Free structured interview guide template

# Structured interview guide

_Replace the gray text and delete what you do not need. Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order._

## Role and interview

**Role:** _Job title and team_

**Hiring manager:**

**Interviewer:**

**Interview stage and length:**

## Before the interview

- [ ] Read the job description and pick the competencies the role needs
- [ ] Use the same guide you use for every candidate
- [ ] Agree on the rating scale with any other interviewer
- [ ] Decide whether you will record, and plan to ask for the candidate's consent first
- [ ] Block time to write up your ratings right after the interview

## Competencies

| Competency | What a strong answer shows |
| --- | --- |
|   |   |
|   |   |
|   |   |
|   |   |

_Pick the few competencies the role needs and ask about each one._

_Ask about and note job-related things only. Do not record protected characteristics such as age, race, religion, disability or family status._

## Opening

Thank the candidate, explain how the interview is structured and how long it will take, and ask whether they have questions before you begin.

If you want to record, ask for the candidate's consent before you start, and note the answer in your interview notes.

## Questions: first competency

**Competency:**

| Question | Follow-up probes | What to listen for |
| --- | --- | --- |
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   |

_Ask about a specific past situation, for example: Tell me about a time you had to change a plan at short notice._

## Questions: second competency

**Competency:**

| Question | Follow-up probes | What to listen for |
| --- | --- | --- |
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   |

## Questions: third competency

**Competency:**

| Question | Follow-up probes | What to listen for |
| --- | --- | --- |
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   |

## Rating scale

- 1: Little or no evidence of the competency
- 2: Some evidence, with clear gaps
- 3: Solid evidence, meets the bar for the role
- 4: Strong evidence, above the bar for the role
- 5: Exceptional evidence

_Rate each answer against this scale, not against other candidates. Write one sentence on what a 3 looks like for each competency before the first interview._

## Closing

Ask whether the candidate has questions, explain the next steps and when they will hear back, and thank them for their time.

## After the interview

- [ ] Rate each answer on the scale right away, before you talk to anyone else
- [ ] Write the evidence behind each rating in your interview notes
- [ ] Compare candidates on the ratings, not on the feel of the conversation

Template from hushscript.com

What a structured interview guide includes

A structured interview guide fixes the interview before the candidate arrives. The US Office of Personnel Management describes a structured interview this way: all candidates are asked the same predetermined questions in the same order, and all responses are evaluated with the same rating scale and standards for acceptable answers. The questions are built to measure job-related competencies.

The template lays these out, top to bottom:

• Role and competencies. What the job needs, in a short list.
• Questions for each competency. Written in advance, asked in the same order.
• Follow-up probes and what to listen for. So a strong answer is defined before you hear one.
• A rating scale. One scale for every answer and every candidate.

Why bother? In a 2022 re-analysis of research on personnel selection methods (Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens, in the Journal of Applied Psychology), structured interviews emerged as the top-ranked selection procedure.

How to use this interview guide template

1. Pick the competencies. Start from the job description. Choose the few things the role needs most, and write what a strong answer shows for each.
2. Write the questions. Add two or three questions per competency. Ask about specific past situations rather than opinions.
3. Add follow-up probes. Prepare the follow-ups you will use to get specifics, and what you want to hear.
4. Set the rating scale. Keep the 1 to 5 scale or change it, then describe what a 3 looks like for each competency.
5. Run it the same way every time. Same opening, same questions, same order, same scale.

Take your notes in the matching interview notes template, which has a row for each question and a rating next to the evidence.

Interview questions by competency

These are examples to adapt, not a fixed list. Write your own for the role you are hiring.

Competency	Example question	Follow-up probes	What to listen for
Problem solving	Tell me about a problem you had to solve with incomplete information.	What options did you weigh? What happened?	A clear sequence of steps, the candidate’s own actions, a result
Communication	Describe a time you explained something complex to someone without the background.	How did you check they understood?	Plain language, adapting to the listener
Teamwork	Tell me about a disagreement with a colleague and how it ended.	What did you do first? What would you change?	Ownership, a fair account of the other side

Follow-up questions and a rating scale

Follow-ups turn a rehearsed answer into evidence. Useful probes are short: “What did you do?”, “What happened next?”, “Can you give an example?” Write the ones you plan to use in the guide, so each candidate gets the same chance.

The rating scale keeps your judgment steady. Rate each answer right after you hear it, against the scale and not against the previous candidate. Before the first interview, write what a 3 looks like for this role, so you rate against a fixed bar.

Customize the interview guide for each role

Copy the guide for each role and keep the structure, changing the competencies and questions to fit the job. Open the .docx in Word, upload it to Google Drive and open it in Google Docs, or import the Markdown file into Notion, which accepts Markdown. The template is free to use, copy and edit, and no attribution is required. Add a competency block by copying one of the three question sections. Delete the ones you do not need.

Record the interview with consent

Recording a hiring interview needs the candidate’s consent. Ask before you start, note the answer, and if it is no, take notes only. Follow your employer’s policy on recordings as well.

With consent, upload the recording to interview transcription. Full transcription needs an account and minutes. Eligible personal accounts get 30 free minutes once, after card verification or with the first purchase. You get an editable transcript with speaker labels and timecodes, so you can check your notes and ratings against what the candidate actually said. The ratings and the hiring decision stay yours.

Updated: November 1, 2026