Interviews are a critical part of the hiring process. They give you an opportunity to meet the candidate, see how they respond in a real-world environment, and dig deeper into their potential fit for an open role. But how do you evaluate a candidate objectively? How do you take all of the inputs they give you and turn them into measurable data to verify that you're making the right decision?

Interviewer rating sheets, also known as candidate scorecards, are the perfect way to track and compare how candidates perform in an objective way. A scoring sheet can help you score each candidate consistently and objectively and then compare them side-by-side to see who's the best fit. This article will provide you with a comprehensive overview of interview scoring sheets, including their benefits, how to create them, and tips on how to use them effectively.

First, the interviewer rating sheet should be an objective scoring system and not a "comment card." Rating a candidate on a 1- 10 scale across a dozen (or so) different critical competencies is a great way to rate a candidate objectively and consistently. In general, you'll want to rate the candidate on their communication skills, problem-solving abilities, knowledge of the industry, technical acumen, and other key qualities required for the role.

Then, you'll need to get specific. For instance, if you're hiring an AE, knowing what technical skills they have - things like creating and executing outreach plans, using the necessary tools like a CRM (customer relationship manager), and understanding the fundamentals of sales - can be critical competencies that you'll want to rate them on.

Once you have your list of criteria and ratings, add a "notes" section at the end where you can provide more in-depth feedback on how a candidate performed. This is especially important when it comes to hiring for soft skills like communication and intelligence. It also helps to provide an overall summary of the candidate, and positive interview comments that highlight certain skills so you can easily compare them side-by-side after all interviews are finished.

Beyond that, you'll also want to consider factors like cultural fit (is this person a good team player?), diversity and inclusion, and other elements that may be critical to the success of the role and the development of your brand and organization over time. So, if you're looking for an objective way to rate candidates during an interview, consider using an interview rating sheet/ candidate scorecard.

We believe so strongly in using an objective candidate scoring system that we've built these into our interview intelligence software for you to use in conjunction with our platform. These tools can help you make better hiring decisions, increase DEI initiatives, and give a fresh new voice to your brand.

Assessment After Interview Example

So let's talk about actually building your interview rating sheet. We'll include interview rating scales, examples, and questions below to help serve as your guide. Before we dive in, note that this sheet will change for every person you hire. It'll change from role to role, by industry, and even from team to team. This is why it's important to customize each scale for the job you're hiring for.

Now you may be thinking, then how are you making this rating system objective?

Simple. We start with the foundation. Culture.
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1. Does this person fit our mission, vision, and values statement for the brand? This begins with a simple analysis, Yes or no? I know this seems harsh, but hiring someone who's not a cultural fit is one of the fastest ways to fail.

2. Now, create a rating scale from 1 - 10 on the necessary competencies they must possess to masterfully perform in the role. For instance, a software developer that doesn't code in the language that you need would be an instant DQ (disqualification) (although this should've been done long before the interview, it's an easy example).

3. Add in past performance, industry familiarity, and experience, and you've got a real winner. These last 3 categories create an opportunity for subjectivity - and that's a risk we don't want to take as bias can creep in. So we recommend that you handle these variables on a scale as well.

A perfect example of the variability scale of point #3 is this. If you're hiring a 10X developer with 7+ years of experience, and someone has 5+ years plus an in-depth knowledge of code-focused prompt engineering on ChatGPT - to serve as a force multiplier and a passion for your platform or industry, then there's a good chance you've found a fit. This can equally be true in the negative.

If you're hiring someone who has no industry experience, and no title experience, you can actually deduct points to bring the overall average down. However, these pieces of feedback should show up in your interview rating sheet comments - that way you can ensure that there's no bias present.

Once you've finished interviewing your candidate, it's time to assess their performance. Assessment after interview examples can go off the rails quickly if your team isn't trained to provide unbiased feedback - and this is just one of the reasons why having an interview rating sheet/candidate scorecard is so important. It gives you a way to objectively evaluate the candidates and see how they compare when you look at them side-by-side.

Interview Scoring Criteria

We've referenced the 1- 10 scale several times in this article, but if you want to make it simpler, the NHS interview scoring system only measures from 0- 4 with 0 being the worst, 4 being the highest score achievable - and if you're using a competency-based interview scoring system, this is a great option.

Another way to go is the 5-point scale - this is where you assign A, B, C, D, and F grades to your rating criteria. I don't personally like this scoring system because it feels like going back to grade school and there's really no objectivity in this system since you're not measuring on a 100-point scale - unless you are, then more power to you!

The interviewer scoring criteria that you choose is dependent on the type of job that you're interviewing for and the personality and skill set of the candidate - so if you're hiring a customer service representative, you might want to include criteria such as empathy and communication skills which would be more difficult to measure objectively than a developer role where problem-solving and coding skills can easily be measured. Also looking at response times and average ticket closures can help you understand the efficiency of the candidate.

So, there you have it - the importance of having an interview rating sheet and why it's an integral part of a successful hiring process. Now that you've learned how to create one, all that's left is to find the perfect candidate who fits your mission, vision, values, and team culture! There are many templates online that you can download and adjust in a pinch. LinkedIn Talent Hub has one, The Society for Human Resource Management has one, and of course, we offer one built into our video interview platform with a library of pre-selected questions that you can add to an interview with as little as a couple of clicks.

Your technical interview rating sheet will help you create a fair and transparent hiring process, as well as save time by objectively evaluating candidates against the same criteria. As you can see, having a rating sheet for interviews is invaluable and worth taking the time to do it right!

If you're currently struggling to find and hire great candidates or you've had really high turnover the last 18 months because of the economic climate - reach out to someone on our team. We'd love to show you how we've helped our customers make better hiring decisions, lower employee turnover by more than 50% in the last 12 months, and increase diversity hiring.

‍Pillar's Ai powered interview intelligence platform gives you the tools you need to make the best hiring decisions for your team and company. Book your demo to see how!