What is a Structured Interview?
The structured interview is a face-to-face (strongly recommended) or telephone meeting in which the Fellow reference asks the Fellow candidate questions to determine the candidate’s professional reputation for competence, judgment, integrity and ethics. A list of suggested interview questions can be found on theStructured Interview Fellow Reference Form.
The structured interview technique relies on a preestablished set of standard questions and answers. Before the interview, a job analysis is completed to identify the requirements of the job. The questions and answers are developed based on the results of the job analysis. Candidate responses to the questions are rated against the preestablished answers.
Structured interviews are those conducted when it is known at the outset what information is needed. The interviewer has a list of predetermined question to be asked of the respondents either personally, through the telephone, or through the medium of a pc. The questions are likely to focus on factors that had surfaced during the unstructured interviews and are considered relevant to the problem. As the respondents express their views the researcher would note them down. The same questions will be asked of everybody in the same manner. Sometimes however based on the exigencies of the situation the experienced researcher might take a lead from a respondent’s answer and ask other relevant questions not on the interview protocol. Through this process new factors might be identified resulting in a deeper understanding. However to b able to recognize probable response, the interviewer must comprehend the purpose and goal of each question.
