A behavioral description interview question asks: 'Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict between team members. What did you do, and what was the outcome?' This format is based on the assumption that...
AHypothetical responses to future scenarios are the best predictor of behavior
BPast behavior in similar situations is the best predictor of future behavior
CSelf-reported personality traits predict job performance better than behavioral examples
DCandidates who can articulate conflict resolution theory will be better managers
Behavioral description interviews (BDIs) are grounded in the behavioral consistency principle: the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior in similar situations. By asking candidates to describe specific past experiences, BDIs elicit concrete evidence of how the person actually behaved rather than how they think they would behave. This is distinct from situational interviews, which present hypothetical scenarios and ask candidates what they would do.
Question 2 True / False
The primary reason structured interviews are more valid than unstructured interviews is that structure ensures interviewers ask questions about topics unrelated to the job.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Structure improves validity precisely because it constrains the interview to job-related content. In unstructured interviews, interviewers often pursue topics based on personal interest, first impressions, or conversational flow — much of which is irrelevant to job performance. Structured interviews, built from job analysis, ensure every question targets a job-relevant KSAO. Structure also standardizes scoring (via anchored scales), reducing the influence of interviewer biases like halo effects and similarity bias.
Question 3 Short Answer
What are the key components that distinguish a structured interview from an unstructured one?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Key components include: (1) questions derived from job analysis, (2) the same questions asked of all candidates, (3) anchored rating scales for evaluating responses, (4) trained interviewers, and (5) systematic scoring and combination of ratings. These components reduce variance attributable to the interviewer and increase variance attributable to actual candidate differences.
Each component addresses a specific source of error in unstructured interviews. Job-analysis-based questions ensure relevance; asking the same questions ensures comparability; anchored scales reduce idiosyncratic evaluation; training reduces biases; systematic scoring prevents overall impression from overriding specific evidence. The result is that more of the variance in interview scores reflects true differences between candidates rather than differences between interviewers.