This Interview Transcript Template gives recruiters and hiring managers one consistent place to capture what was actually said in an interview and turn it into usable notes. Instead of scribbling half-remembered quotes, you record the conversation, get an accurate speaker-labeled transcript, and organize the key exchanges and your evaluation in a repeatable format. The result is a clean record you can compare across candidates and share with your hiring team.
Interview Overview
e.g., Behavioral screen (Round 1), Technical panel (Round 2), Final with hiring manager
State the interview format and where it sits in the process so the transcript is easy to place later.e.g., 2026-07-22, 45 minutes
Record when the interview happened and how long it ran.e.g., Priya Nair (Recruiter), Tom Diaz (Engineering Manager)
List everyone on the interviewing side, with their role, so speaker labels in the transcript are easy to match to people.e.g., Zoom video call, In person - Room 4B, Phone screen
Note whether it was remote or in person and on which platform. This matters for how you capture the audio.Candidate & Role
e.g., Jordan Ellis
Enter the candidate's full name for the record.e.g., Senior Backend Engineer, Customer Success Manager
Specify the exact position and level being interviewed for.e.g., REQ-2049, CAND-00871
Add the internal job or candidate reference so this note can be matched to your ATS record.e.g., Verbal consent given at 00:12; candidate agreed to recording for note-taking
Confirm the candidate was told the interview is being recorded and agreed. Record consent before you start capturing audio.Transcript & Key Exchanges
e.g., 'Walk me through a time you disagreed with a technical decision and how you handled it.'
Paste or note the question exactly as asked. Pull the wording straight from the transcript so it is accurate.e.g., 'I pushed back on migrating to the new queue mid-quarter... proposed a phased rollout instead, and we shipped it without downtime.'
Capture the answer. Use the verbatim transcript for critical answers and a short summary for the rest.e.g., 'Asked what metrics proved the rollout worked. Candidate cited zero incidents and a 30% latency drop.'
Note any probing questions and what they surfaced, so the exchange reads as a complete thread.e.g., 14:32 in transcript, Topic: system design
Point back to where this exchange happens in the recording or transcript for quick review.Evaluation Notes
e.g., Strong ownership - drove the phased rollout decision himself (see 14:32). Clear communicator.
Record what you observed, tied to specific moments in the transcript rather than a general impression.e.g., Limited experience with team leadership; did not give a concrete example of mentoring.
Note gaps, risks, or anything a later interviewer should dig into.e.g., Advance to technical round; strong individual contributor, verify leadership scope.
Give a short, honest summary of where the candidate stands. Keep it grounded in the evidence above.e.g., Move forward, Hold for comparison, Do not advance
State the concrete next action so the hiring team knows what you are recommending.How to Use This Template
- Before the interview, fill in the Interview Overview and Candidate & Role sections, and confirm the candidate consents to being recorded.
- Start recording the interview with CraftNote. On Mac or a Chromium browser it captures the call audio directly with no bot joining; on mobile, Safari, or a call you are not part of, you can have the optional bot join Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet.
- Focus on the conversation while CraftNote produces a speaker-labeled transcript, so you are not splitting attention between listening and typing.
- After the interview, open the transcript and AI summary, then paste the key questions and answers into the Transcript & Key Exchanges section, using timestamps to reference specific moments.
- Complete the Evaluation Notes using evidence from the transcript, then export the finished note as PDF or DOCX, or paste the summary into your scorecard or ATS.
Customization Tips
- Add a competency column to the Transcript & Key Exchanges section so each question maps to a specific skill you are assessing, making side-by-side comparison easier.
- For technical roles, add a 'Whiteboard / Code Notes' field to capture anything that happened outside the spoken conversation.
- Duplicate the Transcript & Key Exchanges block once per major topic (behavioral, technical, role fit) to keep long interviews organized.
- Add a 'Language' note if the interview happened in another language, since CraftNote detects 80+ languages and can translate the transcript for the wider hiring team.