If you’re new to the hiring world, you may not be familiar the concept of interview scorecards. But essentially, they’re a tool used by hiring teams to evaluate and compare candidates systematically during the interview process.
Interview scorecards typically include criteria that align with the job requirements and company values, such as skills, experience, and behavioral attributes. Each answer to a question is scored, often on a numbered scale, and the scorecard helps ensure consistency and objectivity. Interview scorecards can also help lead discussions among interviewers, improving and expediting the overall decision-making process in hiring.
If you’re a startup or a smaller company managing your own hiring, we get it – this process may seem cumbersome. After all, it’s already a lot of work up to this point to write job descriptions, advertise jobs, review resumes, schedule interviews…
But we’re big believers in interview scorecards, and we’ve seen good interview scorecards save recruiting teams a lot of time when they’re talking to tens or even hundreds of candidates. Once you have a template you can pull up for each interview, it can take the guesswork out of trying to remember “what did that candidate say again?”
Plus, interview scorecards make it easy to compare candidates’ side by side because you can quickly pull up two different scorecards and scan the answers to questions you’re looking for. Interview scorecards are a more helpful summary than just a resume and some jotted down notes because you can remember what candidates actually said, not just what they've listed on their resumes.
No fancy template is needed – word docs, Google docs, or wherever you take notes works just fine.
Every interview scorecard is different because every role is different. For example, if you're hiring AI/ML engineers, those are going to be very different questions if you're hiring Account Executives. But we suggest copying the basics of an interview scorecard we’ve outlined below, then adding in your specific questions.
Basics for an interview scorecard:
At the top of each interview scorecard, we include:
1. Job title
2. Stage (phone screen, first interview, final interview, etc.)
3. Feedback by (typically this is one of our recruiters)
4. Decision (We give 4 options here: No, Maybe, Yes, or Strong Yes. Typically, only Yes/Strong Yes candidates will continue to move forward in the process). Decide at the end of the call or interview which category your interviewee falls into.
And then some of these standard questions for every interview scorecard:
1. Snapshot/Career/Previous companies (we typically ask a question like, “walk me through your career so far”)
2. Why would you be interested in joining a [insert company type here: startup, mid-size company, public company]?
3. What is your ideal timeline and start date for starting a new job?
4. Are you interviewing elsewhere? Where are you in the process?
5. Why are you looking for a new position?
6. Where are you located?
7. Are you looking for remote, hybrid or in person work?
8. Are you open to relocation?
9. Do you have a desired salary range you’re looking for in your next position?
10. Do you now or in the future need visa sponsorship?
Copy and paste these interview questions to create your own scorecard for Engineering, Product Design and Product Management candidates.
Engineering interview scorecard questions:
1. Technologies List (we review the technologies required for the role, ask the candidate if they have experience with these technologies, and then note years of experience with each).
2. Explain a project where you felt you made the most impact?
3. What percentage work are you doing frontend vs backend?
4. Share with me a time you had to take ownership and/or lead within your workplace?
5. Tell us about your preferred tech stack.
6. Describe a challenging technical problem you solved.
7. What’s your approach to troubleshooting and debugging?
Product design interview scorecard questions:
1. Design tools and technologies (we review the design programs required for the role, ask the candidate if theyhave experience with these technologies, and then note years of experience witheach).
2. Are you designing products that are pre-launch or things that have already been deployed?
3. Explain a project where you felt you made the most impact?
4. Can you walk me through your Mobile design experience?
5. Can you walk me through your web design experience?
6. Have you done user research before? In what capacity?
7. What timelines have you had to work with when launching products?
8. Is there a specific design title you're looking for?
Product Manager interview scorecard questions:
1. How do you conduct market research for a new product or feature?
2. Describe a product you have owned from start to finish, including product iteration.
3. How would you describe our product in a couple of sentences?
4. Describe a time when you had to make a tough call affecting the product roadmap.
5. Once a product is launched, how do you measure its success? What metrics do you use?
6. In your opinion, what makes a great user experience?
7. How do you develop and prioritize features for a new product?
Let our team help you get where you need to be.
