conducting-interviews

name	conducting-interviews
description	Run structured, behavioral hiring interviews and produce an Interview Execution Pack (plan, questions, scorecard, debrief). Use for interview process, interview questions, interview loop, screening, behavioral interview, structured interview. Category: Hiring & Teams.

Conducting Interviews (Structured, Behavioral)

Scope

Covers

• Preparing and running structured interviews (screen + loop) with consistent criteria
• Behavioral interviewing mapped to competencies/values
• Getting to “substance over polish” (avoiding “confident but shallow” signal)
• Capturing evidence, scoring consistently, and writing a debrief-ready summary

When to use

• “Help me conduct interviews for a .”
• “Create an interview script / interview question set / scorecard for .”
• “Design an interview loop and structured rubric for .”
• “Improve interviewer consistency and reduce bias.”

When NOT to use

• You need to define the role outcomes or write the job description (use writing-job-descriptions first)
• You need legal/HR compliance guidance or to adjudicate complex employment risk (this skill is not legal advice)
• You need compensation/offer strategy or negotiation coaching

Inputs

Minimum required

• Role + level + function (e.g., “Senior PM”, “Engineering Manager”)
• Interview stage(s) to design/run (screen, hiring manager, panel, etc.) + duration(s)
• Evaluation criteria: 4–8 competencies/values to measure (or your existing rubric)
• Company/team context candidates should know (mission, what’s hard, why now)
• Candidate materials (resume/portfolio) + any areas to probe

Missing-info strategy

• Ask up to 5 questions from references/INTAKE.md.
• If criteria aren’t provided, propose a default criteria set and clearly label it as an assumption.

Outputs (deliverables)

Produce an Interview Execution Pack in Markdown (in-chat; or as files if requested):

1. Interview plan (stage purpose, criteria, agenda, timeboxes)
2. Question map (questions → competency/value → what good looks like → follow-up probes)
3. Interviewer script (opening, transitions, probes, close)
4. Notes + scorecard (rating anchors + evidence capture)
5. Debrief summary template (evidence-based strengths/concerns + hire/no-hire signal + follow-ups)
6. Risks / Open questions / Next steps (always included)

Templates: references/TEMPLATES.md
Expanded guidance: references/WORKFLOW.md

Workflow (7 steps)

1) Intake + define the stage

• Inputs: user request; references/INTAKE.md.
• Actions: Confirm role, stage(s), duration, and who else interviews. Identify must-measure criteria and any “must not” red flags.
• Outputs: Interview brief + assumptions/unknowns list.
• Checks: You can state the stage goal in one sentence (e.g., “screen for X; sell Y; decide Z”).

2) Lock evaluation criteria (don’t improvise later)

• Inputs: competencies/values; role context.
• Actions: Choose 4–8 criteria; define 1–2 “strong” and “weak” anchors per criterion. Ensure each criterion is observable via evidence.
• Outputs: Criteria table with anchors.
• Checks: Every criterion has a definition + evidence hints; no criterion is “vibe”.

3) Build the question map (behavioral first)

• Inputs: criteria table.
• Actions: Write 1–2 primary questions per criterion (behavioral: “tell me about a time…”). Add probes that force specifics (role, constraints, trade-offs, results, what you’d do differently). Add two global questions: “How did you prepare?” and “Why here?”
• Outputs: Question map table.
• Checks: Each question maps to exactly one primary criterion; no double-barreled questions.

4) Write the interviewer script (runbook)

• Inputs: question map; timeboxes.
• Actions: Assemble an interview flow: opening (set context + structure), question sequence, note-taking reminders, and a consistent close: “Is there anything else you want to make sure we covered?”
• Outputs: Interviewer script with timestamps.
• Checks: Script fits in time; includes “sell” moments appropriate to stage; includes candidate questions time.

5) Prepare for “substance over polish”

• Inputs: question map; candidate materials.
• Actions: Add “substance checks” for polished communicators (ask for concrete examples, counterfactuals, and specific decisions). Add “structure help” for less polished candidates (rephrase, clarify what’s being asked) without leading.
• Outputs: Substance-vs-delivery guardrails embedded in the script.
• Checks: The plan reduces false positives from confident delivery and false negatives from imperfect structure.

6) Score using evidence (immediately after)

• Inputs: notes; scorecard template.
• Actions: Fill the scorecard with evidence snippets before discussing with others. Rate each criterion with anchors. Write a 5–8 sentence evidence-based summary and list follow-up questions.
• Outputs: Completed notes + scorecard + summary.
• Checks: Every rating has supporting evidence; the overall recommendation is consistent with criterion ratings.

7) Debrief + quality gate + finalize pack

• Inputs: completed scorecard; debrief template.
• Actions: Produce the debrief-ready packet; run references/CHECKLISTS.md and score with references/RUBRIC.md. Include Risks/Open questions/Next steps.
• Outputs: Final Interview Execution Pack.
• Checks: Clear recommendation + uncertainty; fair process; next steps defined (additional interview, reference check, work sample, etc.).

Quality gate (required)

• Use references/CHECKLISTS.md and references/RUBRIC.md.
• Always include: Risks, Open questions, Next steps.

Examples

Example 1 (Screen): “Create a 30-minute phone screen for a Senior Product Manager. I want to evaluate product sense, execution, and collaboration. Output the Interview Execution Pack with a question map and scorecard.”
Expected: timeboxed script, behavioral questions, clear anchors, and a scorecard that captures evidence.

Example 2 (Loop): “Design a structured interview loop for a Staff Engineer, including a hiring manager interview and a cross-functional panel. Map questions to our values and include a debrief template.”
Expected: stage goals, consistent criteria across interviewers, and artifacts that make debriefs evidence-based.

Boundary example: “Just tell me if this candidate is good; I don’t have criteria or notes.”
Response: require criteria + evidence; propose default criteria and ask the user to paste notes or run a structured interview first.