Alternatives to Structured Interviewing: Examples and Characteristics

Research questions
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Research questions 2
Research question
1. What are the alternatives to structured interviewing? Give examples on each one of them
a. Unstructured interview
This is a type of interview that does not follow any particular format, the interviewee basically is
focused on the topic at hand and values the thought of opinion concerning a specific subject.
This is mostly conducted with a variety of different open-ended questions. Additionally,
Unstructured interviewing is also characterized by an informal tone and more conversational.
Sometimes employers intentionally tend to use this type of interview when hiring employees so
as to create a conducive environment to let their guards down and feel more comfortable in the
long run which will be essential in evaluating their character and attitude towards performing to
the required potential (Morse, 2015). However, conducting this type of interview is time-
consuming has a potential of interviews exposing and speaking about confidential matters during
the interview. Below is an example of an unstructured interview scenario
Researcher: “what are your thoughts on the current US president”
Interviewee: “well, I think he’s an idiot that could press the nuclear button just to prove
a point”
Researcher: “why do you say that? after all, he is the leader of the free world”
Interviewee: “leader of a free world is an illusion under his presidency since he took
office the country has been more divide and would seem to further despise us”
Researcher: “can you tell me more about that?”
Interviewee: “More hate groups are managing to air their controversial views under the
president watch who seems to play mute as he bullies his political opinions on the
minority.”

Research questions 3
b. Stress Interview
this type of interview is mainly used by employers during top or executive job interviews. Its
main purpose is to put a candidate under intense pressure in order to have a clear glimpse of the
candidate is able to handle or excel under work overload and how they can manage several
projects as well as workplace conflict. Below is an example of an unstructured interview
scenario:
Researcher “what would you do to hike our upcoming smartphone sales in the country
Interviewee: “I would target the selfie market which is mostly the millennials and the
generations Z and introduce a smartphone that has a higher quality camera but at mid-
range prices, making it affordable and easy to penetrate the market
Researcher: You see that pen next to you, sell it to me’’
Interviewee: what! excuse me?
C. Behavioral Interview
This is an effective technique used by employers whose intention is evaluating a candidate’s behavior
through past experience and activities performed. For example, there are common questions such as “how
would you deal with a consumer who is disruptive”. Such a question is crucial since they determine the
respondent’s character through the response he or she will give. Among the benefits of the behavioral
interview is that it’s the rate of its flexibility in allowing questions to be customized according to the set
environment and the needs of the employer (Zhang and Wildemuth, 2016). This sets a comfortable
environment for the candidates to express his or her opinions and ideas assisting an employer in matching
the right person to the job. However, it does not raise the talent bar in the long run but only focused on
minimizing mistakes which could lead to a reduced product service delivery. Some of the questions that
are asked in the behavioral interview include
 Describe a stressful situation at work and how you handled it.