Solutions
Run contractor registration interviews the day people apply
Self-employed contractors often apply to several businesses at once. In the days between applying and being interviewed, another business signs them up first. The AI interview takes registrations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with the same set of checks for everyone.
The problem
People drop out in the days between applying and being interviewed
This page uses the example of self-employed contractors (freelancers working under a service contract rather than as employees) in a shop such as a hair salon. In this kind of recruitment, how fast you get from application to registration decides how many people you sign up. The interview falls to the shop manager, and a slot during opening hours is hard to find. While they wait, people finish registering somewhere else.
- The shop manager runs the interview, and there are no slots during opening hours
- Applicants have often applied to several businesses at the same time
- Each shop asks different things, so nothing can be linked to whether people go on to work shifts
- Working days, hours, area, licences and qualifications are agreed verbally and never recorded
What to check
Capture the same information, whichever shop runs the interview
A registration interview is where both sides check that the terms fit. What you need to decide is the set of checks that must never be missed.
Run the same checks with everyone, in the same order, and the same information is recorded whichever shop ran the interview. For example, in three groups:
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 means a delayed start. Years of experience, the treatments they can offer and how they have worked before also belong here.
03
Whether they will stay
The income they want, whether they bring regular clients of their own, whether they work at other shops too, and when they want to start. This is usually what separates people who register from those who actually go on to work.
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.
AI interview services differ in whether you can decide the checks yourself. A vendor’s fixed set of checks can still keep registrations moving. If you want to check which qualifications are required and how areas are divided by your own business’s standards, checks you can define as free text are the better fit. Where the checks are free text, the fields already in your registration records become the checks.
What to settle
What to decide before recruiting contractors
01
Who runs the interview
Head office, or each shop. If the AI takes registrations, the shop manager joins only to agree the terms.
02
What gets checked
Without one set of checks for everyone, what is recorded differs by shop, and none of it can be compared with how people actually work.
03
Whether it connects to the work that follows
Compare the interview records with days worked and how long people stay, and you learn which checks actually mattered.
Running it
From application to first shift
Contractor recruitment runs all year round. It does not end at registration: the cycle continues through the work that follows, to the checks you revise for next time.
01
Application
The link goes out the day the application 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
Agreeing the terms
The shop manager reads what has been checked before speaking to the applicant, and meets only those 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
Compare the answers with days worked and length of service to see which checks mattered, then add or drop fields.
To the next intake
An example: application to first shift in five stages. Where the boundaries fall depends on your own registration process.
Stage 5 is straightforward when the checks are yours. A fixed set supplied by the vendor can still take registrations. What separates people who register from those who stay varies by business, so if you start with a fixed set, it is worth confirming that you can rewrite it later to fit your own data on who actually works.
Related pages
More detail, by topic
Related topics are covered on these pages. Start with whichever is closest to your question.
Staffing registration interviews →
The same process for temp staff you employ. Interviews at any hour, with the same checks at every branch.
However many shops you have, one set of checks. What is recorded is the same at every site.
Run interviews in parallel when applications peak, without adding interviewers.
How to choose an AI interview tool →
What to put in your comparison table, and why who owns the criteria decides which service fits.
AI interview services compared →
The leading services, sorted by what they optimise for and compared on questions, criteria and verification, using 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 any contractor working in a shop, what you need to check is much 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 many also work elsewhere. The three groups apply unchanged; only the wording of the checks changes with the trade.
Can the checks differ by shop?
They can. Head office defines 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 set is kept, results can be compared across shops.
Can people take it at night or at the weekend?
They can. They just open a link, so opening hours do not apply. The more of your applicants have another job, the more this matters.
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 be dropped from the interview questions, leaving the interview free for the applicant’s own situation.
Who sees the result?
The shop manager reads what has been checked before speaking to the applicant. Answers are stored by field, along with the recording, so head office can also compare them side by side.
Is there a minimum volume?
Flex is the easiest way to start: you begin with a minimum of 100 interviews and can top up in blocks of 10. Around 100 interviews is also when revising the checks against who actually works starts to pay off. For steady use there is Starter (240 interviews a year), and for higher volumes Growth (500 a year). See pricing
What if we have not decided the checks yet?
You do not need to. We can build them with you, from your current registration records and from what shops already ask. The finished set is yours, and you can revise it using your own data on who goes on to work.
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 which steps the AI can take over. Free, about 30 minutes.