An interview scorecard is a one-page form that lists what the role needs and asks each interviewer to rate every candidate on the same points. It is quick to make, and it stops a hiring decision from depending on who was interviewed last or who spoke best.
What goes on the scorecard
Start from the brief. Choose four to six criteria that decide success in this role. Most roles need a mix like this:
- Core skill. The main technical or functional ability, tested by an exercise or work sample.
- Problem-solving. How the person reasons through a situation taken from your business.
- Communication. How clearly they explain their work, in speech and in writing.
- Ownership. Evidence that they finished difficult things without being chased.
- Fit with the team. Whether their pace and working habits suit the people they will sit with.
For each criterion, write one line describing a weak answer and one describing a strong answer. People tend to skip this step, and without it a rating of three means something different to every interviewer.
How to use it
Use a short scale, such as one to four. An even scale has no safe middle score, so the interviewer has to take a view. Give each interviewer two or three criteria to cover, so the candidate is not asked the same question in every round. Each interviewer fills in the form alone, on the day of the interview, with a sentence of evidence next to every rating. Only then should the panel meet and compare. If people discuss first, the most senior opinion tends to become everyone's opinion.
Where the scorecard stops
The scorecard informs the decision; people still make it. Adding up the ratings and hiring the highest total is a mistake, because one very low score on an essential criterion matters more than a good average. Use the form to see where interviewers disagree and to check that nothing was left untested. If two people rated communication very differently, that is the topic for the debrief, or for one more conversation with the candidate.
A record for later
Keep the scorecards of the people you hire. After six months, compare how each person is doing with how they were rated. You will learn which of your criteria predict performance in your company and which you can drop.
Take the role you are hiring for now and write its criteria on a single page before the next interview. If you cannot agree on them internally, the brief needs work before you meet any more candidates.