Interview Evaluation Form Guidelines & Samples

Ultimately, the interview is about selecting the best candidate. Though each job role requires specific requirements, the criteria set by the hiring manager are quite the same, including educational background, work experience, soft and hard skills, personal traits, etc.  

An interview feedback form that puts together all these factors allows you to assess and score the candidate's overall qualifications for the position to which they have applied. In the case of panel interviews or group interviews, having a candidate evaluation form helps streamline your hiring process, make apples-to-apples comparisons, and in turn choose the best fit for your company. 

In this article, you'll find everything you need to know about an interview evaluation form, from what an interview evaluation form is, why it matters, how to create one, and more. 

An interview evaluation form, a.k.a interview feedback form or candidate evaluation form, is a document filled out by the interviewer during and after the interview. Job candidates can't see this. Rather, it is kept and shared as a reference among those making hiring decisions, such as the hiring manager or CEO.  

The format might vary among companies and job roles. While some use this as a checklist of qualities that an ideal candidate should possess, an interview rating sheet template aims to score the candidates based on their answers and overall interview performance. Other companies tend to keep this simple by writing specific job-related comments in candidate evaluation forms only. 

Regardless of the interview evaluation form template, the main purpose is to allow hiring managers to assess each candidate's overall qualifications for the position they’ve applied for.

Comparing candidates objectively.

Since all job applicants are evaluated under the same criteria, using a candidate interview evaluation form allows the hiring manager to score them in a consistent way and quickly ascertain the stand-out candidate. 

Reducing hiring bias.

Unconscious bias occurs when the interviewer forms an impression of a candidate simply based on an intuitive action of the mind instead of the criteria relevant to the job requirements, for example how they look, where they come from, or what college they went to. Using a candidate feedback form might avoid such types of unconscious bias because all job-related categories are listed clearly. 

Avoiding illegal interview questions.

Perhaps you already know it’s inappropriate to ask a candidate questions about their age, ethnicity, religion, or former employers. Using an interview evaluation sheet will help avoid this problem, because you know exactly what information you'll need to collect from interviewees.  

Hiring effectively.

With a post-interview evaluation process, there is sufficient information for a full assessment of job candidates so that the people in charge can make the final decision quickly and easily. This in turn will speed up the process of recruiting and onboarding a qualified candidate while saving a lot of time and cost of hiring.

Helping people in the hiring team make an informed decision.

In many cases, the candidate is interviewed by only one person from the company. The interview feedback form serves as an important reference for the entire hiring team to make the final decision. They can be the Department Head, HR manager, or CEO.  

You may find many interview rating sheet templates online and choose one that works best for your company. Regardless of the form, make sure you include the following elements. 

1. Education/Training

Most jobs require a certain level of education. Especially for entry-level positions, it will indicate the candidate's ability to handle the role. 

In the interview evaluation form, you may score the candidate based on the type of degree they hold or the college they went to. You can also write some notes if they’ve completed the training or obtained any certification relevant to the position.    

Example of an interview evaluation sheet for the Marketing Intern position: 

2. Work experience

Another important criterion on an interview feedback form is the candidate's professional experience. Based on the questions about their work history, you can determine if they possess the necessary skills and knowledge related to the position for which they're applying. 

3 questions about the candidate’s professional experience in the interview evaluation form:

• What skills and strengths can the candidate bring to this position?
• Has the candidate worked on similar tasks or projects in former roles? 
• What was the candidate’s proficiency in using tools and software specific to this position?
  

3. Practical knowledge

Practical knowledge empowers an individual to achieve something that he has learned earlier. For candidates, this can be their insights into the industry they have been working in, or their technical knowledge that allows them to perform specific job tasks.  

3 questions about the candidate’s field knowledge in the interview evaluation form:

• Banking: Can the candidate identify the different types of fixed deposits?
• FinTech: According to the candidate, what are the latest trends in the financial services industry?
• SEO: Can the candidate tell the difference between On Page Optimization and Off Page Optimization?
  

4. Knowledge about the company

The interview assessment form might also have a category where you evaluate how well the candidate knows about your company. Their answers not only demonstrate how much research and preparation they've done for this interview, but also reveal their interest in the role for which they're applying. 

3 questions to assess a candidate’s understanding of the company:

• Did the candidate research our company prior to the interview?
• According to the candidate, what makes our products different from our competitors?
• Did the candidate provide any recommendations for improving our services?
  
  

5. Personality

The personality interview questions allow you to identify potential hires who'll work well in the team and fit in your company culture. You can pick out several top character traits that you're looking for in a suitable candidate to assess their general likeability. 

6. Communication skills

Strong communication skills are essential for workplace success. That's why another category most candidate evaluation forms include is communication skills. This category doesn't simply assess the candidate’s interpersonal skills they need to handle their job tasks efficiently. But more than this, it refers to the way they communicate and how confidently they present themselves in the interview.

💡 Include necessary information.

While candidate feedback forms might vary in certain companies and organizations, a standard form should always include the following information:

• The candidate’s name
• The position 
• The interviewer’s name
• The date of the interview
• Other team members

💡 Establish a clear, consistent scoring system.

This is especially true when it comes to a diverse, international hiring team. The interview score sheet should provide a clear explanation of the numerical rating system, for example:

“The numeric value corresponds to the candidate's level of qualification. 

Please refer to the rating scale below:

1 = Poor | 2 = Fair | 3 = Proficient | 4 = Very good | 5 = Excellent”

💡 Leave space for the interviewer’s comments.

Including the comment section in the candidate evaluation form which provides further feedback about the candidate aims to streamline and optimize the recrutiment process. Members of the hiring team can refer to each other's feedback to make the final decision, which is a great way to avoid bias when selecting the best fit. 

Example of the comments for the interview evaluation:

“[Name] has acquired necessary skills and qualifications through past work experiences in the [industry]. During the interview, he/she also demonstrated excellent communication skills, which I believe makes her/him the right fit for the [team]. However, he/she is not quite willing to work overtime if he/she has to.”

💡 Adjust the form to the specific position. 

The structure of all candidate evaluation forms might be the same, however, it's essential to include or exclude some categories accordingly depending on the vacant role. 

Let's say your company is offering internships. While an intern probably will not have extensive work experience in the field, you should consider adding more critera related to their skills and personal triats. On the other hand, the interview evaluation of high-level positions will need to focus more on their professional experience, accomplishments, and industry knowledge. 

🔎 Interview score sheet template

🔎 Interview assessment form sample

— Originally written by May Luong —