# Structured interviews: a practical playbook.

> How to run structured interviews: write questions from the job, build a rubric before you start, score alone, keep the evidence and review it every quarter.

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The simplest way to make hiring fairer and more predictable.

A structured interview asks every candidate the same questions in the same order and scores the answers against the same rubric. It is the simplest way to make hiring fairer and more predictable, because every candidate is judged on the same bar.

## Write the questions from the job, not the resume.

Start from what the person will do in their first 90 days. Turn each outcome into one behavioural question and one scenario.

## Build a rubric before the first interview.

For each question, write what a weak, solid and strong answer sounds like. Keep it to a 1 to 5 scale.

## Use the same questions in the same order.

Follow-up questions are fine, but every candidate should hear the same core questions. Changing them mid-process makes scores impossible to compare.

## Score alone, then discuss.

Interviewers score independently before the debrief. It stops the loudest voice from setting the result.

## Keep the evidence.

Note what the candidate actually said next to each score. When someone asks why a decision was made, you have the answer.

## Review the rubric every quarter.

Compare scores with how hires actually perform and tune the questions that do not predict anything.

## Where agents help

AI phone screens and video interviews are structured by default: the same questions, the same scorecard and a transcript behind every score. People review the evidence and make the final call.

## Questions, answered

### What is a structured interview?

An interview where every candidate gets the same questions in the same order and every answer is scored against the same rubric, usually on a 1 to 5 scale.

### Why are structured interviews fairer?

Every candidate is judged on the same bar, interviewers score independently before discussing and the evidence behind each score is written down.

### How many questions should a structured interview have?

Start from the outcomes of the first 90 days. One behavioral question and one scenario per outcome is a practical starting point.

## Related reading.

### AI video interviews

Structured interviews, scored the same way every time.

[See how](https://landing.qa.scrini.ai/capabilities/ai-video-interviews)

### Role assessments

Test real skills for each role.

[See how](https://landing.qa.scrini.ai/capabilities/role-assessments)

### Glossary: scorecard

What a scorecard is and why it matters.

[Read the glossary](https://landing.qa.scrini.ai/glossary)

## Structured by default. On every role.

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