Put simply, an interview scorecard is a way of establishing consistent and objective assessments within the interview process. Each interviewer completes a scorecard for the candidate and compares rankings to identify the strongest candidates.

The scorecard usually includes:

• Qualifications

• Interpersonal skills

• Technical skills

• Culture fit

• Response to questions

• Possible areas of concern

In today’s virtual world - where onboarding remotely is common practice, it’s more important than ever to reduce bias, organise and share information effectively and measure success.

However, if you’re used to a more informal interview, a scorecard can seem a strange and unnatural tool. They require attention and can affect conversation flow and eye contact.

Even when taking this into consideration, in our opinion the pros far outweigh the cons. And here’s 10 reasons why…

1. Help to definte role - by forcing interviewers to drill down to specific requirements

2. Maintain focus - unstructured interviews very easily go off track

3. Challenge subjectivity - scoring sytems aren't influened by interviewer mood or technique

4. Help inexperienced interviewers - allows more people to become involved in the interview process which speeds the entire process

5. Produce fair assessments -- particularly in panel interviews and multiple interviews

6. Aide-memoire - use a scorecard to remind yourself of candidates responses

7. Identify mistakes - when it comes to bad hires, you can use a scorecard to review what went wrong

8. Prevent dsicrimination - they provide useful documentation to uphold decisions in court

9. Make final decisions - when there is a disagreement within the panel, scorecards can help make an informed decision

10. Streamline the process - once you have a template in place, you can configure and adjust to each new role

While the candidate experience should take top priority, high quality data is essential to making a confident and successful hiring decision, and a standardised scorecard is an easy and efficient way to collate this data. And while it may seem a little formulaic and mechanical, the questions you ask can be as creative and stimulating as you like. Remember, you can be transparent with candidates and let them know that you are using a scorecard format for the interview.

“At Omega, we have seen recruitment delayed because of COVID-19, partly due to hiring managers waiting for physical interviews to resume. We believe that not only is virtual recruitment possible, by using an interview scorecard it’s actually beneficial.

No longer should a ‘gut feeling’ from one interviewer be used to make an important hiring decision. It’s not objective or fair. Scorecards are a way of making successful recruitment decisions - free of bias.”
Mark Porch, Divisional Director, Omega

If you still believe that virtual interviews should be an intuitive and unpremeditated process, please speak to the experts at Omega.
Call us today on 01453 827 333 or email [email protected] to discover all of the benefits of interview scorecards.