How to record Job Applicant Interview results

Comparing multiple job applicants after the interviews are complete can be tough to do if you did not capture your impressions in a structured way. Without a structured process to capture impressions various forms of bias can creep into your decision-making. For example… most people tend to prefer people who are more like they are and therefore tend to hire people who are most like themselves. And it is also true that we often have a “feeling” of whether we like someone or not within the first 5 minutes of the interview. Trying to ignore these unconscious biases is hard to do without a structured process to capture your interview results.

The template (download button is below) is a way for you to be more diligent in capturing specific feedback from the candidate as it relates to the job description and requirements for the vacancy. Avoid making decisions about whether or not to hire a person during the interview. Instead focus on the gathering the relevant data needed for making those decisions. A structured interview record can go a long way towards helping you do just that.

To customize the template for your particular vacancy look at the first column and compare it with the job profile – what do you really need this person to be good at and have proven experience in? Capture those areas in the first column. Ask all of the job applicants the same questions and rate their answers in the second column – either during the interview or just after the interview to ensure the responses are still clear in your mind.

Tips:

• If you don’t have enough time to cover all of the job profile areas that you would like to gather data on, consult with other interviewers and suggest that perhaps they start at the bottom of the page and work their way upwards.
• Have all interviewers use the same interview record sheet to ensure a consistent process of gathering data in specific critical job performance areas for the vacancy you have.
• When you are ready to evaluate the job applicants based on interview results be sure to look at the written scores and do not be tempted into changing scores during the discussion. The objective is not to make any interviewer’s scores “wrong” or “right” but to understand why any interviewers found some responses less credible in critical areas.
• If you truly want to move away from any possible biases consider asking the Hiring Manager to only specify the critical job performance areas which is then captured in the job profile. Then ask a different manager (or groups of managers) to interview and select the job applicant to hire for the vacancy.