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Hiring scorecard template

An interview scorecard template your panel will actually use.

Most scorecards live in an old spreadsheet nobody opens. Ours is written with the job description and tied to the role's KPIs and failure profile. Your hiring panel scores the things that decide who does well in the seat.

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The short answer

An interview scorecard lists the handful of things a role needs, with a rating scale for each. That is usually five hard skills, two past experiences and three culture traits. Every interviewer scores the candidate on the same lines, on their own, before the debrief. The template and a filled example for a plant manager are below, and our free tool writes one for your role.

Updated

What goes in it

  1. 01The role and its KPIs. The two or three numbers the hire will be judged on in year one.
  2. 02Five hard skills. The skills the person cannot do the job without. Pick ones you can test in an interview.
  3. 03Two past experiences. Things they must have actually done before, such as running a plant of 150 people.
  4. 04Three culture traits. How they behave with the team you already have.
  5. 05The failure profile. Who has failed in this seat before, and the warning signs to score against.
  6. 06A rating scale. A 1 to 4 score for every line, with a written meaning for each number.

A hiring scorecard should tell you who will do well in the job. Most of them only tell you who looked good in the interview. It comes down to what the scorecard is tied to.

A useful scorecard has five hard skills, two must have past experiences and three soft skills. The soft skills cover how the person will fit the team you already have. Interviewers skip every other column anyway.

The Talent Traction System builds that scorecard from the role's 12 month KPIs and the failure profile, so it describes the person you need. Your interview guide uses the same scorecard, so every question maps to a line on the sheet.

It is free and you can edit it. Download it as HTML, or as a Google Doc once you sign in. It is the same method Mike runs on his own executive searches.

Filled example

A filled interview scorecard for a plant manager

This example is for a fictional 240 person plant, Cardinal Manufacturing. The plant manager owns getting OEE from 86% to 94% within nine months. Each interviewer fills in their own copy.

Role KPIs

  • OEE: 94% within 9 months (86% today)
  • Safety: TRIR under 1.4 for 12 months in a row
  • Floor turnover under 18%

Hard skills

SkillWhat a 4 looks likeScore (1 to 4)
Lean or TPM in an existing plantLed the rollout and can name the OEE gain
Labor cost across shiftsCut overtime without hurting output
Capex planningRanked a backlog and got the top items funded
Quality systemsRan ISO 9001 audits, Six Sigma green belt or higher
Handling a line downWalks through a real outage step by step

Past experience (must have)

  • Ran a union plant of 150 or more people
  • No OSHA reportable incident on their watch in the last five years

Culture traits

  • Walks the floor daily
  • Knows the names of the people on the line
  • Gives the union steward a real seat at the table

Failure profile: score these as warning signs

  • Has only ever opened new plants and underestimates a 30 year old operation
  • Treats the union as the other side

Rating scale

ScoreMeaning
1No evidence
2Some evidence, no result behind it
3Clear evidence from a real example
4Strong evidence with a measured result
Build it yourself

Build one for your role in about fifteen minutes.

Answer a few questions about the role and your company, and the kit fills in as you go. It is free, with no credit card and no sales call.

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Common questions

What people ask us.

What is an interview scorecard?
It is one page that lists what a role needs and how to rate a candidate on each item. Every interviewer fills in the same scorecard, so you compare every candidate on the same things. The hire stops going to whoever felt best in the room.
What rating scale should a hiring scorecard use?
Use a short scale with a written meaning for each point. We use 1 to 4. A 1 means no evidence and a 2 means some. A 3 is clear evidence, and a 4 is strong evidence with a result behind it. An even number of points stops people from parking everyone in the middle.
When should interviewers fill in the scorecard?
Right after the interview and before they talk to anyone else about the candidate. Scores written after a group debrief tend to copy the loudest voice in the room.
How many items should a scorecard have?
About ten: five hard skills, two past experiences and three culture traits. More than that and interviewers skim. Fewer and you miss the reason people fail in the seat.
Is this an applicant tracking system?
No. Keep your ATS (Greenhouse, Workday, BambooHR) for tracking candidates. The scorecard tells you what you are tracking against.
How is this different from a blank scorecard template?
A blank template leaves the hard part to you. Ours is written for your role, your KPIs and your company. Your interview guide uses the same scorecard, so every question maps to a line on it.
Method proof

Real numbers from real searches.

200+SearchesRun with this method
20+YearsRefining one method
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