Interview process
Check you are ready to interview
The interview is the last step in the selection process after which a recommendation to recruit, or not, is made.
Before you schedule interviews, you need to decide the content and format of the interview.
The interview process must be robust, and examine each applicant on the same areas, in the same way.
The HSE uses structured interviews. This means the interview follows a structured format.
The interview questions come from the content of the job specification. The phrasing of the questions encourages candidates to provide evidence of how they satisfy the key selection criteria.
You will need to provide board members with supporting documents and schedule a briefing session.
Use the interview process checklist to help you prepare and manage the process.
Interview board documents
The recruiter prepares the interview schedule, and develops the interview guide that provides the documents the interview board needs.
At the start of the recruitment campaign, you will have mapped the selection process. This tells you the areas of the job description the interview board need to examine during the interview.
The interview guide includes:
- approach to questioning
- marking sheets and scoring guideline
- guide on good note taking
- how to guard against unconscious bias in decision making
- behavioural indicators
Prepare an interview schedule
Decide on the amount of time for each question area.
Remember to allocate extra time, where agreed as a reasonable accommodation for relevant candidates.
The amount of extra time needed for a candidate with a disability can vary significantly depending from candidate to candidate.
Interview board members need to keep to these times to give all candidates the same opportunity at interview. The times will depend on a number of factors including:
- interview length
- number of candidates
- how many can be interviewed in 1 day
Include time for:
- marking
- introductions
- discussion on any ‘globally assessed’ areas
For example, 'communication and interpersonal skills’ is often assessed throughout the interview. This means the board gathers evidence for this competency from across the whole interview, and not giving it a particular time slot or question. It is important that board members are aware of this and understand how to implement it.
Ideally, there should be no more than 2 competency areas for global assessment.
Video interviewing technology
You should be familiar with the process of setting up and testing video interviewing technology to ensure a smooth experience for everyone.
Microsoft Teams and Webex are available as approved platforms or you can use an online interviewing software platform if you have access to one.
You will need to:
- have an account set up with the provider of the online platform or teleconference facility
- know how to access the account
- check that everyone involved knows how to use the technology
- do practice-runs in advance of the interviews to iron out any teething problems and ensure board members can confidently manage the process
- put in place procedures to maintain confidentiality and GDPR requirements
- ensure the video interviewing process complies with HSE national IT policies and standards
- advise candidates to be in a location with satisfactory broadband speeds
Prepare the interview guide
Use the job specification to help you prepare the interview guide. It includes descriptions of some of the expected behaviours for each competency.
Use the interview guide template to create an interview guide. This provides the information board members need, including detailed guidance about the interview process.
It provides:
- questioning approach overview
- how to make assessment decisions
- sample chairperson’s introduction to the interview
- scoring bands
- note taking and marking sheets template
You can use interview content documents, available on RQSA Recruitment Network MS Team, for different grades, to assist in developing an interview guide for your campaign.
Theses guides reflect the skills outlined in the sample job specifications hosted on the HR job specification repository and provide:
- behavioural indicators relating to each skill area that will be used for assessment and scoring during the interview process
- key indicators of what successful performance looks like in an individual role
You can amend or add to these skill areas and behavioural indicators, depending on the role.
Use the RQSA Recruitment Network user guide (PDF, 443 KB, 8 pages) to help you use the system and find the interview content documents you need.
You must apply for access to RQSA Recruitment Network MS Team to use the interview content documents.
Developing professional knowledge questions
Interview questions assess candidates’ knowledge and suitability for the role.
The professional knowledge questions and answers need to be prepared by the service manager and selection board before the interview process.
Include the questions and answers with the interview guide for board members.
Questions need to be:
- clear and concise but provide enough information for candidates to understand what is being asked
- non-HSE specific - focus on what is essential to the role or typical scenarios in the role
- reliable - measure what they were designed to measure
- challenging but relevant and appropriate to the role
- measure technical skills and professional knowledge
- free from bias and discrimination
Boards should use the full bank of questions available.
Prepare professional knowledge questions, and behavioural indicators of good answers, for the introductory interview board meeting. This meeting should focus on the standard required of candidates, and not preparing questions.
Note-taking sheets
Give board members note-taking sheets to record questions asked during the interview and the candidate responses.
The interview guide provides instructions on how to complete the note-taking sheet, including recording the start and end time for each question.
The aim is to capture key words and phrases in the order the candidate gives them. This is key information for board members when they are assessing and marking candidates.
Members should use the notes to describe anything unusual that happens during the interview, and how they managed it. For example, issues such as noise, interruptions, or loss of composure.
The interview guide includes tips on good note-taking and a reminder that notes form part of the official record of the interview.
Interview notes are used to:
- aid the board when reviewing candidates
- provide evidence to support the board’s decisions
- assist in providing feedback to candidates
- support the review and complaints processes
Evaluating and scoring candidates
Evaluation and scoring happens immediately after the interview.
