Interview scorecards serve as the backbone of structured interviews, enabling interviewers to jot down candidates’ responses to job-related queries and evaluate them using rating systems.
While interview scorecards are beneficial, they aren’t perfect. The formal structure they provide might feel unfamiliar to those accustomed to informal interviews. Nonetheless, they enhance interview effectiveness.
In this article, we’ll explore the advantages and disadvantages of employing interview score sheets, asserting that their advantages surpass their drawbacks.
Why People Avoid Using Interview Scorecards
1. Limiting the amount of eye contact during interviews
Some people avoid using scorecards in interviews because they can disrupt eye contact. These sheets demand a lot of attention as interviewers need to take thorough notes to assess candidates’ responses. However, this note-taking process can interrupt the natural flow of conversation and eye contact that many expect during interviews.
Not having enough eye contact can make the situation uncomfortable. Candidates might feel uneasy, and interviewers may miss important cues from their body language. However, training interviewers can help solve these issues effectively.
2. Requires more time and effort
Making interview scorecards isn’t simple. You have to figure out what qualities you’re looking for, select the right questions for each quality, and decide on a rating system, like saying yes or no, or using a scale from 1 to 5.
Creating your interview scorecard doesn’t have to be complicated. Jouku makes it easy to set up custom scorecards based on the skills that matter to you. See just how easy it can be with a free demo!
3. Not allowing you to stray from the process
This situation has its ups and downs. It’s usually good to keep interviews focused on the topic, but sometimes it’s not. In a more casual conversation, candidates might share something important, feel more comfortable, and give better answers. Structured interviews might make candidates feel like they can’t fully show their abilities.
Why People Choose To Use Interview Scorecards
1. Make interviews fairer and more consistent
In unstructured interviews, there’s a lot of room for personal opinions. The questions and how they’re scored can change based on the interviewer’s feelings or preferences. Some interviews might be long, while others are short, which doesn’t seem fair and can lead to poor hiring choices.
Using interview scorecards helps because all candidates are asked the same questions and their answers are scored consistently.
2. Help hiring managers improve
Biases can make it hard for us to judge things accurately and learn from our mistakes. For example, if a new employee doesn’t work out, managers might say they “knew it all along,” even if they didn’t. Scorecards help by allowing us to review where we might have gone wrong in our hiring decisions.
They also help us see how accurate our predictions were. If a new employee does really well, we can go back to our scorecards and notes to see if we noticed their potential during the interview. If we missed it, we can use that to improve how we assess candidates in the future.
3. Help to stay on track
In unstructured interviews, it’s easy to lose focus. Interview scorecards can help interviewers stay on track by providing a set number of questions to ask and score. Taking notes can also help them remember only the important information related to the job.
4. Helps to record separate judgements on candidates
After conducting many interviews, it’s easy to mix up the candidates in your mind. Without scorecards, you might struggle to remember who said what, leading you to rely on your general feelings about the candidates. This can introduce bias and make it hard to explain your decision.
Using interview scorecards helps keep each candidate distinct. You evaluate them based on specific criteria, and your notes help you remember each one clearly. When discussing with your hiring team, you have a clear idea of how each candidate performed.
5. Helps to think through requirements
Creating interview scorecard questions is an important process. While interviewers may have a general idea of what they want in a candidate, translating this into specific requirements can lead to better decisions.
Scorecards help clarify vague terms like “excellent” by defining specific criteria, such as negotiation skills, market knowledge, and sales performance for a sales director position. They also assist in focusing on relevant requirements, preventing the evaluation of unnecessary traits like extraversion for a role like an accounting clerk. Scorecards encourage prioritizing essential criteria, streamlining the assessment process.
6. Can be used in court
Interview scorecards offer a valuable asset that all courts value: documentation. Structured interviews, aided by scorecards, reduce the likelihood of legal challenges for discrimination. Even in the event of a lawsuit, structured interviews increase employers’ prospects of prevailing. The detailed documentation provided by interview scorecards serves as evidence to demonstrate that hiring decisions were made impartially. Without such documentation, companies may struggle to justify their candidate selection process to legal authorities.
Leave a Reply