An Interview Plan Template for Small Businesses
A reusable worksheet for preparing questions and interviewer responsibilities before you meet a candidate — choose three job-related competencies, write the same core questions with neutral follow-ups, and assign who asks what. No login, no scoring, no candidate data on this page.
Prepare from the role, not the personality
A useful interview plan starts with what the role actually requires. Choose three job-related competencies, write the same core questions for each one, add planned neutral follow-ups so answers are comparable, and decide which interviewer owns which competency. This is a public planning worksheet you adapt into your own document — not part of the HR Co-Pilot app.
Describe the real role and leave space for the candidate's questions. Agree how authorized staff keep job-related evidence in your approved company process, and confirm any applicable interviewing, accommodation, and recordkeeping requirements with a qualified adviser before you decide what to keep.
The template is selectable text — select the sections, copy them into your own document, and replace every placeholder. Nothing on this page collects candidate data, scores candidates, or sends anything.
Reviewed October 17, 2026 · By HR Co-Pilot
- 1.Start from the role's real responsibilities.
- 2.Choose three job-related competencies to test in conversation.
- 3.Write the same core question for each, with neutral follow-ups.
- 4.Assign which interviewer owns which competency and in what order.
What to confirm before you draft
Prepare from the role's responsibilities
Start with the approved job description or the responsibilities the hiring manager keeps describing. The plan is a way to test those responsibilities in conversation — not a separate wishlist.
Choose three job-related competencies
Pick the three competencies the work actually requires — for example, prioritizing requests, explaining a complex issue, or coordinating a handoff. Keep it to three so the interview stays focused.
Write the same core questions for every candidate
For each competency, write one core question every candidate in the role gets asked, plus planned neutral follow-ups such as 'What did you do?' and 'What was the result?' so answers stay comparable.
Assign interviewer ownership and sequence
Decide which interviewer asks which competency questions and in what order, so the conversation flows and no interviewer is improvising the structure in the room.
Describe the real role and leave space for candidate questions
Give candidates enough context about the actual work to answer well, and reserve time for their questions. A candidate who can't ask questions about the role learns very little about it.
Agree how authorized staff keep job-related evidence
Decide how interviewers keep notes and any job-related evidence in your approved company process. Confirm any applicable recordkeeping requirements with a qualified adviser before you decide what to keep.
A 45-minute conversation, adaptable
This is a suggested starting point you can shorten or lengthen for the role — not a mandatory format.
5 min
SuggestedWelcome and the role
Introduce yourselves, the team, and what the role actually does day to day so the candidate can answer in context.
25 min
SuggestedJob-related questions
Ask the three core competency questions you prepared, with planned neutral follow-ups. Take notes in your approved company process.
10 min
SuggestedCandidate questions
Leave time for the candidate to ask about the role, the team, and the work. What they ask is part of what you learn.
5 min
SuggestedNext steps
Explain what happens next, who follows up, and the expected timeline. Confirm the next-step owner before you close.
Copy-and-adapt interview plan
Select the fields and rows, copy them into your own document, and replace every placeholder. No candidate data belongs on this page.
Blank interview plan
Selectable text- Role
- [Job title and version of the job description.]
- Interview stage
- [Phone screen / first round / final round.]
- Interviewers
- [Name and role of each interviewer in the room.]
- Date and time
- [Scheduled date and time.]
- Format
- [In person / phone / video, and any accommodations confirmed.]
[Competency 1 — e.g., prioritizing requests]
Question
[Core question every candidate is asked for this competency.]
Purpose
[What this question is meant to learn about the work.]
Follow-ups
[Planned neutral follow-ups, e.g., 'What did you do?' / 'What was the result?']
Notes
[Where the interviewer keeps notes in the approved company process.]
[Competency 2]
Question
[Core question for this competency.]
Purpose
[What this question is meant to learn.]
Follow-ups
[Planned neutral follow-ups.]
Notes
[Where notes are kept.]
[Competency 3]
Question
[Core question for this competency.]
Purpose
[What this question is meant to learn.]
Follow-ups
[Planned neutral follow-ups.]
Notes
[Where notes are kept.]
Next step
[Next-step owner, what they communicate, and the expected timeline.]
Six questions mapped to a customer support coordinator
These map to the fictional customer support coordinator role so you can see the shape — a competency, a core question, planned neutral follow-ups, and the evidence to listen for. For your role, choose three competencies from the actual responsibilities.
