Are you using an interview scorecard yet? This simple checklist helps interviewers evaluate candidates based on skills, capabilities and data—not gut feeling.
Because the truth is, the formal job interview is prone to all kinds of human error. From unconscious bias to unclear job requirements, interviewing can be a minefield for candidates and hiring teams.
To make stronger hires based on concrete data, you need an interview scorecard. Today we’re sharing a free interview scorecard template, plus practical steps to create your own.
What is an interview scorecard?
An interview scorecard, or candidate scorecard, is a tool used by employers to evaluate job candidates during an interview using a set list of skills and a clearly defined scoring rubric.
Scoring sheets help hiring teams stay objective when interviewing and comparing candidates by keeping the focus on specific skills and competencies related to the role. It is usually part of a larger structured interview process.
Interview scorecard template
Looking for a free template to get you started? Copy the interview scorecard template below or download the Google sheet template and start customizing!
What to include in your interview scoring sheet
Most interview scorecard templates include a list of job-specific competencies or skills and a rating scale to help interviewers evaluate a candidate’s answers. For example, you can evaluate the candidate’s:
- Knowledge of the company
- Understanding of the role
- Relevant skills and experience
Map each category to specific interview questions. For example, this could include a question about communication skills for your open sales roles or experience with JavaScript for your dev team.
Depending on the rubric you choose, your rating scale can be as simple as thumbs up / thumbs down or as advanced as a five-point Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS).
However you choose to set it up, make sure you also include:
- Candidate name
- Total score
- A section for note-taking
- Names of interviewers
💡Hiring pro tip: Don’t overload your interview process with too many steps. If your hiring process also includes a talent assessment or personality test, update your interview scorecard to avoid duplicates. For example, you could use a coding test as a pre-interview assessment, then focus your face-to-face time on getting to know more about your best candidates.
The pros and cons of interview scorecards
As part of a broader structured hiring process, interview scorecards can help you reduce hiring bias, accelerate time-to-fill and make hiring decisions based on data—not emotions.
But it isn’t without its drawbacks. Here’s a closer look at the pros and cons of using interview scorecards in your candidate evaluations.
Pros
- Focuses on job-related skills only
- Enhances fairness and consistency
- Provides clear documentation
- Allows for improvement in the hiring process
- Supports collaboration within the hiring team
- Enables faster decision-making
Cons
- May limit natural dialogue
- Takes time to create scorecard
- Notes must be clear and thorough
- Could lead to subjective scoring
The key to maximizing the benefits and limiting the drawbacks? Make sure every interviewer in your team knows how and why you’re using a structured approach to rate candidates.
If your scoring rubric is confusing, or your hiring managers are all using different sets of interview questions, you’ll only be adding extra steps to a chaotic process. Instead, take the time to meet with the team and get clear on what a strong evaluation process looks like.
Create a hiring scorecard in 3 simple steps
Ready to build your own interview scorecard template? We’ve broken it down to a simple 3-step process.
1. List skills and competencies based on job requirements
Using your job description as a guide, select the 3 to 5 most important skills and characteristics you should be paying close attention to in the interview. Then group them into broad categories—for example, Emotional Intelligence, Curiosity, and Self Motivation.
If you’re using an applicant tracking system (ATS) to track and streamline your interviews, make sure your scorecards can be easily customized for both technical skills and soft skills.
Remember, the point of the interview scorecard is to hone in on the core competencies related to the role. If you don’t need your devs to wine and dine your prospects, don’t rate them on the firmness of their handshake.
2. Map competencies to interview questions
If you haven’t already, meet with the rest of your hiring team to make sure your interview questions align with the competencies listed on your scorecard.
For example, if you’re hiring for a customer service role that requires a strong ability to communicate, you might want to add problem-solving interview questions like, “How do you deal with frustrated customers?”
Don’t get carried away with unique or uncommon interview questions. When we asked HR expert Dr. Hitu Sood how to be a better interviewer, her advice was to ask: What is important to know at this stage about the candidate before we move to the next stage?
“Some employers want to ask everything very early on. But quality vs. quantity of questions is the key criteria of successful hiring,” says Hitu. Take time to make sure you’re not repeating questions that have already been answered via another evaluation tool, like a talent assessment or phone screen interview.
Finally, make sure every member of your hiring team sticks to the specific questions for the role by creating an easily accessible interview guide that they can keep on-screen during the interview.
3. Create your scoring system
The most common types of rating scales for scoring interviews are ordinal scales where you have an ordered list with a number for each rating—for example, 1 for poor and 5 for outstanding.
Give interviewers guidelines for how to interpret each rating. Here are some sample guidelines for interviewers when evaluating candidates for management positions:
Rating Scale:
- Unsatisfactory: The candidate demonstrates a lack of the required skills and competencies for a leadership role.
