How to screen and interview candidates

Define role requirements and screening criteria before you start

Before you read a single CV, write down what the job actually needs. A vague brief such as "good communicator, team player" produces vague decisions and inconsistent shortlists. Start by separating essential requirements from desirable ones. Essentials are the things a candidate cannot succeed without on day one, such as a valid food hygiene certificate for a kitchen role or the legal right to work in France. Desirables are qualities that help but can be trained, such as experience with a specific till system.

For each requirement, note how you will measure it. If "reliability" matters, decide in advance what evidence counts: a stable work history, punctuality references, or a behavioural interview answer. This turns opinions into criteria you can apply the same way to every applicant. It also protects you legally, because in France recruitment decisions must relate to the job and not to protected characteristics such as age, origin, gender, health, or family situation.

Involve the person who will manage the role. A line manager often knows which skills genuinely matter and which are historical habits. Agree a short scoring scale, for example 1 to 4, so everyone rates candidates consistently. Finally, decide your minimum threshold: how many essentials must be met to move forward. Doing this before applications arrive stops you from bending the rules when a charismatic but underqualified candidate appears.

Review applications and CVs efficiently and fairly

With clear criteria in hand, CV review becomes faster and more defensible. Read each application against your list of essentials first. If a candidate is missing a genuine essential, note it and move on; if they meet the essentials, assess desirables. Avoid ranking on presentation alone, because a beautifully formatted CV does not guarantee competence, and a plain one may hide a strong candidate.

Watch for common biases. The "similarity bias" makes us favour people who share our background, school, or hobbies. The "halo effect" lets one impressive detail colour the whole judgement. To reduce these, focus on concrete evidence: results achieved, responsibilities held, and duration in previous roles. For high-volume line-staff hiring, a simple scoring grid in a spreadsheet keeps everyone aligned and creates a record you can review later.

Gaps in a CV are not automatic red flags. Parental leave, study, caregiving, or a difficult job market can all explain them. Rather than assuming, note the gap as a question for pre-screening. Keep your notes factual and job-related. In France, candidates can request information about how their application was handled, so professional, objective comments protect both parties and improve the quality of your decisions.

Use phone or video pre-screening to shortlist candidates

A short pre-screening call, usually 10 to 20 minutes, saves time by confirming the basics before you invest in a full interview. It is not the moment for deep questions; it is a filter. Confirm the essentials you could not verify from the CV: availability, expected salary range, location and commuting, right to work, and genuine interest in the role. A quick alignment on these avoids interviewing candidates who would decline anyway.

Use the same core questions for everyone so comparisons stay fair. A simple structure works well: introduce the role honestly, ask two or three job-related questions, confirm the practical details, and explain the next steps and timeline. Being upfront about shift patterns, weekend work, or physical demands is especially important for line-staff roles, because it prevents early drop-out later.

Video pre-screening adds a sense of communication style and professionalism, but be flexible. Not every candidate has a quiet space or strong connection, and penalising them for that introduces unfair bias. Offer a phone option when video is impractical. Take brief notes immediately after each call while impressions are fresh, and score against your grid so the shortlist reflects criteria rather than memory.

Prepare structured interview questions and scoring guides

Structured interviews, where every candidate answers the same core questions rated against the same scale, are consistently more accurate and fairer than unstructured chats. Build your questions directly from the role requirements. For each essential competency, write one or two questions and define what a weak, adequate, and strong answer looks like. This scoring guide is what makes the interview objective.

Behavioural questions are especially useful because past behaviour predicts future behaviour. Ask candidates to describe a specific situation: "Tell me about a time a customer was angry. What did you do, and what happened?" Situational questions work too for roles where candidates lack direct experience: "If two orders came in at once during a rush, how would you decide what to do first?" Avoid questions with obvious "correct" answers or that only reward confidence.

Prepare a mix that covers technical skills, behaviour, and motivation, but keep the list realistic for the time available; six to eight strong questions usually beat twenty rushed ones. Share the questions and guide with any co-interviewers beforehand and agree who asks what. Never ask about family plans, health, religion, or origin, as these are prohibited and irrelevant. A written guide keeps everyone on track and provides a defensible record of how you assessed each person.

Conduct fair interviews that reduce bias

How you run the interview shapes both fairness and the impression candidates form of your organisation. Start by putting the person at ease with a brief, warm introduction, since anxious candidates underperform and you want to see their real ability. Explain the format and roughly how long it will take. This small courtesy improves the quality of answers and reflects well on your employer brand.

