Unstructured interviews: are they really all that bad?

Abstract

Although much of the interview and selection literature views unstructured interviews as being vastly inferior to structured interviews in terms of validity and reliability, this critical review attempts to shed a positive light on the merits of unstructured interviews. It begins by defining and describing both types of interview approaches, and continues to explain the merits and benefits of unstructured interviews (some of which are not obtainable with a structured interview approach), including greater face-validity, positive interviewee and interviewer reactions, similar-levels of validity, and greater practicality in a variety of real organizational settings and situations. The analysis concludes with theoretical and practical implications for researchers and applied human resource development (HRD) professionals.

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