Solutions
Take contractor registration interviews the day people apply
People registering are looking at several brands at once. In the days between applying and being seen, another brand finishes the paperwork first. The AI interview takes registrations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and puts the same set of checks to everyone.
The problem
The days between applying and being seen are where people drop out
This page assumes contractors working in a shop, a hair salon say. In that kind of intake, the speed from application to registration is the headcount. The interview falls to the shop manager, and a slot during opening hours is not easy to find. While they wait, people finish registering somewhere else.
- The shop manager runs the interview, and there are no slots during opening hours
- People registering have applied to several brands at the same time
- Each shop asks different things, so nothing connects to whether people actually work
- Days, hours and area, and licences and qualifications, are settled verbally and never recorded
What to check
Make the same information survive, whichever shop took it
A registration interview is where both sides check that the terms fit. What has to be settled is the set of checks that never gets missed.
Put the same checks to everyone, in the same order, and the same information survives whichever shop took the interview. Three groups, for instance:
01
Terms of work
Days per week, the hours they can take, the area they can reach. If this does not fit, nothing else matters.
02
Experience and qualifications
Where a national licence is required — a hairdressing licence, for instance — a missed check becomes a delayed start. Years of practice, the treatments they can carry out and how they have worked before sit here too.
03
Whether it lasts
The income they want, whether they bring regular clients of their own, other shops alongside, when they want to begin. The difference between registering and actually working usually shows up here.
A note on designing the checks
Contracting is not employment. What the interview checks is the terms and whether the work can be taken; it does not cover how the work is to be carried out. When the checks are designed, anything amounting to direction or supervision is kept out.
Whether you can settle the checks yourself is where AI interview services divide. With only the vendor’s fixed set, registrations still come in, but which qualifications matter and how areas are drawn are particular to each business, and a fixed set cannot follow them. Where the checks are free text, the columns already in your registration records become the checks.
What to settle
Three things to settle before a contractor intake
01
Who runs the interview
Head office centrally, or each shop. If the AI takes registrations, the shop manager joins only to settle the terms.
02
What gets checked
Without one set put to everyone, what survives differs by shop, and none of it can be set against how people actually work.
03
Whether it connects to the work that follows
Set the record of the interview against days worked and how long people stay, and you learn which checks were the effective ones.
Running it
From application to first shift
Contractor recruitment runs all year. It does not end at registration: a turn runs on through the work that follows, to the checks you revise for next time.
01
Application
The link goes out the day it arrives, and people can also start from a QR code on a shop poster or your job page. They take the interview at night or at the weekend, whenever suits.
02
Registration interview
The AI first explains how the work and pay are set up, using your materials. Then come the same checks, in the same order, for everyone. Answers are kept by field, so they can be found later.
03
Settling the terms
The shop manager reads what has been checked before speaking. Only the people whose terms fit, and only briefly.
04
First shift
The days, hours and area already checked go straight into the first rota.
05
Revising the checks
Set them against days worked and length of service, and see which checks mattered. Add fields or drop them.
To the next intake
Shown as an example: application to first shift in five stages. Where the lines fall depends on your own registration process.
Stage 5 only turns when the checks are yours. A fixed set supplied by the vendor still takes registrations, but you cannot revise it against your own data on who actually works. Where the difference shows between registering and lasting varies by business.
Related pages
More detail, by topic
The threads around registration interviews run across several pages. Start with whichever is closest to your question.
Staffing registration interviews →
The same process on the employment side. No limit on hours, and the checks line up across branches.
However many shops, one set of checks. What survives does not change from site to site.
Take interviews in parallel when applications concentrate, without adding people to run them.
How to choose an AI interview tool →
Five layers and six questions. Who holds the criteria changes which service fits.
AI interview services: nine compared →
Nine services in four types, read on questions, criteria and verification, from public information.
Frequently asked questions
Can this be used for contractors?
It can. What the interview checks is the terms and whether the work can be taken. It does not cover how the work is to be carried out, and when the checks are designed, anything amounting to direction or supervision is kept out.
Does this work outside hair salons?
It does. For anyone contracting in a shop, the shape of what you check is the same. Nail and lash studios, relaxation and bodywork, personal trainers at a gym — all of them need a licence or a level of skill checked, all of them earn through regular clients, and all of them assume work alongside. The three groups apply as they are; only the wording of the checks changes with the trade.
Can the checks differ by shop?
They can. Head office settles a common set, and shops or roles add fields of their own — stylists and assistants can be asked different things. As long as the common part remains, results line up across shops.
Can people take it at night or at the weekend?
They can. It is a link to open, so there are no opening hours. The more of your applicants hold another job, the more this is worth.
Can you explain the work and pay before the interview?
Yes. The AI presents your existing materials (PDF, PowerPoint or video) with voice and subtitles before the interview. Anything the briefing covers can come out of the interview questions, which leaves the interview for the person’s own situation.
Who sees the result?
The shop manager reads what has been checked before speaking. Answers are kept by field, and the recording is there too, so head office can also read them side by side.
Is there a minimum volume?
Flex is bought per interview, with a 100-interview minimum, and is the easiest place to start. Around 100 is also where revising the checks against who actually works begins to pay. For steady use there is Starter (240 interviews a year), and for higher volumes Growth (500 a year). See pricing
We have not settled the checks ourselves
You do not need to have them settled. We can build them with you, from your current registration records and from what shops already ask. The finished set is yours, and you revise it against your own data on who works.
Tell us about your registration process and what you check
We will look at your opening hours and the differences between shops, and show you where it can be replaced. Free, about 30 minutes.