Ask your prepared questions in a consistent order and give each candidate similar time to respond. Use follow-up prompts to draw out detail rather than filling silences yourself. Take notes as you go, capturing what was said rather than your immediate verdict; scoring is easier and fairer when based on evidence. Try to score each answer before moving to the next question, which stops one strong response from inflating everything that follows.

Bias creeps in through small habits. Interviewing with a second person and comparing scores independently before discussing helps counter individual blind spots. Be mindful of accommodating candidates with disabilities or specific needs, which is a legal obligation in France and simply good practice. Finally, keep the conversation two-way: allow time for candidates' questions. What they ask often reveals as much as your own questions do.

Assess skills with practical tasks and reference checks

Interviews reveal how people talk about work; practical tasks reveal how they actually do it. For line staff, a short realistic exercise is often the best predictor, such as a brief till simulation, a food-preparation demonstration, or a role-play of a customer complaint. For managers, a scenario about handling an underperforming team member or planning a shift rota tests judgement directly. Keep tasks short, relevant, and the same for all shortlisted candidates.

Be transparent that the task is part of assessment, and never use candidates to perform genuine unpaid work disguised as a test. A five-minute exercise is assessment; a full unpaid shift is not, and it damages trust. Score the task against a clear rubric tied to the competencies you defined at the start.

Reference checks add another layer, but treat them carefully. Ask the candidate's permission and contact only the referees they provide. Keep questions factual and job-related: dates of employment, role, reason for leaving, and reliability. In France, references are less formalised than in some countries, so weigh them as one input among several rather than a deciding factor. Combining a structured interview, a practical task, and a reference check gives a far more rounded picture than any single method alone.

Record decisions and give candidates clear feedback

Once interviews and tasks are complete, bring your scores together and make the decision against your criteria, not against the strongest recent memory. Where scores are close, revisit the essentials and the evidence rather than defaulting to gut feeling. Documenting the reasoning behind each decision matters: it keeps hiring consistent, helps you improve future rounds, and provides a record should a candidate query the outcome, which they are entitled to do in France.

Store candidate data responsibly. Under the GDPR and French data rules, you should only keep application data for as long as necessary and inform candidates how it is handled. Agree a retention period and delete or archive accordingly. If you want to keep a promising candidate's details for future roles, ask for their consent first.

Give every interviewed candidate a clear outcome, ideally within the timeline you promised. For those not selected, brief, specific, and kind feedback is far more valuable than silence and protects your reputation as an employer. Focus on job-related reasons and, where possible, one constructive point. Candidates who are treated respectfully often reapply, recommend you to others, or become customers. Closing the loop well is the final step that turns a fair process into a professional one.

Example

Screening and interview stages at a glance

FAQ

How long should a candidate interview take? For line-staff roles, 20 to 40 minutes is usually enough to cover six to eight structured questions and allow the candidate to ask their own. Manager roles often need 45 to 60 minutes, and may involve a second stage. What matters more than length is giving each candidate similar time and asking the same core questions, so comparisons stay fair.

What questions am I not allowed to ask in France? You must avoid questions unrelated to the job or that touch protected characteristics, including family plans, pregnancy, health, religion, political views, trade union membership, sexual orientation, and origin. Questions must relate directly to the candidate's ability to perform the role. Keeping to job-related, competency-based questions protects both the candidate's rights and your organisation.

Is a practical task or an interview more reliable? Both are stronger together. Structured interviews assess reasoning, motivation, and communication, while a short practical task shows actual ability in a realistic situation. Combining them, along with a reference check, gives a far more accurate picture than relying on any single method. Just ensure tasks are short, relevant, and scored against a clear rubric applied to every shortlisted candidate.

Should I give feedback to candidates who were not selected? Yes, whenever practical. Brief, specific, job-related feedback delivered within your promised timeline shows respect and protects your reputation as an employer. Candidates treated well often reapply, recommend you, or remain customers. Keep feedback factual and constructive, and avoid vague or personal comments. Even a short, courteous message is far better than leaving people without any response.

How long can I keep candidate data after hiring? Under GDPR and French data protection rules, keep application data only as long as necessary for the recruitment process, then delete or archive it. If you want to retain a promising candidate's details for future openings, ask for their explicit consent first and set a clear retention period. Always inform candidates how their data is handled during the process.

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