Half-written notes
You're scribbling away and you miss the follow-up question. Across the table sits someone who has prepared, hoping their best answer actually sticks.
N.
Notuly.Nice to meet you. Ask away.
Frequently asked questions
Job interview notes
Document every job interview. Compare candidates fairly.
You listen and ask the follow-up questions, Notuly writes the report. Afterwards each candidate's answers are organised in your inbox; all that's left is to fill in your scores.
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Used by people at these organisations.
Short answer
Documenting a job interview means working from a fixed set of criteria taken from the job profile: an observation, an example and a score for each criterion. That lets you compare candidates fairly and justify your decision later. Notuly writes the report while you have the conversation; all you fill in are the scores.
- Documenting
- Against fixed criteria, with observations rather than judgements
- Scoring
- The same scale (1 to 5) for every candidate
- Recording
- Allowed, with the candidate's explicit consent beforehand
- Retention
- No later than 4 weeks after the procedure; 1 year with written consent
- Report
- In your inbox within ten minutes, transcript attached
- Processing
- Our own AI on Dutch servers; audio deleted within a minute of processing
- Free to try
- Three conversations a month, no payment details needed
The problem
Friday afternoon, the third candidate.
You want to listen and probe, not type. But without decent notes, come Monday you won't remember who gave that strong example.
Candidates blur together
Was it candidate two or candidate three with that example about the tight deadline? After four interviews in a day, the answers run into each other.
Gut feeling instead of grounds
"Didn't click" says nothing you can test. Without observations per criterion, you're left defending a rejection on instinct.
The report
What you note per candidate.
Not a word-for-word account, but an assessment you can explain later. It usually fits on one or two pages.
- HeaderThe candidate's name, the date, who conducted the interview and the vacancy.
- Per criterionThe essence of the answer, with a concrete example the candidate gave.
- A score per criterionA mark on a fixed scale, 1 to 5 for example.
- Strengths and weaknessesBrief, and related to the job.
- Next stepYour recommendation and the reason: invite for round two, reject, or keep on hold.
The most important rule is about how you write it down: note observations and examples, not judgements. "Didn't click" says nothing you can test; "gave no concrete example on the collaboration question, even when probed" does. That is exactly the difference between a note you can explain later and a gut feeling you have to defend. The general structure of a report is covered in the meeting report; here we make it specific to selection.
Objective scoring
Seven criteria, one yardstick.
Choose the criteria from the job profile in advance and assess every candidate with the same questions on the same scale: from 1 (weak) to 5 (outstanding). Drop whatever doesn't fit the role.
- Knowledge and educationWhat the candidate demonstrably knows, with an example from work or study.
- Relevant work experienceAn earlier situation that resembles this job; experience in similar work predicts how they'll start.
- Professional skillsSomething the candidate showed or described, not merely claimed.
- Behaviour, via STARRSituation, task, action, result and reflection, drawn from a real example.
- Motivation and interestWhy this role and this place, shown by the questions the candidate asked.
- Self-awarenessHow the candidate names their strengths and weaknesses, with an example.
- CommunicationHow clear and to the point the answers were; directly relevant to almost every role.
A widely used interview technique is STARR: you ask about a situation, the task, the action, the result and the reflection. That draws behaviour out of real examples rather than good intentions. For each criterion, set down in advance what a weak and a strong answer look like (a behavioural anchor), so a score doesn't depend on your mood.
That structure pays off, and it has been measured. A structured interview, with the same questions and the same criteria for every candidate, predicts job performance considerably better than a free-form conversation: a predictive validity of around .51 versus .38 in the meta-analysis by Schmidt and Hunter. The difference doesn't come from better questions, but from comparing on the same yardstick.
Then put your candidates' scores side by side: the same seven criteria, the same scale. At a glance you see that one is strong on motivation and the other on experience, and the debrief with your colleague is about those differences rather than about who came across best. A total is a tool, not the decision: agree in advance which criterion carries more weight, and write that down.
