How should applicant interviews be documented?

All papers relating to hiring decisions must be kept for a year after the decision is made or, if the subject of an investigation, until the investigation or any resulting legal action is completed. Of course, if the applicant is hired, hiring papers become part of his or her personnel file.

There is no affirmative obligation to videotape the interview, for example, but if it is done or if you chart the results or summarize your impressions of the applicant, realize that those are part of the papers that should be kept.

To protect against an applicant's assertion that illegal questions were asked or that an adverse employment decision was based on improper factors, it is a good idea to follow a standard format when possible and to keep a copy of the specific follow-up questions that were asked.