Time Recruitment Candidates

Common Interview Situations:

While most interviews will have a combination of two or more styles, we've set out the most common forms of interviews below.

Screening Interview / Telephone Interview:

The screening interview is generally short in duration, and is utilised to determine if the candidate has sufficient basic qualifications to warrant a more in-depth, formal interview. It is usually conducted by one interviewer, often over the phone, and used to narrow the field of candidates. It is always advisable to take the call on a land line in a quiet location and to set aside time for the call. This should be treated in the exact same manner as a face to face interview.

Unstructured Interview:

This type of interview is sometimes referred to as a "fireside chat." It could be a group interview (more than one interviewer) and involve unstructured questions such as "Tell me about yourself."  Team members are usually allowed to freelance or probe at any area of the candidate's background. This usually occurs towards the end of the interview process, and getting to this "meet the team" stage is generally a very good sign!

Structured Interview:

There are different types of structured interviews and it is common for the interviewer to combine methods from more than one style. If it is a group interview, each interview team member may be assigned a specific area of the candidate's background to probe and the questions asked are usually behavioural in nature. A good example of a situation where this may happen is when a candidate is interviewed by both a line manager and an HR manager, with each assessing different criteria. The following are some of the more typical structured interview styles that you are likely to encounter:

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