How to run a structured interview in a small business
No HR team? A plain method for small employers: define the role, ask every candidate the same questions, score what you hear, and avoid questions you should never ask.
Share on WhatsApp
Conceptual image · created with AI
In a small business the owner usually interviews alone, with no panel, no scoring sheet and no HR department. The result is often a decision made in the first five minutes on a feeling: the candidate was confident, or reminded the owner of somebody, or came recommended. That feeling is a poor guide to whether the person can do the job.
A structured interview is not cold or bureaucratic. It means deciding beforehand what you are looking for, asking everybody the same important questions and writing down what you heard. It takes about an hour of preparation, and it makes your decisions fairer and easier to explain. This is general practice, not legal advice.
What you should come away with
- Define what the role needs before you meet anybody, in outcomes and must-have skills
- Ask every candidate the same core questions, then follow up on detail
- Ask about what people have actually done, not only what they would do
- Score each candidate straight after the interview, before comparing impressions
- Do not ask about marriage, children, religion, caste, age, health or similar personal matters
- For anything about legal requirements in hiring, check with a lawyer or HR professional
Start by writing down what the job really needs. Not a title, but the three to five results the person must deliver in their first six months, the skills that must be there on day one, and the skills you are willing to teach. Add the practical terms: working hours, place of work, travel and the pay range you can offer. Then write, honestly, what would make somebody a poor fit. This page is the yardstick for every candidate. Without it, you end up comparing people with each other, or with the last person who left.
Next, screen before you interview. Read each application against the same short list of must-haves. A ten-minute phone call to check availability, pay expectations and basic fit saves an hour of interview time. Be careful about shortcuts that reject good people for the wrong reasons: a gap in a CV, a college you do not recognise, a city you associate with something. If you screen somebody out, note the reason in a line. Keep candidates' phone numbers and documents safe, and ask a lawyer which data protection rules apply to your business.
Now prepare five to seven core questions. The best ones ask about the past: tell me about a time you handled an unhappy customer; describe a mistake you made at work and what you did; walk me through how you would normally prepare the monthly accounts. Questions about real events are harder to answer with a rehearsed speech, and they show how the person actually works. Add one or two about how they learn something new, and one or two specific to the role. For each, write a line on what a good answer contains. You can keep the tone of a conversation. The structure is in the main questions, not in your manner.
Ask the same core questions of every candidate, in the same order. Then follow up wherever an answer is vague. Phrases like 'what exactly did you do?', 'what happened next?' and 'what would you do differently?' separate people who were there from people who watched. Let the candidate talk for most of the time. If you are talking more than they are, you are probably selling the job, not testing the fit. Leave time at the end for their questions; what they ask tells you what they care about.
If the role suits it, add a short practical task. A bookkeeper can reconcile a small made-up set of entries; a telecaller can role-play a call with you. Use a made-up case, not your real customer data. Keep it to an hour or less. Tell the candidate what it is and how it will be judged. Do not use free tasks to get real work done for your business, and if a task takes much longer, pay for it.
Then score. Straight after each interview, before you talk to anybody else, rate the candidate from one to five on each thing that matters, and write one line of evidence for each score. Do this before you form an overall opinion. When you have seen everybody, compare the scores before the impressions. Notice your own biases. People tend to favour candidates who are like themselves, who are confident, or who spoke first or last. A written score is a gentle check on all of them.
It is just as important to know what not to ask. Do not ask about marital status, plans to marry or have children, or pregnancy. Do not ask about religion, caste or community, or guess from a surname. Do not ask about sexual orientation or gender identity. Do not ask a candidate's age unless a legal requirement for the role makes it relevant. Do not ask about health conditions or disability beyond whether the person can do the essential duties of the job, with any adjustment that is reasonable. Do not comment on appearance, accent or family background. Several laws point the same way. For example, the Code on Wages prohibits discrimination on the ground of gender in recruitment for the same work, and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 prohibits discrimination against transgender persons in employment matters, including recruitment. How these apply to a business of your size is for a lawyer or HR professional to confirm. As a working rule, ask only what you need to know to judge the work. If a candidate volunteers personal information, do not build on it and do not let it affect your decision.
Finally, close the process well. Tell every person you interviewed the outcome, promptly and politely, even if it is a no. Make the offer to your chosen candidate in writing, with role, pay and start date, and have the appointment letter and joining documents ready before they arrive. The new labour codes, in force since 21 November 2025, bring changes to paperwork for workers, so confirm what your letter must contain with an accountant, HR professional or lawyer. Keep a second candidate in mind in case the first declines.
The whole method fits on a page: the role, the core questions, a scoring sheet and a list of questions you will not ask. Build it once and reuse it every time you hire.