers
are strong, however.
2. Give me an example of a time you went to great lengths to help a customer.
This question isn’t necessarily about how the interviewee helped the
customer. It’s about who they are.
Is the answer ego-centric? Does it sound like they’re trying too hard to please you?
Or does it sound like a genuine response told from a mature and self-analytical
perspective? Look for the applicant who is authentic and reflective in their response.
Watch out for respondents who overuse the words “I” and “me”, as well as anyone
who broke rules to help customers. Neither is a good sign.

3. Why should we hire you for our customer service team?

Once again, this question gives you a decent look into a candidate’s
personality. Do they see themselves as part of the team? Are they mentioning ways
they can contribute as a team player, or focusing on their personal agenda? If they’re
too focused on themselves, they may be a poor team player – even if they say
they’re a fan of teamwork in Question #5.

4. How well do you work under high pressure/in high stress situations?
This question is a great follow up to Question #1 if the candidate is
inexperienced. You’re giving them a chance to show you how they handle stress and
difficult situations. Someone who keeps their cool and tries to understand the
customer is a good choice. Don’t hire anyone who describes themselves as having a
quick temper. Overly emotional personality types aren’t a good fit for customer
service positions, although an empathetic personality who can control their emotions
can make a great pick.

5. Are you a team player?

If a candidate prefers to be a ‘lone wolf’, they’re probably not the right pick.
Customer service reps are always communicating – with clients and customers, as
well as with the rest of your team. They need to be easy to get along with,
charismatic, and (almost always) extroverted. At the same time, you need a
customer service agent who can work independently. They shouldn’t require
constant supervision, but should enjoy teamwork.
Customer service reps are crucial to your company’s success and will add value by
communicating often and accurately with your other teams to make sure any bugs,
manufacturing issues, or service problems are taken care of quickly. They can alert
your product teams to changing consumer trends, regular requests for design
changes to an existing product, customer requests for a new type of product, and
more.
6. How would you tackle X client complaint?
A great resume doesn’t always equal a great representative. Your company
has an image it’s trying to project. Look for job seekers whose answers to this
question resemble your ideal response. You’re also getting a good look at the job
seeker’s analytical skills. Do they come up with a good reply? How long does it take
them? Speed is crucial in customer service, particularly if you’re in ecommerce.

7. If you had to decline a long-term customer’s request, how would you handle it?
Repeat customers are the lifeblood of any business. Turning down a request
from a regular client can be touchy, but it’s going to happen.
Over time, repeat customers may feel like they’re entitled to certain privileges for
their loyalty – ones that might go against your company’s policies or break internal
rules. Where will this rep side? Do they identify too much with the customer, look for
a balanced solution, or answer too harshly (potentially endangering the client
relationship)?
Consider roleplaying this situation and a few other tricky scenarios to get a good feel
for how the potential hire responds.
Additional Customer Service Interview Questions to Ask:
 How experienced are you with X technology?
 Do you consider yourself a ‘people person’? Why or why not?
 Share your previous experience working in customer service
 If a customer is using abusive language with you, but has a valid point, how
would you handle it?
 What three words would your friends and family choose to describe you? Your
co-workers? You?
 What type of work environment do you thrive in?
 Describe one customer service scenario you handled particularly well.
 What do you know about our company and services?
 How do you define customer service?
 If we meet again in three years, what goals do you need to have
accomplished in order to feel successful?
BANK TELLER

1. Why do you want to be a bank teller?

A bank teller’s job is repetitive and often boring. It takes a special type of
personality to remain excited about this type of work and to carry their positive
emotion into the workplace and to the customer.
Tellers are, first and foremost, customer service employees. Look for an answer that
shows commitment to providing a great customer experience and a strong interest in
advancing within the bank.

2. Are you comfortable working with large amounts of money?

Temptation is something many bank tellers will face on a regular basis.
Handling large amounts of money can be intimidating and, for some individuals,
uncomfortable. Tellers will have to handle large sums regularly. You need to be
certain they can handle it.

3. Name one ethical dilemma you faced in your last job. How did you handle it?
You’re looking for an employee with strong ethical and moral character.
Someone who won’t be tempted by opportunity or give in to bribes. You also need an
employee who is willing to inform a manager about poor ethical conduct of co-
workers or even superiors. This question can give you insight into what they
applicant views as morally acceptable and morally reprehensible.

4. Why did you choose our bank?

Watch out for false compliments. You want someone who is honestly
interested in working for your bank and can tell you exactly why. It might be a social
stance the bank has, specific products it offers, a personal anecdote, or years of
banking with the institution.
Be wary of applicants who are trying too hard to please you, can’t name a real
reason, or provide shallow answers. The enthusiasm they demonstrate in this
question is the same enthusiasm you hope they’ll show daily at work.
5. Have you ever worked at a bank before?
If an applicant has experience working in a bank, why did they leave their
previous job? If not, do they have any relevant customer service work experience?
Expect clear, well-prepared answers that give you information about the applicants’
work history and suitability for the industry.

6. What banking products do you personally use and why?

This question gives the applicant an opportunity to ‘sell’ you the products they
use. If they’re passionate about a particular banking product, they may be able to sell
your patrons on it, too.

7. If you saw a coworker stealing, how would you handle the situation?
This is a tough question, but an important one for tellers. Trust among
coworkers is important, but loyalty to the bank is more important.
Listen carefully to how the applicant answers this question. You want to hire
someone who is honest to a fault and able to confide in superiors even when it may
endanger their personal relationships with coworkers. You are also looking for a
conflict-avoidant personality or someone who can diffuse conflict quickly and easily.
Additional Interview Questions to Ask:
1. How will you stay motivated?
2. Give an example of great customer service you delivered in your current job.
3. What characteristics do you think good tellers possess?
Situational Interview Questions:

1. What would you do if you made a strong recommendation in a meeting, but your
colleagues decided against it?
2. How would you handle it if your team resisted a new idea or policy you
introduced?
3. How would you handle it if the priorities for a project you were working on were
suddenly changed?
4. What would you do if the work of an employee you managed didn't meet
expectations?
5. What would you do if an important task was not up to standard, but the deadline
to complete it had passed?
6. What steps would you take to make an important decision on the job?
7. How would you handle a colleague you were unable to form a positive
relationship with?
8. What would you do if you disagreed with the way a manager wanted you to
handle a problem?
9. What would you do if you were assigned to work with a difficult client?
10. What would you do if you worked hard on a solution to a problem, and your
solution was criticized by your team?
11. How would you handle working closely with a colleague who was very different
from you?
12. You're working on a key project that you can't complete because you're waiting
on work from a colleague. What do you do?
13. You realize that an early mistake in a project is going to put you behind deadline.
What do you do?

Common Behavioral Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a stressful situation at work and how you handled it.
2. Describe a time when you disagreed with your supervisor on how to
accomplish something.
3. Have you ever had to convince your team to do a job they were reluctant to do?
4. Have you ever had a deadline you were not able to meet? What happened?
What did you do?
5. Tell me about a time your co-workers had a conflict. How did you handle it?
6. How have you prioritized when you’re assigned multiple projects?
7. Tell me about a difficult work challenge you’ve had.
8. Talk about a time when you had to adapt to big changes at work.