What is an Interview Guide and How to Use It

Creating an interview guide is a great way to research interviews and ensure a structured process for all candidates. An interview guide is a document that contains the high-level topics and questions that the interviewer plans to cover during the interview. It helps interviewers know what to ask and in what order, and ensures an equal candidate experience for all applicants. When creating an interview guide, it's important to make sure that it's not too detailed.

This could give respondents the wrong impression that the interviewer is more interested in their questions than in the answers of the participants. It's also important to remember that interviews should be a conversation between you and the person conducting the interview on behalf of the company. The advantages of using an interview guide include that it creates a structured process, provides all applicants with the same experience with candidates, and makes it easier to evaluate all candidates in the same way, reducing the risk of bias in the interview process. Additionally, researchers embarking on a qualitative interviewing project must consider their own abilities to receive stories that may be difficult to hear.

When I was interviewing state administrators from developmental disabilities departments, my interview guide contained 15 questions, all of which were asked to each participant. It's quite common for interviewers to create audio recordings of the interviews they conduct, as this can help them remember details from each conversation. To create an effective interview guide, you can add or remove as many items as necessary. The more comfortable you are with your answers, the more confident you will be as long as these questions come up during the job interview process.

Ultimately, an interview guide should help you create a successful interviewing experience for both you and your candidates.

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