ParrotNotes LogoParrotNotes

Interview Scorecard Template

Pick a preset for the role or write your own criteria, weight what matters, then rate each candidate from 1 to 5 with the evidence behind the number. The scorecard works out the weighted scores, compares candidates side by side and prints one page per candidate.

How to use an interview scorecard

A scorecard only helps if it is set up before the first interview and filled in the same way every time.

  1. Agree the criteria and weights with the hiring team before the first interview, from what the job actually needs in its first six months.
  2. Write "what good looks like" for each criterion, so a 3 means the same thing to every interviewer.
  3. Plan the same core questions for every candidate and link each one to a criterion.
  4. During the interview, take notes on what the candidate says and does. Rate straight after, before you talk to the rest of the panel.
  5. Compare the weighted scores and the evidence side by side, then make the call together. The score informs the decision; it does not make it.

The 1 to 5 rating scale

Each point on the scale has a definition: 1 no evidence or a concern, 2 below the bar, 3 meets the bar, 4 above the bar, 5 exceptional. The definitions print with every scorecard, so a reader can tell what a 4 meant.

The weighted score is Σ (weight × rating) ÷ Σ weight, over the criteria that candidate was rated on. Example: weights 25, 20, 15, 15, 15 and 10 with ratings 4, 3, 5, 4, 3 and 2 give (100 + 60 + 75 + 60 + 45 + 20) ÷ 100 = 3.6. Weights need not add up to 100; only the proportions count.

Scoring fairly

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management describes a structured interview this way: all candidates are asked the same predetermined questions in the same order, and all responses are evaluated using the same rating scale and standards for acceptable answers. Its practical guide says structured interviews have demonstrated a high degree of reliability, validity and legal defensibility, and recommends at least three rating levels, aiming for five to seven.

Score only what the job needs, never age, gender, family plans, religion, origin, disability or any other protected characteristic. There is no "culture fit" criterion here on purpose: if values matter, write them as behaviors you can hear in an answer, as the "Values and ways of working" criterion does.

Interview scorecard, interview notes, decision matrix

Interview notes record what was said. The scorecard turns those notes into ratings against criteria agreed in advance. A decision matrix compares any set of options on weighted criteria; this scorecard is built for people: an anchored scale, evidence per rating, a hiring recommendation and a page per candidate.

Need a page for the notes themselves? Our interview notes template shows what to write down during the interview.

Choosing between vendors, tools or territories instead of people? Use the decision matrix template.

Recording an interview? Ask the candidate first and record only with their consent. For the US rules, see one-party consent states.

Sources (read October 10, 2026)

More on hiring and ramping reps: sales onboarding, sales rep turnover, staffing sales.

Score from what they said, not what you remember.

By the third interview of the day, answers blur together. With the candidate's consent, record the interview in ParrotNotes and score from the transcript and summary, so the evidence on the scorecard is in the candidate's own words. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

Get ParrotNotes free

Related tools

Interview scorecard questions