Structured Interview Scorecard Template
A scorecard agreed before anyone is interviewed — the questions, what each is testing, what weak and strong answers contain, and evidence-based scoring that resists the impressions everyone forms in the first two minutes.
Markdown. No sign-up, no email.
Fill this in before the first candidate is interviewed. A rubric written afterwards is a justification for a decision already made.
Structured interviews — same questions, agreed rubric, scored against evidence — are among the better-supported practices in hiring. Most organisations skip them because preparing one is tedious, which is exactly why this template exists.
Role: _______________ Level: _______________ Interview stage: ____ of ____ Duration: ____ minutes Prepared by: _______________ Date agreed: _______
1. What we are actually hiring for#
The three things this person must be able to do:
- _______________
- _______________
- _______________
What we are NOT looking for (guards against the pleasant candidate who fits nothing): _______________
Minimum bar — below this we do not proceed regardless of everything else: _______________
2. The questions#
Same questions, same order, every candidate. See Interview Questions for worked examples of what strong answers contain.
| # | Question | What it tests | Weak answer contains | Strong answer contains |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 |
Follow-up rule: after every answer, ask "why?" or "what would you do differently?" The reasoning separates candidates far more reliably than the answer does.
3. Scoring#
Score against evidence given, not against impression.
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 4 | Specific example, explained the trade-off, knew the limits of their own claim |
| 3 | Correct and general, or a real example without the reasoning |
| 2 | Recognised the topic, could not go deeper when asked |
| 1 | Incorrect, or confidently invented |
| # | Score | Evidence — what they actually said |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 |
🔴 The evidence column is not optional. A score with no evidence beside it is an impression with a number attached, and it cannot be compared across candidates or defended later.
A candidate who says "I have not done that, but here is how I would approach it" is answering well. Confident invention scores 1 — it is the most reliable negative signal available.
4. Practical exercise, if used#
| Task | |
| Time allowed | |
| What we are assessing | |
| What we are deliberately NOT assessing | |
| Same task for every candidate | yes / no |
Keep take-home exercises to a few hours. Multi-day tasks at first-round screen say something about how the organisation values people's time, and strong candidates decline them.
5. Decision#
| Total score | ____ / ____ |
| Meets the minimum bar | yes / no |
| Recommendation | hire / no hire / another stage |
| Strongest evidence for | |
| Strongest evidence against | |
| What I would want the next interviewer to probe |
Write your recommendation before discussing it with other interviewers. Otherwise the first person to speak sets the room, and independent assessments are the reason for having more than one interviewer.
6. After the decision#
- [ ] Every candidate received an outcome, including those rejected
- [ ] Rejected candidates who reached a late stage got something useful
- [ ] Notes retained per our data retention policy, and no longer
- [ ] Questions reviewed — any that failed to distinguish candidates get replaced
Questions that did not distinguish anyone: _______________
A question everyone answers identically is measuring nothing. Replace it before the next round.