When you’re interviewing job candidates, you’re not trying to find a friend: You’re trying to find the best person to perform a certain job—whether that’s to maintain your website or lead your entire team.

But the distinction feels important to point out, because sometimes, we lose that perspective. (More on that in a moment.)

I’ve had the privilege of helping interview hundreds of candidates over many years. Here are five tactics to help you conduct meaningful interviews that ultimately highlight the best candidate for any position:

1. Conduct structured interviews.

People often balk at this idea. They prefer unstructured interviews with comfortable, flowing conversation. And most people believe they are good judges of character based on gut. The problem is, a lot of research shows that how you rate someone coming out of unstructured interviews has almost zero predictive value for how they’re going to perform on the job.

Structured interviews, on the other hand, require more effort. It’s time-consuming to craft good questions. And it can feel uncomfortable to take notes. But structured interviews yield far more meaningful information.

The best structured interviews include questions designed to assess how the candidate can meet the job requirements. The candidate is then scored based on their response to each question.

Example job requirement: Candidate can tackle tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.

Coordinating question: Describe a time in which you took the initiative to do something rather than waiting to be told what to do. What did you do? What were the results?

Specific scoring: 1- Candidate could not think of an example or shared an example that showed no follow-through; 3 – Candidate discussed an initiative with follow-through that seemed to be driven somewhat by others or was of fairly minor significance; 5 – Candidate described a significant undertaking that addressed a business need and got a positive outcome.

2. Use a panel.

Panel-style interviews—during which two to five people interview one candidate in a group setting—work well for multiple reasons. First, they make life easier on candidates, because they don’t have to keep meeting people and repeating themselves. Second, they allow everyone to hear the same thing at the same time, while learning from others’ follow-up questions, too.

3. Identify your non-negotiables.

People too often ask the world of job candidates. They want someone to be both a visionary and a tactician, and so on. What are the four or five most critical competencies a candidate must have for the position? Identify those, and then focus on them.

4. Craft specific, behavior-based questions.

Don’t ask someone what their greatest weakness is. Spoiler alert: They’ll probably tell you they’re a perfectionist or they work too hard. Instead, ask specific questions that will elicit more honest, telling responses about how they operate. One of my favorite questions is: In the past five years, have you gotten any constructive criticism that you were able to use? How did you use it? Also: Ask each candidate the same questions, so you’re comparing apples to apples.

5. Be wary of hiring based on “fit.”

Yes, you want someone who fits with your values and culture. But “fit” can easily morph into “someone who is just like me.” And that can feel good, because when we work with people who are just like us, the work goes faster, we have less conflict, and it’s more enjoyable. But it also means your team can unintentionally become a group of people who think and act the same, which means that as a group, you are less effective problem solvers and less innovative.

Remember: When you are interviewing, you’re not choosing a friend. You’re hiring someone who can get the job done. Learning how to do it right benefits you and your bottom line.