Hire on evidence, not a gut feeling
Most small teams interview the way they always have: a friendly chat, a gut feeling, a quick huddle afterward. It feels efficient, and it’s widely considered one of the least reliable ways to hire. This structured-interview kit fixes it without turning hiring into a bureaucracy — a competency-based scorecard that rates every candidate against the same criteria, plus a bank of over 100 interview questions organized by competency.
Ask every candidate the same job-related questions, score the answers on the same 1–5 scale, and compare like-for-like. You interview consistently, decide on evidence you can point to, and keep a defensible record of why each hire was made.
Score every candidate the same way
The Candidate Scorecard is the heart of the kit. Rate each candidate 1–5 on eight weighted competencies and the workbook does the rest:
- A weighted score and percentage — each rating counts by its competency’s weight, so what matters most counts most
- An automatic rank across your whole slate
- A clear recommendation for every candidate — Strong Yes, Yes, Maybe, or No — from the same thresholds every time
No more comparing a shortlist from memory. The ranking falls out of the scores, and every recommendation traces back to ratings you can point to.
A 100+ question bank, ready to use
The Question Bank gives you over 100 behavioral and situational interview questions organized by the competency each one is built to reveal. Every question is paired with what a strong answer actually shows and a follow-up probe to push past a rehearsed reply. Pick two or three per competency, ask the same ones of every candidate, and you’re ready.
Fair, legal, and defensible
Structured interviewing is fairer by design — everyone gets the same job-related questions. The Fair & Legal Interviewing tab lists the topics to keep off the table and the job-related question to ask instead, plus the bias traps that quietly turn a structured interview unstructured. The Decision Log keeps a dated, audit-ready record of each hire.
What you get
- A 7-tab workbook — Read Me, Scoring Guide, Competencies, Candidate Scorecard, Question Bank, Fair & Legal Interviewing, and Decision Log
- A one-click Google Sheets copy — a ready-made native version, no importing
- Four PDF guides — a Start Here method guide, a scoring guide with a worked five-candidate example, a printable question bank, and a printable per-candidate scorecard with a fair-hiring quick card
- A pre-loaded worked example you overwrite with your own candidates
Works in Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice. Edit the competencies and weights to fit any role — the scorecard follows.
Own it, don’t rent it
This is a file you own outright — no per-seat fees, no monthly subscription, no vendor holding your hiring data. It sits right where you need it: more than a blank spreadsheet or a free template, without the overkill of a full applicant-tracking suite built for a company ten times your size. Buy once, reuse it for every role you hire for.
Try it first: the free single-role interview scorecard shows the like-for-like scoring on one candidate before you get the full kit.
A hiring decision aid and record-keeping template — not HR, legal, or professional advice, and not a guarantee of a good hire or a lawful process. The fair-hiring guidance is general good practice; rules vary by locality, so check with your own counsel. The example role and candidates are fictional. A score is a decision aid, not a verdict.
