conducting-interviews

Conducting Interviews (Structured, Behavioral)

Scope

Covers

• Preparing and running structured interviews (screen + loop) with consistent criteria
• Behavioral interviewing mapped to competencies/values
• Getting to “substance over polish” (avoiding “confident but shallow” signal)
• Capturing evidence, scoring consistently, and writing a debrief-ready summary

When to use

• “Help me conduct interviews for a .”
• “Create an interview script / interview question set / scorecard for .”
• “Design an interview loop and structured rubric for .”
• “Improve interviewer consistency and reduce bias.”

When NOT to use

• You need to define the role outcomes or write the job description (use writing-job-descriptions first)
• You need to make a final hiring decision, design work samples, or run reference checks (use evaluating-candidates)
• You need to conduct user/customer research interviews (use conducting-user-interviews — completely different skill)
• You need to onboard the person after hiring (use onboarding-new-hires)
• You need legal/HR compliance guidance or to adjudicate complex employment risk (this skill is not legal advice)
• You need compensation/offer strategy or negotiation coaching

Inputs

Minimum required

• Role + level + function (e.g., “Senior PM”, “Engineering Manager”)
• Interview stage(s) to design/run (screen, hiring manager, panel, etc.) + duration(s)
• Evaluation criteria: 4–8 competencies/values to measure (or your existing rubric)
• Company/team context candidates should know (mission, what’s hard, why now)
• Candidate materials (resume/portfolio) + any areas to probe

Missing-info strategy

• Ask up to 5 questions from references/INTAKE.md.
• If criteria aren’t provided, propose a default criteria set and clearly label it as an assumption.

Outputs (deliverables)

Produce an Interview Execution Pack in Markdown (in-chat; or as files if requested):

1. Interview plan (stage purpose, criteria, agenda, timeboxes)
2. Question map (questions → competency/value → what good looks like → follow-up probes)
3. Interviewer script (opening, transitions, probes, close)
4. Notes + scorecard (rating anchors + evidence capture)
5. Debrief summary template (evidence-based strengths/concerns + hire/no-hire signal + follow-ups)
6. Risks / Open questions / Next steps (always included)