As with any meeting, preparation is key. Prepare some standard questions against your job description and person specification , which you will ask of all candidates. It can help you to compare and contrast your candidates if you ask a lot of the same questions at interview. The application form can help provide a logical structure for your questions.

Compare the candidate's CV or application form with the job description and highlight any specific questions you may have for each individual.

Prepare an interview assessment form to complete during the interview. Use ticks or alternatively mark each point out of 5 or 10, either of which are easy to do quickly whilst still actively listening. If possible, it is a good idea to have someone else present to take notes for you so that you can concentrate on what the candidate is saying. This also helps to get a more objective view of the candidate and can give less experienced staff exposure to a real-life interview situation.

Leave space on your form to record notes on experience, motivation and enthusiasm for the role, communication skills and the ability or competencies required.

You may wish to note how candidates present themselves at interview, both verbally and physically, but don't put too much emphasis on how they dress unless this is important to the position. For example, someone who works in your Production areas will not be expected to wear a business suit so should not be penalised for not wearing one to an interview.

Remember your records may be called upon as evidence of your fair decision-making so keep comments factual, evidence-based and not subjective with room for misinterpretation at a later date. Also bear in mind that if you keep interview notes on file, your successful applicant may get to see these if he/she makes a request to view his/her file. Unsuccessful candidates may also request to see interview notes and these may be used in defending a discrimination claim, so be careful.

Book a room in advance, so you are not scrambling around looking for somewhere to meet, thus giving a very disorganised impression of your business! This may sound like common sense, but it happens often.

Think about the layout of the room. If it is a one-to-one interview, sitting on opposite sides of the table can be a little intimidating: sitting at 90 degrees to the candidate is less formal and usually makes for more relaxed discussion. A candidate at ease will tell you more.

If more than one person is interviewing, think about alternative layouts. It is good practice to have more than one interviewer since this mitigates against our tendency to reinforce our own prejudices and recruit in our own likeness. Unless the candidate is giving a presentation, try to make this as informal as possible. It is not the purpose of the interview to try to make the candidate uncomfortable.

Try to relax the candidate as soon as possible upon meeting and to make him/her feel at ease. Offer refreshments and talk generally about the journey, the weather or something else unrelated to the interview itself.

Open with a short overview of your business, and where this position fits, followed by an explanation of what you will cover in the interview.

The quality and amount of the information that you establish will be largely due to the effectiveness of your questions.

Closed questions are those which require a simple "yes" or "no" response and should be used sparingly, to clarify information only.

Open questions begin with "how", "who", "what", "why", "where", "when", "do you", "talk me through....." and require detailed answers. You cannot answer 'yes' or 'no' to open questions, which should form the majority of your questioning.

Hypothetical questions are generally regarded as old fashioned and not useful. The current thinking is that previous behaviour will predict future behaviour, so if you have specific competencies or skills against which you wish to measure candidates, you may ask for evidence of these by getting the candidates to tell you when and how they overcame a particular predicament. This is known as competency-based interviewing and is popular with larger organisations.

Generic questions will help you to build a fuller picture of the candidate. You should aim to ask at least one question from each of the following categories:

• how they see themselves
• how they see and interact with others
• how others see them
• positive things about work
• negative things about work
• what they want from their job/motivation
• research they have done about your business and fitting in
• personal development and relaxation.

Questions or tests should be limited to those that check for the particular skills and competences required for that position. During the whole interview, you must be sure not to ask potentially discriminatory questions so avoid personal questions which have no relevance to the job. For instance, asking a woman if she has children and what childcare arrangements she will make. If important to the role, for instance if you need 0800 - 1700 cover and no one else could deputise easily, then you have a genuine business reason for asking but must ensure you ask every candidate the same question, male or female! Potential pitfalls include asking about marital status, number of children, sexual orientation, social life, unnecessary questions about religion or belief (ie those relating to place or frequency of worship, involvement in religious groups or questions about the religious ethos of schools attended etc.)

Also bear in mind religion and beliefs when thinking about the location and timing of the interview and of the job itself, hours of work etc. See our guidelines on religion or belief .

Ask some practical questions towards the end of the interview

• When could you start (if successful)?
• What is your salary expectation?
• Do you have any holidays planned?

Don't forget to allow time for the interviewee to ask questions to clarify details or bring up issues not covered so far. Give candidates a genuine opportunity to ask questions - often this will be a chance for you to differentiate between equally good applicants. It may show you their level of interest, their level of expertise and an indication of how they work.

Use this time also to give a little more detail about the role itself too but be realistic, do not oversell the role or exaggerate, as this may affect the psychological contract once the person commences employment with you.

Summarise the selection process, recapping what you have already covered, what the next stage is and how long the whole selection process will take before you make a decision. Be wary of giving a definite date for an outcome - you never know what issues are going to arise which may prevent this and it's not fair to mislead (even if well intentioned).

If travel expenses are payable at this stage, outline the process for claiming these to the candidate if this was not included in the information sent out with the invitation to interview.

Write up your notes as soon as possible after the interview - leave around 30 minutes between each one. It's amazing how easy it is to forget what each candidate said when you have several in one day!

Pay particular attention to the consistency between verbal and written information provided. Beware of the 'halo' effect (you like the look of the candidate and find reasons why he/she is suitable) or the 'horns' effect (the opposite).

Do keep records of your interview notes , in case anyone claims they were rejected on unlawfully discriminatory grounds. Interview notes and checklists can be a useful back up and assist in defending your case. But do be careful: your interview notes are covered by the Data Protection Act so take care with your comments! If you have any information relating to a specific person, they have a right to access it.