You have probably seen interview score sheets before. The thin piece of paper that interviewers jot down their interview notes on has become a mainstay of interviews. But just to be clear and their purpose:

Interview score sheets, also known as interview scorecards, interview matrix, or a hiring rubric, are a way for interviewers to easily assess each job applicant’s performance during the interview process and give an accurate representation of how well that applicant will do on the job if hired. Interviewers score each job applicant on the same competencies set on the interview score sheet, then compare scores to determine the preferred candidate.

This article will discuss both positives and negatives of using an interview score sheet as part of your hiring process, so you can make an informed decision about whether or not this is something you want to incorporate into your company’s interviewing process.

The Positives Of Using Interview Score Sheets

Interview score sheets are a way for interviewers to easily assess each applicant’s performance during the interviewing process. They give an accurate representation of how well that person will do on their job if hired, and they can be used as part or all in your hiring decision-making processes depending upon what you want out from them. Interview scores also help with consistency across interviews so there is no discrepancy between different people scoring applicants differently based on personal biases (which we’ll talk about later).

+1. Interview score sheets keep you focused

Interview score sheets keep you focused on the task at hand and not distracted by other things. For example, if someone is interviewing for a sales position they may be tempted to focus more heavily on that person’s ability as an individual speaker or their charisma during interviews but this can lead them away from what really matters: how well does the interviewee sell?

Also, interview score sheets can help the interviewer stay focused particularly during an unstructured job interview. Notes on the score sheet can help interviewers remember job-relevant information too.

+2. Interviewee scorecards help keep things legally defensible

Interviewers may not always remember what was said during each part of the interview. So, interview score sheets are a way for employers to keep track of their employees’ interviews. And when an employer is faced with a potential discrimination lawsuit, they can use the interview sheets as documentation in court because it shows that hiring decisions were fair and equitable. The employer will then be able to explain why they declined certain candidates.

+3. Interview score sheets help make your interviews fairer

Interview score sheets also help make your interviews fairer by eliminating the need for subjective scoring. Standardized questions and scoring methods are more objective, which means that interviewers can be confident in their decisions to hire or decline candidates without worrying about bias creeping into those judgments.

Ultimately, interviewers can use score sheets to ask the same basic questions and evaluate their answers more consistently.

+4. Score sheets help you decide the most important requirements of the job

Interviewers often have an idea of what they’re looking for, but translating their image into specific requirements can help them support better decisions on where to invest resources and time. Simply looking for ‘excellence’ in one area may be vague, which is where interview score sheets come in. They can identify what skills and qualifications are necessary for success in that position, which will make it easier when interviewing candidates who have those qualities or lack thereof. You should define more specifically by scoring candidates based on skills that are desirable for example negotiation skills, verbal communication skills, or knowledge about technical know-how.

On the opposite side, the process of choosing the criteria for evaluation can be difficult if not guided by a score sheet. Without one, you might end up with too many requirements to evaluate in the interview and it could lead to some issues in your decision-making process. Score sheets help to ensure you don’t get overwhelmed when deciding where to focus when evaluating candidates and force you to focus on picking the most essential competencies for success in the vacancy.

+5. Score sheets can help improve your recruitment skills

Score sheets can help you assess how good your interview predictions were. It’s not always easy to learn how to make better ones, but it will only take a few minutes, and using this learning tool may get you more accurate in the process. After hiring your top job candidate, and their performance is particularly impressive, you can look back at the score sheet and see what you predicted they would be good in. If a new hire is not performing well, then it’s worth looking to your predictions again for an explanation as to why this might have happened – was there something that wasn’t captured on paper?

Score sheets can also help improve recruitment skills by providing feedback about how successful interviews were or if candidates were suitable based upon their performance during certain interview questions. This will allow interviewers to improve their interviewing skills and provide a more accurate representation of the candidate next time around.

+6. Interview scoring sheets support hiring team collaboration

The scoring data on the interview score sheet helps hiring teams share their thoughts and opinions about candidates. This is an important part of the hiring process because it helps to ensure that everyone on a team agrees with who will be hired for each position, which can reduce conflict and improve communication between members in future interviews.

Potential biases can be spotted on each interviewer’s score sheet and addressed before they become a problem. Critically thinking about and talking through these potential biases can help interviewers avoid making decisions based on their personal opinions.

Lastly, if there are any major discrepancies within interviewers’ scores then these need addressing before making final decisions. Any misunderstandings or differences in interpreting candidate’s answers can be ironed out with the score sheet.

+7. Scoring helps you record separate judgments on candidates

When interviewing a large number of people, it is easy to get lost amid the mix of interviewees and their interview question responses. Without score sheets, you might start to forget the details of each candidate and their strengths.

The scoring system allows you, as an interviewer, to keep each interviewee distinct and to remember their strengths or weaknesses. You can then compare candidates and make a decision on who is the best candidate for your company, based solely on interview responses rather than personal opinions or biases that might have been formed during an interaction with one particular interviewee.

The negatives of using interview score sheets

As there are positives, there are also negatives to using interview score sheets that you may not be aware of.

–1. Interview score sheets are a barrier to natural conversation

Interview score sheet can be a complex process, requiring attention from the interviewer during the interview. Taking notes and then scoring the interviewee can take away from eye contact.

The interviewer may not be able to fully engage in what the interviewee has to say. This could result in the interviewer missing important information, or in the interviewee feeling like they are being judged and not heard, which then leads to a negative experience for the candidate.

A lack of eye contact also means that the interviewer may not be watching the candidate’s body language.  This can lead to missing important cues that may be helpful in determining the candidate’s truthfulness in their answers.

–2. Interview score sheets limit some information

Because the score sheets are strict, interviewers are not able to take in tangents that the interviewee may bring up. Interviewees might reveal something important but an interviewer would be unable to ask follow-up questions if they are not listed on the score sheet. This means that important information might go unasked and unanswered, which can lead to interviewees feeling like their time is wasted or ignored by hiring managers who don’t care about them as a person.

–3. Developing score sheets need more resources

Preparing for the interview score sheets can be a cumbersome task. Creating a score sheet for a single vacancy could mean spending hours analyzing the job, the job description, and developing scoring criteria for the chosen competencies. This is time that you, as the hiring manager, might not be able to afford especially if you have a vacancy to cover.

In Conclusion

Interview score sheets are a great way to get an objective overview of the interviewee’s performance. However, they can be time-consuming and difficult for hiring managers to use, especially if they lack the time and training for it.

However, the positives outweigh the negatives, and interview score sheets are a part of recruitment best practices. The use of score sheets could mean the difference between objectively finding the best candidate and thinking you have found the best candidate based on your gut feel.

If you want to learn how to create and use an interview score sheet, look out for our upcoming article on that.