Not every conversation needs a full assessment. An informal introduction can be a short note, and the criteria don't take over the judgement: that stays with a person.
A template for every conversation.
The same sections for every candidate, without setting anything up. Notuly recognises the kind of conversation and picks the form that fits. Empty sections drop out. On a Team licence you create your own templates, laid out to match your own selection procedure.
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Recording and retention
Can you record a job interview?
Yes: in the Netherlands you may record a conversation you take part in yourself, but for an audio recording you ask the candidate for explicit consent first. One sentence is enough: "I'm recording this conversation so I have a complete report afterwards." As soon as you record, or turn it into a report, you're handling personal data and the GDPR and the NVP recruitment code, the Dutch code of conduct for recruitment, apply. Exactly when recording is allowed is covered in can you record a meeting.
On retention, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the Dutch data protection authority, gives a clear guideline: delete applicant data no later than four weeks after the procedure ends. If you want to keep it longer, for a talent pool for example, you ask for active, written consent; then a year is the maximum. That period never extends automatically.
There is one more reason to take documentation seriously. The College voor de Rechten van de Mens, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, recommends a transparent, verifiable and systematic selection procedure. If a rejected candidate later comes back with a suspicion of discrimination, it's up to the employer to show that background, age or gender played no part. A completed assessment against job criteria is that evidence; a notepad full of stray words is not. How to organise it securely is on the security page.
General guidance based on the sources above, not legal advice.
For your situation
Selecting is not the same as reviewing.
This page covers one task: documenting the job interview. The wider picture of recruitment and selection, from intake to offer, is on Notuly for recruitment.
If the conversation is about someone who already works for you, the goal and the rules shift: development rather than comparison, and building a file when there are problems. There's a separate guide to the performance review.
How it works
From interview to completed assessment in three steps.
No settings, no training, no IT department. You make your first report straight after downloading.
Record
Put your phone on the table and press the record button. Ask the candidate for consent first; one sentence is enough.
Process
Notuly processes the audio on its own servers in Amsterdam and recognises who is speaking: up to 32 speakers, in more than 90 languages. So for each candidate you can see who said what.
Score
Within ten minutes the report is in your inbox with the answers organised. You fill in your scores; the judgement stays yours.
On all your devices
Also on macOS and Windows.
Meeting on Teams, Zoom or Google Meet? The desktop app takes the notes straight from your laptop. And the iPhone and Android apps capture every conversation on the go.
Choose your plan.
Starter
Free
- 3 conversations per month
- 60 minutes per recording
- Report with summary and action points
- Conversation type detection
- Dutch servers, nothing kept
Pro
€9.99 / month
- Everything in Starter
- Unlimited conversations
- Unlimited recording length
- Up to 32 speakers
- Word file (.docx)
- Choose from the Notuly templates
Team
€10.99 / licence / month
- Everything in Pro
- Your own branding in the Word file
- Create your own templates
- Team management with roles
- One central invoice
- Priority support
- Data processing agreement
Fourteen days free
Enterprise
Custom
- Everything in Team
- Personal account manager
- SSO (single sign-on)
- Custom DPA
- Volume discount
Starter & Pro: prices incl. VAT · Team & Enterprise: prices excl. VAT
We don't store your conversations.
The audio is deleted within a minute of processing. Once your report has been sent, we no longer hold your data. What we don't keep can't leak.
Our own servers in AmsterdamAn ISO 27001-certified data centre. Your data never leaves the EU.
Our own AI modelSelf-hosted in the EU. No Big Tech anywhere in the process.
No training on your conversationsWhat's said stays yours.
Data processing agreement (GDPR)Available to organisations, on Team and above.
We work in line with:
ISO 27001.
We work in line with ISO standards. Our data servers run in an ISO 27001-certified data centre in Amsterdam.
Frequently asked questions.
How do you document a job interview?+
You document a job interview by noting each candidate's answers and your assessment against a fixed set of criteria from the job profile, with an example and a score for every criterion. That lets you compare candidates fairly and justify your decision later. Do it during or straight after the interview, while it's still fresh.
