The Interviewing Spectrum: From Rigid to Random
In talent selection, interview and evaluation techniques exist on a continuum with two basic extremes. On one end is the highly scripted process, where an interviewer reads every question as prescribed from a booklet. On the other end are completely unstructured interviews, which often involve untrained hiring managers asking abstract questions and relying on gut reactions without collecting any data.
Most organizations operate somewhere between these two poles. HR and talent acquisition professionals typically advocate for more structure to ensure fairness and gather comparable data, while hiring managers often want the freedom to have a more natural conversation.
The Power of Structured Conversation
While process matters, the best insights often come from open dialogue. A structured process doesn't have to be rigid. The goal is to create a framework that facilitates meaningful conversation, revealing how a candidate thinks and if they align with the organization.
Case Study: How Uber Hired its CTO
A compelling example of this principle comes from how Uber CEO Travis Kalanick hired a Chief Technology Officer. The candidate described the experience as an intense, 30-hour one-on-one interview conducted over two weeks.
"I met with him, and that one hour turned into two. …He invited me back for more talks and ended up interviewing me for 30 hours straight, one-on-one, over two weeks... We’d pick each topic and drill all the way down... I had my view and he had his, and because he’s an engineer by training as well, we just jammed like that…. Throughout those 30 hours, it wasn’t about getting hired. I actually forgot it was an interview. It was just like a discussion between two colleagues."
The process focused on deep debate and discussion on topics critical to the CTO role, from engineering management to hiring and firing. It was a "jam session" between two professionals, not a formal interrogation.
The Lesson: Dialogue Delivers Data
The key lesson is that discussion and conversation, when wrapped around topics essential to the role, will nearly always yield high-quality data. In the Uber example, the 30-hour dialogue demonstrated to both the CEO and the candidate that there was strong alignment. A robust, conversational process can be one of the most effective tools for making a critical hire.