Have a shortlist of candidates you'd like to learn more about? Before heading into a structured interview, it's important to make sure you're asking great questions.
Our Interview Builder tool helps you align on the right interview questions for any given candidate. In this article, we'll walk through how the Interview Builder was developed and share how to use the tool responsibly.
What is the PI Interview Builder?
The Interview Builder combines PI's flagship behavioral science with machine learning technology. Leveraging the expertise of our product writers and scientists, we crafted 3,000 unique behavioral interview questions designed to get to the heart of a candidate's behavioral strengths and caution areas.
How does the Interview Builder work?
Each candidate in Hire has a dedicated Interview Builder page. Navigate to this page, and you'll see a list of suggested interview questions to ask based on the candidate's behavioral fit for a given role.
At the top of the Interview Builder, you'll see the candidate's behavioral fit data. This includes the candidate's Behavioral Pattern, along with the current Behavioral Target you've set for this job.
Next, you'll find a list of suggested interview questions.
Questions to explore potential misalignment are based on areas of potential misalignment between the candidate's Behavioral Pattern and the Behavioral Target. Use these questions to probe for potential caution areas with your candidate.
Questions to explore potential alignment, meanwhile, are based on areas of potential alignment between the candidate's pattern and the target. Use these questions to reaffirm the candidate's strengths for the role.
You're also free to supplement these questions with custom interview questions of your own. Click "Write Your Own Question," and you'll be brought to a text box where you can add these questions to the Interview Builder.
Finally, you'll find an FAQ at the bottom of the Interview Builder. Review these questions to understand how to ensure fair and responsible usage of the Interview Builder when preparing for and conducting candidate interviews.
How to access the Interview Builder
Log in to the PI software.
Select Hire from the top navigation bar.
You will land on the Hiring Center.
Click on the job for which you're conducting interviews.
Select the "Candidates" tab (if not already selected).
You will see a list of candidates associated with this job.
Select a candidate you'd like to interview.
You will land on this candidate's page.
Select the "Interview Builder" tab.
You will land on this person's Interview Builder page.
How to add your own interview questions
From the Interview Builder page:
Click the "Write Your Own Question" button.
You will be presented with a text box.
Write your custom interview question.
Click "Add to interview."
Your question will be added under the "Custom questions" header.
Tip: You can edit or delete your custom question at any time. Do so by clicking the ellipsis icon () next to the question, then selecting either "Edit" or "Delete."
FAQs
Why is the Interview Builder important?
Why is the Interview Builder important?
The Interview Builder allows users to narrow their candidate criteria and get at the core behavioral attributes they want to see in a hire. The tool provides answers to real workplace questions, so users can easily understand how a candidate might perform under the specific circumstances of a given role.
How were the Interview Builder questions developed?
How were the Interview Builder questions developed?
PI followed a structured process to develop the Interview Builder questions. Our Science team partnered with our Content and Product teams to write the questions. They developed every possible combination of behavioral criteria.
In doing so, they accounted for:
Behaviors in isolation
Alignment/Misalignment
Job Target
Job competencies
Job, team, and organizational context
PI developed more than 3,000 questions, training content creators on how to write a good interview question, then validating that each question matched the behavior it was intended to reflect.
In approving the questions, the PI Science Team conducted a study. At least three people independently reviewed each question, analyzing whether it:
Accounted for an expected competency
Was related to the appropriate behavior
Was related to the specific job, manager, organization, or team context
Was an adequate indicator of on-the-job performance
Could be answered, reasonably, by most candidates
If a question did not meet the above criteria, it was not considered scientifically valid and thus did not make it into the Interview Builder tool.
How do I use the Interview Builder responsibly?
How do I use the Interview Builder responsibly?
Behavioral data should be applied like any other element of a hiring evaluation: as one point in a larger data set. Used in conjunction with other criteria, it helps inform not only good hiring decisions, but a fair and responsible hiring process.
We recommend reviewing the specific FAQ questions on the Interview Builder page. Doing so will equip you with the information you need to write effective questions and ensure a fair evaluation process for each of your interviewees.
How many questions are included in the Interview Builder?
How many questions are included in the Interview Builder?
The Interview Builder includes about 3,000 questions, allowing you to ask personalized interview questions based on each candidate's specific behavioral strengths and cautions.
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