Using the interview notes, the board reviews the candidate's evidence for each competency area.
Interview boards must be consistent and objective when evaluating and scoring candidates.
Evaluating candidates
Board members must individually review the behavioural indicators for each competency.
They must:
- map the evidence to each competency - think about what evidence fits best with each competency
- aim to use 1 piece of evidence for just 1 competency
- consider what positive or negative evidence was presented against the indicators
- consider any missing or additional evidence presented against the indicators
Scoring candidates
Each board member must score each competency area independently, making judgments based on the evidence provided during the interview. This is based on what members heard and saw during the interview.
Members decide on the strength of evidence provided in each skill area and score them using the following scoring bands:
- strong evidence: 90 - 100 marks
- good evidence: 70 - 89 marks
- some or reasonable evidence: 40 - 69 marks
- little or no evidence: 0 - 39 marks
After individual scoring, board members will discuss their scores and reach a consensus on a final score and summary comment for each competency.
A score of 40 or more across all competencies means the board have agreed the candidate is fully competent to undertake the role, and are happy to recommend them for the role.
Significant score differences require board members to revisit behavioural indicators and discuss the evidence in order to agree on final scores and summary comments for each competency.
Summary comments
Write a constructive comment for each competency area to support the score.
Comments should be:
- descriptive, accurate and clearly relate to a candidate’s performance for each competency area
- a consensus view of the interview board
- meaningful - use performance indicators and details of the assessment criteria
Candidates should be able to understand the board's decision from the feedback they provide.
After the interview, the board will either recommend or not recommend the candidate for the role.
Interview boards should only recommend candidates that can meet the role requirements.
It can be useful for the board to keep a summary sheet of all candidate scores, and to check at the end of each day if they applied the same standards to all candidates.
Candidate call to interview
Invite eligible candidates to attend interview.
You can use the sample candidate call to interview invitation to assist you.
HSE email addresses that send 'out of office' or automated responses must be in Irish, or both Irish and English. The Irish language version must be first, followed by the English version.
Find examples and translations for this, and phrases for recruitment related correspondence in the Useful Irish words and phrases resource.
Give your candidates at least 2 weeks' notice of interview. The notice of interview can be less in exceptional circumstances.
Incorporate diversity, equality and inclusion by design into recruitment to access the widest possible talent pool, and reflect the population we serve.
Make the recruitment experience inclusive for all candidates. Not everyone starts at the same level. There are barriers in place for some candidates that are not in place for others. The more that you are aware of this the better equality of both opportunity and outcome for those candidates. This also meets legislative and public sector duty requirements.
Employment Equality legislation requires that requests for reasonable accommodations be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis to facilitate candidates in engaging in the interview process to the best of their ability.
Explore any interview accommodation requests with the candidate, as it will depend on the stage of the selection process and their individual requirements. For example:
- documents inlarge print
- allowing extra time at interview
- Providing an ISL interpreter
- conducting an interview by videoconference can be a reasonable accommodation.
Work towards meeting the needs of the candidate, while ensuring a robust selection process for all candidates.
Use the interview reasonable accommodation process flowchart for recruiters to help you manage any requests for reasonable accommodation at interview.
Interview board briefing session
The recruiter organises a briefing session to prepare board members for interviewing, and to go through the interview schedule, interview guide, and administration of interview documents and processes.
Board members must have a good knowledge and understanding of the interview process, their individual roles and that of the chairperson.
They need to be aware of their obligations in relation to:
During the briefing, make sure you include:
- overview of the recruitment campaign including number of applications, number deemed eligible, number attending for interview
- review of the job specification, including the eligibility criteria and the role's duties and responsibilities
- how the order of merit works
- the need to be objective and retain an open mind over the course of the whole interview, and be aware of any biases they may have
- reviews and complaints processes for candidates
Remind board members not to engage with candidates after the interview to discuss results. The recruiter will issue the results.
Video interviews
For video interviews, you will need to arrange to send interview packs to board members in a secure way that ensures confidentiality.
You can:
- save documents to a secure sharefile system
- send password-protected documents by email
- print documents and use registered post or secure courier delivery
Documents include:
- candidates’ application forms
- interview schedule
- interview guide
- marking spread sheet - chairperson
- marking sheets, note-taking sheets and incident report forms
- conflict-of-interest forms
When the interviews are over, board members must confirm that they have shredded or deleted the interview guide.
To ensure confidentiality, the chairperson must use secure methods to return the interview documentation, scoring sheets, and feedback.
Board members must test the video technology before the interview, and expect the unexpected (for example, app updates or internet issues).
Use a room that offers good lighting, privacy, and without visible clutter.
To prevent interruptions and distractions you should:
- mute notifications for email messages
- put phones on silent
- minimise physical distractions in the background
- put pet controls in place (if working from home)
Making a better personal connection in video interviews
Online interviews lack the personal connection of face-to-face interviews.
