Open Interview

An open interview is a hiring event where candidates show up without a scheduled appointment and are interviewed on the spot, usually on a first-come, first-served basis. Employers use open interviews to meet many applicants in one day and fill several roles fast, often making conditional offers before candidates leave.

TL;DR: This page defines an open interview, explains how one works on the day and why high-volume employers still rely on the format. It covers the main types, a six-step plan to run an event, how open interviews compare with scheduled interviews, group interviews and job fairs, which questions to ask, and how to keep the process fair and on record.

Why does an open interview matter for enterprise HR?

An open interview matters because it removes the slowest parts of hiring: the wait between application, screening call and interview slot. For roles where the skills can be checked in a short conversation, that wait is where good candidates drop out.

The numbers explain the pressure. SHRM's State of Recruiting 2025 puts the median time to fill at roughly a month and a half, and 41% of organizations report rising candidate ghosting while 51% say they get too few applicants. Hiring volume stays high too: the BLS JOLTS release for August 2026 counted 5.2 million hires in the US in a single month.

Large employers keep using the format for peaks. For the 2025 holiday season, Macy's ran three nationwide hiring events at its stores and supply chain sites with on-the-spot interviews and offers. For a TA team, an open interview turns a month of scheduling into a day, cuts time to hire and gives candidates a fast answer.

How does an open interview work?

An open interview runs as a short pipeline on a single day. The employer advertises a date, time and place, along with the roles on offer. Candidates arrive, check in at an intake desk, fill in a short form or hand over a resume, and wait in a queue.

Each candidate then has a short interview, usually 10 to 20 minutes, with a recruiter or hiring manager. Some events add a quick skills check or a group interview round. Strong candidates may get a conditional offer the same day; others are moved to a second round or told when to expect a decision.

From the candidate's side, nothing needs to be booked in advance, which is why open interviews draw people who would never finish a long online application.

What are the types of open interviews?

Open interviews take a few common forms, and the right one depends on the volume and the talent pool.

On-site walk-in interviews

The employer opens its own store, warehouse or office for set hours. Walk-ins work well for a single location that needs a steady trickle of hires, and candidates see the workplace for themselves.

Hiring events at a venue

A planned event at a hotel, community centre or a new site, often tied to a recruitment drive for a site opening. Several interviewers run parallel queues, so these events can handle hundreds of candidates.

Job fair booths

A booth at a career fair where recruiters run short interviews alongside other employers. The reach is wide, but the setting is noisy and time per candidate is short.

Virtual open interviews

Candidates join a video room or a chat queue at a set time without booking a slot. Virtual events widen the pool beyond commuting distance and suit contact center and remote support roles.

Open calls for campus and community programmes

Colleges, workforce boards and community groups host open calls where employers interview cohorts for apprenticeships, internships or entry-level programmes.

How do you run an open interview event?

Running an open interview event well takes most of its work before the day. Use these six steps.

1. Set the scope: Fix the roles, the number of openings, the target turnout and the date. Book a venue with a waiting area, private interview spaces and an intake desk.
2. Build one scoring rubric: Pick 4 to 6 job-related criteria, such as shift availability, customer handling and basic role skills, and score each on a 1 to 5 scale. Every interviewer uses the same rubric and the same questions, as in a structured interview.
3. Promote the event and add pre-registration: Post on job boards, social channels, local media and at your sites. Offer an optional sign-up form so you can load candidate details into your ATS before the day and plan interviewer numbers.
4. Pre-screen online: Send pre-registered candidates a 15 to 20 minute skills check two or three days before the event. Interviewers then see a score before the conversation and can fast-lane top scorers, while walk-ins can take the same check at the intake desk.
5. Run the day: Staff the intake desk, split queues by role, keep interviews to 10 to 15 minutes and calibrate interviewers in a short briefing that morning. Give every candidate a realistic wait time.
6. Decide fast and keep records: Make offers or decline within 24 to 48 hours, sync outcomes to your ATS and store scoring sheets with the candidate record.

Pro tip: Plan interviewer numbers from the pre-registrations. If 240 people sign up and each interviewer can see four candidates an hour, a six-hour event needs at least 10 interviewers, before walk-ins.

Open interview vs scheduled interview: what is the difference?

An open interview trades control over the schedule for speed and reach, while a scheduled interview trades speed for depth. The table compares the open interview with the formats it is most often confused with.

The screening interview is a different stage: a short call that filters applicants, while an open interview often replaces both the screening call and the first interview.

When should you use an open interview, and when not?

Open interviews fit roles where volume is high and the core skills can be checked quickly. They fit poorly where the job needs deep evaluation or several decision makers.

Good fits include retail and hospitality staff, warehouse and logistics operatives, contact center agents, healthcare support roles and seasonal employment peaks. Poor fits include senior, specialist or leadership roles, jobs that need a long work sample, and roles where internal policy calls for a multi-round scheduled loop.

What are the best practices for open interviews?

Open interviews go wrong when speed replaces structure. These practices keep the format fast and fair.

• Use the same questions and rubric at every site: Differences between interviewers or locations can create disparate impact, and the EEOC guidance on employment tests and selection procedures expects any screening step that excludes a protected group to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.
• Score with numbers, not impressions: A busy, informal room invites affinity and unconscious bias. Numeric scores and a second reviewer for exceptions keep decisions on the evidence.
• Keep hiring records for at least a year: Under 29 CFR 1602.14, US employers must keep application forms and other hiring records for one year, and until final disposition if a discrimination charge is filed. Federal contractors and other regions may have longer rules, so check with counsel.
• Respect candidate data: Collect only what you need at intake and get consent for data processing where privacy law applies, such as GDPR for candidates in the EU.
• Manage the wait: Long, unexplained queues hurt candidate experience. Text candidates their queue position, offer seating and water, and tell them when they will hear back.
• Track event metrics: Record turnout, interviews per hour, offer rate, acceptance rate and 90-day retention so each event improves on the last one.

What questions should you ask at an open interview?

Open interview questions should be short, job-related and identical for every candidate. Pick one or two from each group.

Availability and requirements

• Which shifts and days can you work over the next three months?
• This role involves [physical or schedule requirement]. Can you meet it, with or without reasonable accommodation?

Experience

• Walk me through your most recent job and your main tasks.
• Have you worked somewhere busy or high volume? What did a normal day look like?

Behavioural

• Tell me about a time you dealt with an upset customer or colleague. What did you do?
• Describe a shift where you had several tasks at once. How did you decide what to do first?

Motivation

• Why do you want to work here, and what do you know about the role?

Avoid questions about age, marital or family status, pregnancy, religion, national origin, disability or health. These topics are off limits under US federal law and in most other countries.

How do skills assessments support open interviews?

Skills assessments support open interviews by giving interviewers a fair score before the conversation starts, so the short interview can focus on fit and availability. Testlify lets TA teams send a short, role-specific assessment from a library of 3,500+ tests to pre-registered candidates, with 20+ anti-cheating checks and results synced to 100+ ATS and HRIS tools. Read how teams use pre-hire assessments for high-volume hiring or see the volume hiring page.

Key takeaway: An open interview is the fastest way to hire many people for a few roles, but speed only works with structure. Plan the rubric, pre-screen online, score every candidate the same way and keep the records.

Frequently asked questions