A better outcome and a better experience: What is structured hiring?

2 mins, 4 secs read time

Structured hiring. It sounds like a good thing, but what, exactly, does it mean?

Structured hiring is an approach to hiring where, for lack of a better word, structure is inserted into your hiring process from beginning to end and at every point in between. This starts with defining a new open role during a kick-off meeting, and continues through the evidence-based final decision on who to make an offer to.

The 3 core tenets of structured hiring are:

• The ideal candidate is defined by the business objectives of the job

• A deliberate process and rubric is used to assess all candidates

• Hiring decisions are based on data and evidence

Structured hiring is the foundation of our hiring process at Greenhouse, helping us make quality hires time and time again, successfully scale our team, and continue to meet the business objectives that propel the company forward.

So, why do we believe so thoroughly in structured hiring? Two reasons: It creates better outcomes and a better experience for everyone.

1. Better outcomes

The typical interview process leaves a lot up to chance. You can cross your fingers and hope that interviewers ask relevant questions and assess candidates against appropriate criteria, but what’s to stop them from talking about rock climbing or their alma mater for 45 minutes? And in the case where you have multiple people performing interviews, will you be able to ensure that they evaluate candidates consistently? The more people involved, the harder it can be to keep everyone on the same page and oriented towards the same goal.

Taking a structured approach helps you overcome these obstacles by enabling you to make evidence-based decisions, mitigate interviewer bias, enable consistent candidate evaluation, and reduce redundancy and total interview time.

2. Better experience

Adding structure to the hiring process creates a better experience for everyone involved. Candidates feel like they’re going through a purposeful process where their own time and effort is respected. Recruiters can oversee the process, keep everyone on track, and better predict when to expect the role to be filled. Interviewers know exactly what’s expected of them and how to perform their duties. And hiring managers get candidates who meet their criteria and have a much higher chance of success once they begin working.

Now that you understand the core benefits of the structured hiring approach, it’s time to walk through how to implement it. Learn all 6 steps of structured hiring in detail by downloading our Greenhouse eBook, Structured Hiring 101.

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