A professional interview summary is the written document that formalizes the discussion between employer and employee during this mandatory interview: review of the employee’s path, development wishes and training actions being considered. Unlike the professional interview itself, whose legal obligation and frequency are covered in a dedicated guide, this document raises a specific practical question: what should it contain, who writes it, and how should it be kept so it holds up as proof in case of an audit. This guide answers these questions and offers a template that can be used directly.
What is a professional interview summary
A professional interview summary is the written record of the two-yearly interview devoted to the employee’s career path and development prospects. It must cover only these topics: internal or external mobility, skills to develop, training being considered. No mention of numerical targets, performance results or compensation belongs in it, since those topics fall under the annual review rather than the professional interview.
Its function is twofold. On one hand, it keeps a record of the wishes expressed by the employee and the commitments made by the employer, so decided actions are not lost from one cycle to the next. On the other hand, it serves as supporting evidence: it is on the basis of these documents that the employer demonstrates, at the six-year review, that it has indeed offered the required interviews and supported the employee’s development.
Is the summary mandatory
French labor law does not impose a standard template for this document, but it does require that it be written and handed to the employee after each professional interview. This requirement follows directly from article L.6315-1 of the French Labor Code, which governs the professional interview itself.
In practice, the absence of a summary has two consequences. First, it deprives the employee of a record of the commitments made to them, which undermines trust as much as the tracking of training actions. Second, and more importantly, it deprives the employer of proof that the obligation was met: in case of a dispute or an audit, an interview held without a summary counts, for lack of evidence, as an interview that never happened.
What should a professional interview summary contain
The content is not set by an official form, but a solid HR practice consistently covers the same elements. The table below summarizes what should appear in a complete summary.
| Element | Status | Expected content |
|---|---|---|
| Identification and date | Required | Employee’s name, name of the person conducting the interview, date of the discussion |
| Review of the employee’s path | Required | Summary of changes, assignments and skills gained since the previous interview |
| Employee’s development wishes | Required | Internal or external mobility considered, type of position targeted |
| Training actions being considered | Required | Training identified, possible funding options (personal training account, skills development plan) |
| Employer’s commitments | Recommended | Concrete actions promised, with an indicative timeline |
| Employee’s comments | Recommended | Space left for the employee to express disagreement or add detail |
| Signature of both parties | Required | Failing a signature, proof that the document was handed to the employee |
A summary that leaves out the development wishes or the training actions being considered would not cover the legal purpose of the professional interview, even if otherwise well written: these two sections are what most clearly set this document apart from a standard annual review summary.
How to write a professional interview summary
Writing the summary follows four steps, done during or right after the discussion.
Take factual notes during the interview. The manager records the points raised as the discussion unfolds rather than reconstructing it from memory afterward: dates, job titles, names of training programs mentioned. This rigor avoids the approximations that weaken the document if the employee later reviews it.
Structure the document around the four required sections. Review of the past period, development wishes, training actions being considered and employer commitments follow in this order, to stay readable and comparable from one interview to the next.
Stay factual and avoid personal judgment. The summary reports what was said and decided, not an assessment of the person: this distinction protects the company as much as the employee in case of a later dispute.
Have the document reviewed and signed. The employee should be able to add their own comments before signing. This step turns the summary into a document agreed by both parties, which strengthens its value as evidence.
Template and format of the professional interview summary
French labor law sets no required format: a paper summary signed by hand carries the same legal value as a document generated from a digital tool, as long as it includes the required mentions and is handed to the employee.
In practice, the digital format is increasingly favored for three practical reasons. It guarantees an identical template for each cycle, which makes it easier to compare one interview with the next for the same employee. It automatically timestamps delivery to the employee, which strengthens the evidence in case of an audit. It centralizes summaries in a single place that can be consulted at the six-year review, instead of paper documents scattered across each manager’s files.
A company starting out without a dedicated tool can build its own template from the sections in the table above, in a simple word processor. Moving to a structured tool becomes useful once the number of interviews to track makes manual filing hard to keep reliable.
Who writes the summary and how it is handed to the employee
Writing and handing over the summary falls to whoever conducted the interview: the direct manager in most organizations, sometimes an HR representative for certain roles. French labor law sets no precise deadline for delivery, but good practice is to hand over the document within a few days of the interview, while the discussion is still fresh for both parties.
The document should be kept for at least the six-year cycle, since that is the period covered by the professional interview’s comprehensive review. Many companies choose to keep them even longer, as a precaution in case of a dispute over older facts. The document must remain accessible to an employee who requests it, even several years after it was written.
The role of HRIS software in managing interview summaries
A dedicated module can automatically generate a compliant template for each type of interview, track its signature by both parties, and archive all summaries in a single space that can be consulted at the six-year review. This centralization avoids manually re-entering training wishes into other HR tools, since the summary’s data feeds directly into the tracking of skills development actions.
Choosing such a tool rarely happens in isolation: it fits alongside the rest of the HR information system, in particular the module dedicated to the annual review and the individual review, which often share the same software component. Interview management software that covers all of these campaigns limits the scattering of summaries across several tools and makes them easier to use when negotiating workforce and skills planning agreements.
Frequently asked questions
Is a professional interview summary mandatory?
Yes. French labor law requires that the professional interview result in a written document handed to the employee, even though no standard template is set by law. Without a summary, the employer has no proof that the interview actually took place, which matters directly at the six-year review. An interview held without a written record counts, in case of an audit, as an interview that never happened.
How do you write a professional interview summary?
Writing follows the conversation rather than preceding it: the manager notes the points raised during the interview, then structures the document around the review of the past period, the employee’s development wishes and the training actions being considered. The text stays factual and concise, with no personal judgment. It ends with the commitments made by both sides and a space for the employee’s own comments.
What mentions must appear in a professional interview summary?
The document must at least identify both parties and the date of the interview, summarize the employee’s path since the previous interview, record their development wishes and the training actions being considered, and state the employer’s commitments with an indicative timeline. The signature of both parties, or failing that proof that the document was handed over, completes these required mentions.
Who must hand the summary to the employee, and within what timeframe?
Writing and handing over the summary falls to whoever conducted the interview, most often the direct manager or an HR representative. French labor law sets no precise deadline, but good practice is to deliver the document within a few days of the interview, while the discussion is still fresh for both parties.
What is the difference between a professional interview summary and an annual review summary?
A professional interview summary covers only the employee’s career path and development prospects, with no numerical targets or compensation mentioned, while an annual review summary assesses the past year’s performance and sets targets for the next one. When the two interviews are combined into a single session, the two summaries must remain distinct so the legally required topics of the professional interview stay clearly identifiable.