Template · Interviewing and selection
Interview plan template
In short
An interview plan template sets out, before the first interview, which competencies the role needs, which stage assesses each one, who interviews, which questions they ask and how candidates are scored and decided. Use it to turn an intake meeting into a structured interview guide that every interviewer follows the same way.
Interview Plan template
Interview Plan
Complete this plan with the hiring manager within two business days of the intake meeting and share it with every interviewer before the first interview. Each competency should be assessed in at least one stage and no more than two.
Role overview
- Job title
- Requisition number
- Hiring manager
- Recruiter / coordinator
- Number of openings and target start date
- What success looks like at 90 days (2-3 measurable outcomes)
- Hiring volume
- Single hireSmall cohort (2-10)High volume (10+ or evergreen)
Must-have requirements (screened before interviews)
- Requirement 1 and how it is verified
- Requirement 2 and how it is verified
- Requirement 3 and how it is verified
- Knockout questions for the application or phone screen
Competencies to assess
- Competency 1: name, definition in one sentence, weight %
- Competency 2: name, definition, weight %
- Competency 3: name, definition, weight %
- Competency 4: name, definition, weight %
- Competency 5: name, definition, weight % (optional)
- Competencies deliberately NOT assessed (trainable after hire)
Stage 1: Phone or video screen
- Interviewer
- Length (minutes)
- Format
- Live phoneLive videoOne-way recorded videoAI-assisted structured screen
- Competencies assessed
- Questions (numbered, from the question bank)
- Pass criteria to advance
Stage 2: Assessment or work sample
- Assessment name and type
- Competencies assessed
- Time limit and delivery (proctored, take-home, on site)
- Passing score or cut line
- Accommodation contact for candidates
Stage 3: Structured interview(s)
- Interview A: interviewer, length, competencies, question numbers
- Interview B: interviewer, length, competencies, question numbers
- Interview C: interviewer, length, competencies, question numbers (optional)
- Panel or one-on-one
- One-on-one interviewsPanel interviewMix of both
- Time reserved for candidate questions (minutes)
Scoring and decision rules
- Rating scale and anchors used
- Scorecard due within (hours) of each interview
- Debrief format, date and attendees
- Minimum score or rule to extend an offer
- Final decision owner
- Target days from application to offer
Candidate communication
- What candidates are told about the process at the screen
- Who sends interview invitations, reminders and outcomes
- Response time promise after each stage (business days)
Sign-off
- Hiring manager signature
- Recruiter signature
- Date approved
How to use this template
- Start from the completed hiring manager intake form and copy over the 90-day success outcomes and must-have requirements.
- Turn those outcomes into 4 or 5 competencies with one-sentence definitions, and list the skills you will train after hire so nobody interviews for them.
- Assign each competency to one or two stages, so that no interviewer is trying to cover everything in 45 minutes.
- Pick numbered questions for each stage from your question bank and give interviewers the same questions for every candidate.
- Set the rating scale, scorecard deadline and debrief date before interviews start, and name the person who makes the final call.
- Share the plan with interviewers at least two days before the first interview and walk new interviewers through it.
- Review the plan after the first three candidates and fix any stage that is not producing usable evidence.
Why plan the interview before the first candidate
Most bad hiring loops are not caused by bad interviewers. They are caused by four interviewers who each decided on their own what to ask, overlapped on two topics and left the hardest part of the job untested. An interview plan fixes that in about thirty minutes of work after the intake meeting.
The plan answers five questions in writing: what the person must be able to do, which stage tests each of those things, who runs each stage, what they ask, and how the panel turns ratings into a decision. That is the core of a structured interview process, and the research on structured interviews is consistent: they predict job performance better than conversational interviews and are easier to defend.
If you are running the intake from scratch, the hiring manager intake form collects the inputs this plan needs.
Building the competency map
Start from outcomes, not traits. "Reduce repeat calls on billing issues" tells you far more than "customer focused." From three or four outcomes you can usually derive four or five competencies, each with a sentence that says what good looks like.
Then build a simple map. For an HR generalist at a 600-person distribution company it might be:
- Employee relations judgment: structured interview with the HR manager, plus a written case exercise
- Leave and benefits administration (FMLA, ADA accommodation process): technical interview with the benefits lead
- Data accuracy in HRIS: short practical exercise
- Communication with frontline supervisors: interview with an operations manager
Each competency appears once or twice. If one appears in every stage, the panel is over-sampling it and under-testing something else. Store the questions for each competency in a shared interview questions template so everyone pulls from the same bank.
Timing and stage design
A plan should also protect the candidate's time and yours. For most hourly and entry-level professional roles, three steps are enough: a 15 to 20 minute screen, a short assessment or work sample, and one structured interview of 30 to 45 minutes. For senior roles, an interview loop of three to five conversations is common, but every added interview should test something the earlier ones did not.
Write down a target for days from application to offer. For high-volume hourly roles, strong candidates are often off the market within a week, so a plan that needs ten days of calendar coordination is a plan to lose people. Our interview schedule template covers the logistics once stages are set.
Scoring rules the panel agrees in advance
Decide the rating scale, the anchors and the decision rule before anyone meets a candidate. A 1 to 4 scale with written anchors avoids the safe middle score that a 5-point scale invites. Ask interviewers to submit their interview scorecard within 24 hours and before the debrief, without seeing each other's ratings.
The decision rule can be simple: no rating of 1 on a must-have competency, and a weighted average of at least 3. Name the decision owner. A panel without one tends to default to whoever argues longest.
Legal notes
A written plan helps show that every candidate faced the same job-related process. Keep questions away from protected characteristics such as age, religion, national origin, pregnancy, disability and family plans, and train interviewers on what not to ask. Build in a named contact for accommodation requests, as the ADA requires reasonable accommodation in the application and interview process. If any stage uses automated scoring, check local rules such as New York City Local Law 144 on bias audits and candidate notice. Requirements vary by state and country.
Common mistakes
- Writing the plan after the first interviews have happened, then fitting it to the candidate everyone liked.
- Letting each interviewer "get a feel for" the candidate with no assigned competencies.
- Testing skills the company will train in week one, which screens out good people for no reason.
- Adding a stage every time the panel is unsure instead of fixing the evidence the existing stages produce.
- Never updating the plan. After each hire, ask which stage best predicted who did well, and cut the one that did not.
Frequently asked questions
What should an interview plan include?
The role's success outcomes, must-have requirements, 4 to 5 competencies with weights, the stages and who runs each, the questions for each stage, the rating scale, the scorecard deadline, the debrief format and the decision owner.
What is the difference between an interview plan and an interview guide?
The plan covers the whole process across stages and interviewers. An interview guide is usually the script for one interview: the opening, the questions, follow-up probes and the scoring anchors. A good plan points each interviewer to their guide.
How do you create a structured interview guide?
Pick the competencies from the job analysis, write one or two behavioral or situational questions per competency, add follow-up probes, define what a 1, 2, 3 and 4 answer looks like, and ask every candidate the same questions in the same order.
How many interview stages should a hiring process have?
For most hourly and entry-level roles, two or three stages including a screen. For senior roles, three to five conversations is common. Each stage should test something the others do not; if it does not, remove it.
Who should own the interview process template?
The recruiter usually drafts and maintains it, and the hiring manager approves it. In larger teams, recruiting operations keeps standard plans for repeat roles so every location runs the same process.