- Below Expectations: The candidate possesses some but not all of the required skills and competencies for the role.
- Meets Expectations: The candidate meets all the required skills and competencies for the position.
- Exceeds Expectations: The candidate demonstrates exceptional skills and competencies for the manager role, along with additional strengths or qualifications.
Guidelines for Interpretation:
- Unsatisfactory: Candidate's responses indicate a significant gap in essential managerial skills and experience.
- Below Expectations: Candidate has some relevant experience and skills but lacks depth or key qualifications for a managerial role.
- Meets Expectations: Candidate possesses all the necessary managerial skills, experiences, and qualifications required for the role.
- Exceeds Expectations: Candidate not only meets all the necessary criteria but also demonstrates exceptional leadership qualities, advanced skills, and significant relevant experience.
Make sure each member has an opportunity to add their written feedback via a note-taking section or comment field so they can review these details during the comparison process.
How to set up an interview scorecard in Breezy
Already using Breezy to track and manage your candidates? It's easy to set up custom scorecards before your next interview.
From Recruiting Preferences, select Scorecards. Click + Scorecard to add a new scorecard and you’re good to go!
Your scorecard will immediately appear in the profile of every candidate for that position. You can even drag and drop scorecard categories to reorder them as needed.
Hiring team members can access the scorecard from the Scorecard tab of a candidate’s profile or view them on-screen in real time during video interviews with candidates.
Each member of the team can add their feedback using a simple thumbs-up, thumbs-down, and neutral rating, plus written comments:
👍👍 Very Good = 10
👍 Good = 7.5
⭘ Neutral = 5
👎 Poor = 2.5
👎👎 Very Poor = 0
The average of the hiring team’s Overall Ratings is the Candidate Score.
Once each candidate has been scored, it’s easy to see them side-by-side to compare feedback.
Still waiting on feedback? Breezy lets you automate reminders to hiring team members who haven’t added their interview feedback yet, so you can keep the process moving.
Better candidate scorecards, better hires
Great hiring is about bringing on the best. But an unstructured interview process can lead to a poor candidate experience and bad hires made in the name of “cultural fit.”
If it’s time to get your process organized, you’re in the right place. Breezy is the candidate-friendly ATS that takes your hiring practices from good to great.
With easy blind hiring tools, AI-driven candidate matching, and customizable scorecards, you have everything you need for a fair and efficient hiring process.
Sign up for your free 14-day trial and start building your scorecards.
Candidate scorecards: frequently asked questions
Here’s a recap of some of the top FAQs about using scorecards to rate candidates during the job interview.
What’s the purpose of a candidate scorecard?
The purpose of a candidate scorecard is to keep the hiring process fair and consistent by providing a structured way to evaluate and compare candidates.
With a candidate scorecard, interviewers can avoid bias and ensure that all candidates are evaluated on an even playing field. This also allows for easier comparison of candidate assessments across different teams and interviewers.
Should interview questions be scored?
Though there are some drawbacks to the interview scorecard, the broad consensus among HR experts is, yes—you should use candidate scorecards to improve the strength and fairness of your hiring process.
“Most hiring managers will interview each candidate a bit differently, even if it's for the same position. This has huge bias issues and can be discriminatory,” says HR expert Tim Sackett. According to experts like Tim, candidates are more likely to give their best when they're presented with a clear and transparent interview process.
How do you write a scorecard for an interview?
When creating an interview scorecard, start by defining the key criteria based on the real requirements for the role using the job description.
Create your rating system and assign weights to the criteria, including a clear description of what each one means. During the interview, take notes on candidate responses. After the interview, compare scores, and use the scorecard to make informed decisions about your best candidates.
How do you create an interview score sheet?
To create an interview scorecard, download a free template and customize it to your needs, or follow these steps:
- Header: Include the job title, candidate name, interviewer names, and date of the interview.
- Evaluation Criteria: List the key criteria relevant to the role, such as qualifications, skills, experience, and understanding of company culture.
- Rating Scale: Create a rating scale (e.g., numerical or descriptive) to assess candidates on each criterion. Define what each rating level represents.
- Questions: Include the interview questions aligned with each evaluation criterion to guide the assessment process.
- Weightage: Assign weights to each criterion based on its importance to the role, enabling prioritization during evaluation.
- Scoring Section: Provide space to score candidates on each criterion and calculate a total score based on the weights assigned.
- Comments: Include a section for interviewers to add comments or observations regarding a candidate's responses or behavior.
- Overall Recommendation: Conclude the score sheet with an overall recommendation or rating based on the compiled scores.
With the right interview scorecard template and clear guidelines for using it, you can evaluate candidates quickly and consistently every time.
