Phase 10: Situational Interview Type
Design requirements for situational (hypothetical) interview rubrics.
Time estimate: ~1-2 weeks
Impact: New interview type
Dependencies: Phase 8 (competency framework) — complete
What We Need
Situational interviews use "what would you do if..." hypothetical questions instead of behavioral "tell me about a time" questions. This requires different scoring because you're evaluating reasoning quality, not past experience.
1. Situational Scoring Rubric
What makes a good vs. poor hypothetical answer? Define:
- Level 1: What does the worst hypothetical response look like?
- Level 3: What does "meets expectations" look like in a hypothetical?
- Level 5: What does exceptional hypothetical reasoning look like?
Key difference from behavioral: candidates have no past experience to draw on. They're generating solutions in real-time. How do you score thought quality vs. recall quality?
2. Situational Anchors
Can the same competency anchors (designed for behavioral questions) apply to situational responses, or do situational questions need separate anchor definitions?
3. Prompt Instructions
Specify the interviewer prompt text that enforces valid situational technique:
- Should questions always use "Imagine you're..." framing?
- Are follow-ups like "and what if that didn't work?" valid?
- How does the interviewer probe for depth on hypotheticals?
4. Scorer Adjustments
Does the scorer rubric need changes for situational transcripts?
- Should the ownership rule apply? (Candidates can't say "I did X" for hypotheticals)
- Should the specificity rule apply? (No past situation to reference)
- Are different scoring rules needed?
5. Mixed Interviews
If an employer chooses interview_type: 'mixed' (behavioral + situational in one session), how should the scorer handle questions of different types in the same transcript?