Types of Job Interviews Explained

Before comparing formats, here is the short version of what each type means. Most hiring processes mix two or three of these across different stages.

• Phone screen: a short call to confirm basics like interest, salary range, availability, and core qualifications.
• Live video interview: a real-time video call that works like an in-person interview at a distance.
• One-way (asynchronous) video interview: the candidate records answers to set questions on their own time, and the team reviews them later.
• Structured interview: every candidate gets the same questions scored against the same rubric.
• Unstructured interview: a free-flowing conversation with no fixed question set.
• Behavioral interview: questions about past situations, framed as tell me about a time you did X.
• Situational interview: hypothetical questions framed as what would you do if X happened.
• Panel interview: several interviewers meet the candidate together in one session.
• Group interview: several candidates are interviewed at the same time, often with a shared task.
• Case or technical interview: the candidate solves a real problem, writes code, or works through a business scenario.
• Final interview: a closing conversation, often with a senior leader, to confirm fit and align on offer details.

Screening interviews come first. Their job is to move a large applicant pool down to a shortlist worth deeper time, not to make the final call.

A phone screen is a 15 to 30 minute call that confirms the basics: is the person still interested, do the salary expectations line up, are they available on your timeline, and do they meet the must-have requirements. It is fast and cheap but hard to schedule at volume, and notes are easy to lose.

A live video interview is the same idea over a camera. It adds body language and screen sharing, and it suits remote or distributed teams. The catch is the same as the phone screen: every conversation needs a matching slot on two calendars.

A one-way (asynchronous) video interview removes the scheduling problem. You send a set list of questions, the candidate records short video answers whenever they have time, and your team reviews them side by side later. This makes it a strong modern first-round screen when you have more applicants than interview hours, because every candidate answers the same questions and reviewers can score them consistently without a live call.

Two choices shape every interview: how structured it is, and what kind of question you ask. These are independent, so a behavioral interview can be either structured or unstructured.

Structured interviews use the same questions and the same scoring rubric for every candidate. They are more work to set up but far more predictive and easier to defend, because you compare people on the same basis. Unstructured interviews feel natural but drift with each candidate, which makes fair comparison hard and lets bias creep in.

On question style, behavioral questions ask about the past (tell me about a time you handled a tight deadline) and work well when a candidate has direct experience. Situational questions ask about a hypothetical (what would you do if a project slipped a week before launch) and help when you are hiring for a role the person has not held before.

These types describe how the interview is run and what it tests, and they usually sit in the middle and late stages of a process.

1. 1

   Panel interview

   Several interviewers meet the candidate in one session. It saves rounds and captures multiple views at once, but it can overwhelm the candidate, so assign each panelist a focus area in advance.

2. 2

   Group interview

   Multiple candidates are assessed together, often through a shared exercise. It is efficient for high-volume or team-based roles and shows how people collaborate, but it is a weak read on quiet individual skill.

3. 3

   Case or technical interview

   The candidate works a real problem: a coding task, a data case, or a business scenario. It is the most direct test of whether someone can do the actual work, so use it for roles with concrete, testable skills.

4. 4

   Final interview

   A closing conversation, usually with a senior leader or the hiring manager, to confirm fit, answer the candidate's questions, and align on start date and offer. It is the last check before an offer, not a fresh skills test.

Use this table to match each interview type to a stage in your process. Most roles need three to four of these, not all of them.

You do not pick one type. You sequence a few so each stage removes a different risk and the expensive time goes to the strongest candidates.

A common three-stage shape for a high-volume role: a one-way video interview to screen consistently at scale, a structured behavioral or technical round to test the real skill, then a final conversation to confirm fit and close. Make every stage structured, cut any round that does not change your decision, and tell candidates what to expect at each step.