Walk us through how you'd sort a backlog of customer requests when several are urgent. How would you decide what to handle first?
Planned follow-ups
What did you do in a real situation like that? What was the result?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for whether the candidate describes an actual approach to sorting by urgency and topic — not a personality preference.
A customer doesn't understand a confusing error. How would you figure out what's going on and explain it to them?
Planned follow-ups
Can you give a real example of doing that? What did the customer understand afterward?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for a real example of breaking a technical issue into steps a non-technical person could follow.
How would you go about writing a help article for a question customers keep asking? What would you do before publishing it?
Planned follow-ups
Have you written something like that before? What did you base it on?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for whether the candidate describes drafting from real cases and checking the answer is accurate.
You start a request and realize you don't have the information you need to finish it. What do you do?
Planned follow-ups
What happened the last time that came up? How did you hand it off?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for how the candidate gathers context and who they hand off to — not whether they 'never get stuck.'
The team starts using a support tool you've never used. How do you get up to speed while still handling your queue?
Planned follow-ups
Tell us about a time you learned something new on the job. What did you do?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for a real example of balancing learning with day-to-day work, not a claim about learning speed.
You need to hand a request to another team. What do you include so they can keep going without starting over?
Planned follow-ups
What happened the last time you handed something off? What worked?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for whether the candidate describes the context they pass along — the issue, what's been tried — not a vague 'I'd tell them.'
A fictional plan for a customer support coordinator
An imaginary plan for an imaginary role. It maps three competencies to real tasks and the evidence to listen for — not an ideal personality or a decision about whether to hire.
Role: Customer Support Coordinator (fictional)
Prioritizing requests
Walk us through how you'd sort a backlog of customer requests when several are urgent. How would you decide what to handle first?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for: the candidate describes sorting by urgency and topic, and can name what makes one request more urgent than another. Listen for a real example, not a preference for 'being organized.'
Explaining a complex issue
A customer doesn't understand a confusing error. How would you figure out what's going on and explain it to them?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for: the candidate describes checking what the customer actually saw, then breaking the issue into steps. Listen for a real past example of explaining something technical simply.
Coordinating a handoff
You need to hand a request to another team. What do you include so they can keep going without starting over?
Evidence to listen for
Listen for: the candidate includes the issue, what's already been tried, and what the customer is waiting on. Listen for a concrete past handoff, not a general 'good communication' claim.
Vague vs. job-specific questions
Vague: 'Tell me about yourself.'
Asks for a life summary. It's not tied to a competency, so every candidate answers a different question and answers aren't comparable.
Job-specific: 'Walk us through how you'd sort a backlog of customer requests when several are urgent.'
Tied to a real responsibility — prioritizing requests — with planned neutral follow-ups, so you're comparing how candidates approach the actual work.
Check before you interview
- Each competency and core question is tied to a responsibility in the real role — not a personality preference.
- Every candidate for the role is asked the same core questions, so answers are comparable.
- Follow-ups are planned and neutral ('What did you do?' / 'What was the result?') rather than leading the candidate.
- Each interviewer knows which competency questions they own and in what order.
- Any accommodations a candidate requested are confirmed and arranged before the interview.
- You've confirmed any applicable recordkeeping requirements with a qualified adviser and agreed where notes are kept.
- Questions avoid medical, family, age, or other protected-trait topics, and salary-history questions are not included.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management explains that job-related situational and behavioral questions and a consistent interview structure help make structured interviews more dependable. This is federal assessment guidance, not a private-employer mandate, and it does not validate this worksheet. OPM — Structured Interviews. This is general information, not legal advice — this template does not state interviewing rules or guarantee compliance.
Interviewing, accommodation, and recordkeeping requirements vary by jurisdiction and the role. Confirm the requirements that apply to your organization with a qualified adviser before you interview — this template does not state those rules or guarantee compliance.
The AI HR assistant can help you talk through competencies and question wording, and the document generator can help draft a starting point. Confirm the role's actual requirements with your hiring manager and the requirements that apply in your jurisdiction with a qualified adviser before you interview.
Explore HR Co-PilotRelated resources
Pair the plan with your job description, offer letter, and onboarding resources.
Interview plan template questions
Common questions about using this template. Need something else? Talk to our team.