Suggest the following to help board members and candidates to feel better connected:
- maintain eye contact with the candidate to let them know they have your full attention
- focus on the webcam rather than on the candidate’s face on screen (your eyes are more likely to meet theirs)
- emphasise signalling during the interview, particularly when there is a change of focus (for example, be clear about the start of formal questioning)
- be attentive to the chairperson’s direction (the chairperson needs to manage cues for additional questions or follow-up)
Interview board introduction meeting
The chairperson is responsible for arranging an interview board introduction meeting. This is a vital part of the interview process to:
- establish trust and agree the purpose of the interviews
- ensure that everyone understands the process, the logistics and roles and responsibilities
- ensure a high quality and fair process
The meeting's focus should be on the standard required of candidates.
Best practice recommends this meeting takes place about a week before the interviews.
The agenda will include:
- approach to managing time, including time signals, and note-taking
- exceptional incidents and how to manage these during and after the interview
- confirming everyone understands the importance of data protection and GDPR, their obligations under the legislation, and the CPSA Code of Practice
The chairperson must check that board members are familiar with the interview board documentation, the competencies, and questioning technique.
Board members will discuss and agree:
- who will question on each competency (board member with the greatest knowledge of a particular specialty should question on that area)
- opening question for each competency area
- order of questioning and the required standard for a good quality answer.
- who will take notes on each competency
Members must agree on the key points candidates should address in their answers. This will help with scoring and applying a consistent standard across all candidates.
Check that there are no conflicts of interest.
The interview
The chairperson opens and closes the interview.
Board members split the role of questioning between them, as agreed at the introduction meeting.
One board member, when not questioning, takes notes throughout the interview. This role will rotate among the board members.
Board members evaluate and score candidates immediately after each interview.
The chairperson completes a marking sheet for each candidate, including the agreed constructive summary comment for each skill area. All board members sign the marking sheet.
A recommendation for the role by the interview board is not a job offer, as it is only one stage of the selection process.
Video interviews
At the beginning of the interview, the chairperson must verify the candidate's identity. Candidates must display on screen the picture page of a legitimate ID such as a passport or driver's licence.
If something goes wrong when video interviewing
Board members must attempt to contact the candidate several times.
If the connection is too weak to support the call, you may need to reschedule the interview or make arrangements to use the recruiter's teleconference facilities.
After the interview
Inform candidates of the outcome of their interview as soon as possible.
Candidates will get a marking sheet with their results letter. The marking sheet for each candidate includes:
- name and date of the recruitment campaign
- candidate name and candidate ID number
- board members names
- selection criteria being assessed
- minimum marks required to pass in each competency or area of assessment
- marks achieved by the candidate under each selection criterion
Adapt this example interview results letter to suit your campaign.
HSE email addresses that send 'out of office' or automated responses must be in Irish, or both Irish and English. The Irish language version must be first, followed by the English version.
Find examples and translations for words and phrases for recruitment related correspondence in the Useful Irish words and phrases resource.
Quality assuring the interview process
Useful tools for quality assuring the selection process include:
- observing interview boards
- benchmarking
- feedback surveys
Observing interview boards
This involves a recruiter observing a live interview, with the aim of providing board members with feedback afterwards. You should tell the interview board if you are planning to observe them.
You will observe:
- board members’ approach to questioning, and note the questions asked
- time allocations
- board members completing the assessment process according to guidance provided
Ask the candidate if they agree to the observer being present. Tell them that their focus is on:
- performance of the interview board and not their performance
- consistency in approach to interviewing across all candidates
If the candidate agrees, the recruiter should sit discretely in the interview room (in person or virtual) so they are not a distraction.
Benchmarking
Recruitment campaigns can involve 2 or more interview boards running at the same time.
You need to ensure that the boards are working to the same standard, and candidates have a fair and consistent experience regardless of what board interviews them.
Benchmarking will help you to:
- ensure boards are applying the same standards
- ensure equal marks for an equal standard of answer
- allow boards to see how other boards approach issues
- facilitate discussions around consistency
- help boards become confident in their decision-making
You can build benchmarking sessions into the interview schedule. They are particularly useful early in the schedule to ensure you quickly catch and correct any issues and inconsistencies.
How to use benchmarking
The recruiter facilitates the benchmarking sessions.
- Ask a board member to read out the questions asked, and candidate responses, in a particular score range for a competency area. Boards should not name the candidate under discussion to ensure confidentiality.
- The board will read out the scores and the reasons for awarding the scores.
- A general discussion will take place among the boards about the candidate’s answers and the scores awarded.
Provide interview boards with summary data of how their score ranges compare to other boards.
The data provides a maximum, minimum and average score for each competency area, for each board.
This helps to monitor pass and fail rates across the different boards.
It also helps board members to regulate their scoring in line with other boards.
Feedback surveys
Use the candidate feedback survey to capture candidate’s experience of the interview.
Use the board member feedback survey to capture their reaction and feedback on the interview process.
