A skeleton for building a role-specific interview guide: stage plan, competency map, question slots with follow-up probes, and shared scoring anchors.
Fill this skeleton once per role, before the first interview is scheduled, and every interviewer works from the result. Structure is the single highest-leverage upgrade to interview validity: same competencies, same questions, same anchors for every candidate. An unstructured conversation measures rapport; this guide is how you measure the job.
List 5–7 competencies that separate success from failure in this specific role. Pull them from what your best performer in the role actually does, not from a generic leadership list. Each competency needs a one-line definition concrete enough that two interviewers would recognize the same behavior.
| # | Competency | One-line behavioral definition | Must-have or trainable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | {{Competency 1}} | {{Definition}} | {{Must-have / trainable}} |
| 2 | {{Competency 2}} | {{Definition}} | {{Must-have / trainable}} |
| 3 | {{Competency 3}} | {{Definition}} | {{Must-have / trainable}} |
| 4 | {{Competency 4}} | {{Definition}} | {{Must-have / trainable}} |
| 5 | {{Competency 5}} | {{Definition}} | {{Must-have / trainable}} |
Every competency is owned by exactly one stage (a second stage may cross-check it). If a competency has no owner, the loop cannot assess it; if it has three, you are burning interview hours on redundancy. Keep the whole loop to 3–5 stages.
| Stage | Format and length | Interviewer | Competencies owned |
|---|---|---|---|
| {{Stage 1, e.g. recruiter screen}} | {{Format, e.g. 20-min call}} | {{Owner}} | {{Competencies}} |
| {{Stage 2, e.g. craft deep-dive}} | {{Format}} | {{Owner}} | {{Competencies}} |
| {{Stage 3, e.g. working session}} | {{Format}} | {{Owner}} | {{Competencies}} |
| {{Stage 4, e.g. values + career}} | {{Format}} | {{Owner}} | {{Competencies}} |
For each competency, write 2–3 primary questions plus follow-up probes. Behavioral stems ({{Tell me about a time when...}}) for competencies about judgment and collaboration; task-based exercises for craft skills. Write the probes down — improvised follow-ups are where structure quietly dies.
All stages score 1–4 against the strong/weak markers written above: 1 missed the bar, 2 below, 3 met it, 4 exceeded it. No middle option, and evidence notes are mandatory — a score without a quoted observation does not count in the debrief.
Not legal advice
This template is provided for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Laws differ by jurisdiction and change over time — have a qualified professional review any document before you rely on it.
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