Types of job interviews: 15 formats, what each one tests and when to use it

There are about fifteen distinct types of job interviews, and they differ along five lines: how the questions are asked (structured, unstructured, behavioral, situational, competency-based), who is in the room (panel, group, bar raiser), whether the candidate does the work (case, technical, work sample), the medium (phone, live video, one-way video, AI-led) and the stage (screen, final round). Most hiring processes combine three or four of them. The format with the strongest research behind it is the structured interview, and most of the others can be run in a structured way.

This page is the hub: a short definition of each format, what it is good at testing, when to use it, and a link to our deeper page where one exists. If you are planning a process from scratch, the last section shows how the formats fit together.

What are the types of job interviews at a glance?

Which interview types are defined by how questions are asked?

Structured interview

Every candidate gets the same job-related questions, in the same order, scored on the same written scale, with standards agreed in advance. This is the format with the best evidence: in Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens (2022, Journal of Applied Psychology) it ranked first among selection procedures, with a mean operational validity of .42.

Unstructured interview

A conversation the interviewer steers as it goes, ending in an overall impression. It feels natural and builds rapport, but candidates are asked different things and judged against different standards. The same 2022 analysis put its validity at .19. Use unstructured time for selling the role or answering questions, not for scoring.

Behavioral interview

Questions ask what the candidate actually did in past situations. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Structured Interviews: A Practical Guide (September 2008) gives the premise as "the best predictor of future behavior on the job is past behavior under similar circumstances". Probing for the situation, action and result turns a story into evidence.

Situational interview

Questions describe a realistic job scenario and ask how the candidate would respond. OPM's guide calls them future-oriented and notes that agencies may combine both formats. Situational questions are useful when candidates are early in their careers or changing fields and have no directly comparable past example.

Competency-based interview

Questions are organized around the competencies the job needs, each with its own rating. It is less a question style than a way of deciding what to ask; the questions themselves are usually behavioral, situational or both.

Which interview types are defined by who is in the room?

Panel interview

Two or more interviewers meet one candidate, ideally each covering different competencies and rating independently. OPM's guide says a panel of two or three can document and interpret more, reduces the risk of rating bias and lets candidates meet a diverse range of interviewers. Interviews held one after another with different people, often called a loop, follow the same logic.

Group interview

Several candidates are assessed together, usually through short exercises watched by trained observers, plus a brief one-to-one for each person. It suits hiring several people into the same role where working with others matters.

Bar raiser interview

A trained interviewer from outside the hiring team joins the loop to hold the hiring standard steady across teams. The practice is most associated with Amazon, which describes its Bar Raisers as leading the debrief and making the final decision together with the hiring manager.

Which interview types ask the candidate to do the work?

Case interview

The candidate works through a business problem out loud: sizing a market, diagnosing falling profits, choosing between options. It is common in consulting, strategy and some product and finance roles. The interviewer scores how the problem is structured, the use of numbers and the quality of the recommendation, not whether the candidate reaches a preset answer.

Technical interview

Live problems from the specialist domain: writing code, designing a system, reviewing a contract clause, reading an engineering drawing. Score against a rubric agreed in advance; otherwise technical interviews drift into unstructured conversations between experts.

Work sample, take-home assignment or trial day

The candidate performs a piece of the actual job, in the interview, at home within a time limit, or during a paid day on site. OPM's page on work samples and simulations notes that candidates often see them as very fair, and that they suit roles where the skills are needed on the first day rather than taught after hiring.

Which interview types are defined by the medium?

Any of the formats above can be held in person, by phone or on live video; how to run a video interview covers the live-video version. Two formats exist only because of the medium:

• One-way video interview. The candidate records answers to preset prompts with no interviewer present, and reviewers watch later. It saves scheduling at volume but gives candidates no chance to ask questions. If AI analyzes the videos for Illinois-based roles, the Illinois AI Video Interview Act requires notice and consent first.
• AI-led interview. Software conducts the conversation, adapts follow-up questions, and produces a transcript, summary and often a score for a recruiter to review. Because it evaluates candidates, it can count as an automated employment decision tool under rules such as New York City's Local Law 144.

Which interview types are defined by the stage?

• Screening interview. Usually the phone screen: 15 to 30 minutes on must-haves, pay, location and timing.
• Second interview. Goes deeper on the gaps left by round one; see second interview questions.
• Final round. Closes remaining evidence gaps, lets future colleagues meet the candidate and gives the candidate what they need to decide.

What about stay interviews and exit interviews?

They share the name but not the purpose. A stay interview is a manager's conversation with a current employee about what keeps them and what might make them leave. An exit interview asks a departing employee why they are going. Both use interview techniques, and both benefit from planned questions, but neither is a hiring decision.

How do you choose the right interview types for a role?

Start from what you need to know, then pick the cheapest format that gives reliable evidence for each item:

1. Must-haves and logistics: a phone screen.
2. Core competencies: a structured interview with behavioral and situational questions.
3. Hands-on skills: a short work sample, case or technical exercise, scored against a rubric.
4. Several perspectives: a panel or loop, with competencies split between interviewers.
5. Remaining doubts and the candidate's decision: a final round.

An example sequence for a mid-level analyst role, for illustration:

1. Phone screen (20 min, recruiter): must-haves, pay, timing
2. Hiring manager structured interview (45 min): 4 competencies,
   behavioral and situational questions, anchored scores
3. Work sample (60 min, paid or in-interview): clean a data set and
   present two findings, scored against a written rubric
4. Panel (2 x 30 min): stakeholder skills and team working,
   competencies split between interviewers, independent scores
5. Debrief: scores revealed together, decision within 48 hours

The number of stages matters as much as the formats; how many interview rounds covers the trade-off between evidence and losing candidates to slower processes.