Can an interview cause you to hire the wrong person for the job? It seems like an odd question. After all, interviews are integral to the hiring process - aren t they? The answer is yes - and no. Interviews are indeed a vital part of the hiring process, but they can also lead to its downfall, especially for a small company.

Interviews are, by nature, inconsistent. The interview process is fraught with variables that can lead to a bad hire, because interviewers are human beings, and all too often they bring their own moods, opinions, preconceptions and preferences to the table. That s true in companies large and small. But why should smaller companies be especially susceptible to hiring mistakes because of poor interviews? The answer has to do with hats, and how many of them people are wearing at the same time.

In smaller companies, the people charged with hiring tend to be supervisors, managers or even company owners, instead of trained human resource professionals. It s frequently the case that, in a small company, there s just no budget to have a position that s fully dedicated to the art of the hire. Instead, supervisors and mangers simply don the hiring hat when they need to staff a position. Because they re not trained in the interview process, a great number of busy supervisors, managers and the like admit that they walk into an interview unprepared and unsure of what they re going to ask. The chance of hiring the right person in that scenario is downright bleak.

Another factor that makes hiring difficult in smaller companies is that, not only do the interviewers wear many hats, but the positions they re charged with staffing tend to be multi-faceted as well. For example, the position of customer service representative in a Fortune 500 company may simply involve answering questions over the phone about a specific product line, while the same position in a small company may be required to field calls, emails and walk-ins dealing with product issues as well as questions about prior purchases, technical support and general information. Because of this, smaller companies need employees with greater flexibility and need to probe applicants differently during job interviews than larger companies might.

Larger companies can also rely on Subject Matter Experts and statistical data from prior performance to define interview questions, while smaller companies have less data about performance expectations and competencies - indeed, in a small company, who has time to keep those kinds of records? -or because few people may have filled a position prior to the current hiring need.

Because of these factors, smaller companies have less information on which to base their selection criteria and fewer high performing employees to use as models for the new hire.

The solution? Developing a set of structured, behavioral interview questions for each position you need to staff. The "structured" part of this equation means you ask the same questions of each candidate, allowing you to compare, score and weigh candidates responses against an ideal. The "behavioral" component means the questions are designed to uncover details of past behavior on the job. That s key. Typically, interviewers ask a candidate what he or she would do in certain situations. Instead, they should be asking what the candidate did do, because past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior.

The first step in developing these questions is defining the competencies necessary for success in a specific job -the skills, behaviors and experiences that the ideal candidate needs to possess to do that job like a pro. Based on those competencies, you can define a set of questions that will garner qualitative, legitimate, job-specific information about a candidate and their past behavior on the job.

Here are some examples of behavioral interview questions:

Tell about a time when you were faced with an upset customer. What happened and what did you do?

Please describe a situation in which you encountered a problem at work. What steps did you take to overcome it? What was the outcome?

Have you ever worked with someone who was difficult? What was the difficulty and how did you handle it?

All of these questions ask candidates to describe past behavior on the job. Knowing what a candidate has done previously on the job is the best way to predict what he or she will do for you.

Armed with this information, it s easier to see who will and won t measure up on the job.

Bottom line: Walking into an interview unprepared is the recipe for hiring the wrong person. Using structured interview questions with established ideal responses against which you can score a candidate s answers takes the guesswork out of hiring and helps you put the most qualified candidates on the payroll.

Charlie Wonderlic is the President and CEO of Wonderlic Inc., a premiere provider of employee recruitment, selection, development and retention solutions.