Even with a list of behavioral questions asked by multiple interviewers, an interview is a highly unstructured interaction. This lack of structure lowers predictive accuracy and increases stress for both the candidate and the interviewer. The challenge, as a recruiter, is to increase the predictive ability of an interview by increasing the structure, yet maintain enough flexibility for a good conversation to take place.

One strategy to achieve this ideal balance in structure is for candidates to prepare and then deliver a presentation. A presentation accomplishes a number of important tasks:

• It demonstrates a candidate’s ability to assemble information and then convey that information. This is an important skill for any level of worker in our information economy.
• By asking good insightful questions during the presentation, interviewers get valuable insight about the candidate’s ability to “think on their feet,” listen, and respond to questions.
• A presentation which is based on the critical job requirements creates alignment between the candidate and the interviewer about job expectations and job performance.
• By preparing the presentation, each candidate arrives at the interview well prepared to present information the interviewers need to know to make a “best fit” hiring decision.
• The amount of effort put towards preparing the presentation acts as a measure of the applicant’s motivation for the position.
• A written presentation provides visual information in addition to the typical verbal/auditory information of the traditional interview.

To do this in a structured and consistent fashion, one suggestion is to provide a presentation outline to candidates for use in preparing their presentation. The outline should elicit information that answers the three basic questions of any interview:

1. Is the candidate interested and motivated for this position?
2. Can the candidate do the job and do it well?
3. Will the candidate fit in the culture of the company?

To elicit the answers to these questions, the presentation outline can direct the candidate to complete the following categories of information:

1. What is their understanding of the critical position requirements?
2. What is the candidate’s match (background, experience, skills) with the critical position requirements?
3. What additional areas of expertise does the candidate offer?
4. What are the candidate’s job-related accomplishments or experiences?
5. What might a 30/60-day position-specific strategic action plan look like?
6. What are the candidate’s outstanding personal qualities and characteristics that contribute to his or her success on the job?
7. What are the major “selling points” of why the candidate is a good fit for this position?
8. What are the important questions the candidate wants to know about the company, the job, and the interview?

Once the candidate develops a presentation based on the above categories of information, he or she is well prepared to communicate the information the hiring manager needs to know to make a “best fit” hiring decision. In addition, the interviewer(s) can get additional information by asking probing questions based on the information in the presentation.

Combining a presentation with unstructured conversation provides an effective mixture of structured and unstructured interaction. This combination provides a more complete picture of the candidate enabling the hiring manager to make a better informed hiring decision.