What should a job interview report contain?+
The report contains the fixed details (name, date, interviewers, vacancy), the essence of the answer per criterion with an example, a score per criterion, the strengths and weaknesses, and a next step. Keep it brief, usually one to two pages. Note observations and examples, not judgements.
How do you score a candidate objectively?+
You score objectively by choosing the core competencies in advance and assessing every candidate with the same questions on the same scale, 1 to 5 for example. For each criterion, set down what a weak and a strong answer look like (a behavioural anchor). That way a score doesn't depend on your mood.
What is a job interview assessment form?+
An assessment form is a fixed list of criteria with a scoring scale that you use to assess a candidate point by point. Common elements are education, work experience, skills, motivation, self-awareness and communication. It makes assessments comparable between candidates.
What is the STARR method?+
STARR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result and Reflection: a way of exploring behaviour through real examples. You keep probing until you know what the candidate did personally and what it achieved. Past behaviour predicts behaviour on the job better than a general impression does.
Can you record a job interview?+
In the Netherlands you may record a conversation you take part in yourself, but for an audio recording you ask the candidate for explicit consent beforehand. As soon as you record, or turn the conversation into a report, the GDPR and the NVP recruitment code (the Dutch code of conduct for recruitment) apply. Tell the candidate even if you're only taking notes.
How long can you keep applicant data?+
As a guideline, delete applicant data no later than four weeks after the end of the procedure (the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the Dutch data protection authority). With the candidate's active, written consent you may keep it for up to a year, for a talent pool for example. That period never extends automatically.
How do you compare several candidates fairly?+
You compare fairly by scoring every candidate on the same criteria and the same scale, ideally with the same questions. Put the scores side by side in a matrix, so the discussion is about the criteria rather than about who came across best. Agree in advance which criterion carries more weight.
What's the difference between a job interview and a performance review?+
A job interview is about an outside candidate you assess and compare with others; a performance review is about someone who already works for you, focused on collaboration and development. The notes differ accordingly: selecting is not the same as reviewing.
Can a candidate see their assessment or report?+
Yes, under the GDPR a candidate has the right to access the personal data you process about them, and a report can fall under that. Bear that in mind as you write: keep it factual and tied to the job. An internal note holds up best when it's an observation, not a judgement.
What does documenting cost with a tool like Notuly?+
Starter is free: three conversations a month, no payment details needed. Beyond that, Pro costs €9.99 a month billed yearly, and teams pay a price per licence on one invoice. You pay per interviewer who uses it, not for a big platform up front. The current prices are further up this page.
What's the risk to a candidate's data?+
The recording is deleted within a minute of processing, stays inside the EU (servers in Amsterdam) and is never used to train AI. There's no audio archive that can leak or be requested; you keep only the report, and you manage the retention period yourself: four weeks, or a year with consent.
Does this comply with the GDPR and the recruitment code?+
The data processing agreement (GDPR Article 28) is available on Team and above: exactly the document the GDPR requires once an app processes personal data. Consent for a recording, informing the candidate and the legal basis for the processing remain your own organisation's responsibility.
How do we keep it fair across several interviewers?+
Everyone works with the same criteria and the same scale, so each candidate is assessed on the same points. Every report follows the same sections too. One way of scoring means a rejection can be explained afterwards, and doesn't depend on who happened to conduct the interview.
Read next.
RecruitmentThe sector overview for recruitment and selection; this page is the task itself.Performance reviewsDocumenting conversations with existing staff: a different stage, different rules.The meeting reportThe general structure of a report, applied here to selection.Can you record a meeting?When recording is allowed, and when you ask for consent.SecurityWhat an app does with your conversation, and how Notuly handles it.Automatic meeting notesHow AI turns a recording into a structured report.
The conversation stays yours. The writing up doesn't.
Put your phone on the table at your next job interview. The report lands in your inbox within ten minutes, and the audio is deleted within a minute of processing. Three conversations free, no payment details needed.