# Structured Interview Rubric ## Instructions Analyze this as a hiring interview. "You" is the interviewer, "Them" is the candidate. Score the interview against the six criteria in the playbook below, giving each a 1 to 5 and quoting the line from the transcript that earned that score. Score each of the interviewer's questions separately before forming an overall read. Never score a criterion you have no evidence for; mark it n/a and say what was missing. Judge only what the candidate said out loud, never delivery or likeability you cannot hear in the words. Where a score is 3 or below, write the exact follow-up question the interviewer should have asked to get real evidence. ## What this lens is for A structured hiring interview where the interviewer asks the same questions of every candidate and needs a defensible score, not an impression. A good answer describes a real past situation, the action the candidate personally took, a decision with a tradeoff, and a result you can check. A weak answer runs on maxims ("I always stay calm") and hypotheticals ("I would handle it professionally"), which cannot be verified. The output should let a second interviewer agree with the score by reading the quotes. ## How to read the call - Read once end to end before scoring. First-pass scoring rewards the loudest story. - Split the interview by question and score each answer on its own evidence. - For each answer, mark whether it is a real past event or a hypothetical, because criterion 1 only applies to the first. - Note every "we" where you needed an "I," and every result stated as a feeling rather than a fact. - Check consistency across questions last: one strong answer among four thin ones is a rehearsed story, not a strong candidate. ## The criteria ### 1. A real situation, not a maxim **Listen for:** A specific past event with a when, a where, and who was there, not a general rule about how they behave. | Score | Sounds like | |---|---| | **1-2** | A maxim, no event. "I always stay calm and professional under pressure." | | **3** | A vague event with no anchor. "There was this one time a customer got upset, and I handled it." | | **4-5** | A dated, located, specific event. "Two weeks ago on the late shift, a customer demanded a refund we stopped giving after 30 days." | **Quote:** The sentence that establishes the specific situation, or note that none was given. ### 2. Their action, owned as "I" **Listen for:** What this candidate personally did, in the first person, not what the team did. | Score | Sounds like | |---|---| | **1-2** | The team did it. "We handled it as a group and got through it." | | **3** | Mixed ownership. "We decided, and then I sort of took care of it." | | **4-5** | Clear personal action. "I checked the receipt date myself and gave him the answer before my manager stepped in." | **Quote:** The first-person verb that names their action, or the "we" they hid behind. ### 3. A decision with a tradeoff named **Listen for:** A choice between real options, and why they picked one. | Score | Sounds like | |---|---| | **1-2** | Pure compliance, no choice. "I just followed the procedure I was trained on." | | **3** | A decision with no reasoning. "I decided to give him the credit." | | **4-5** | Options and a reason. "Two choices: bend the rule or offer store credit. I offered credit, since a chargeback costs us more." | **Quote:** The line where they weighed one option against another. ### 4. A result you can check **Listen for:** An outcome with a number or an observable consequence, not a feeling. | Score | Sounds like | |---|---| | **1-2** | A feeling, secondhand praise. "It went really well and my manager said it was great." | | **3** | A soft outcome. "He calmed down and left okay." | | **4-5** | A checkable result. "He took the credit, and we made that the standard reply for late refunds afterward." | **Quote:** The outcome sentence, and whether it contains anything you could verify. ### 5. What they would do differently **Listen for:** Honest reflection, not a rehearsed weakness or a humblebrag. | Score | Sounds like | |---|---| | **1-2** | Nothing to improve. "Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing." | | **3** | A generic weakness. "I could always communicate a bit better, I guess." | | **4-5** | A specific, real change. "I'd have brought my manager in earlier so he heard the policy from both of us." | **Quote:** The reflection line, or note that reflection was absent. ### 6. On the competency the question asked **Listen for:** Evidence for the thing you asked about, not a nearby virtue. | Score | Sounds like | |---|---| | **1-2** | Answers a different question. Asked about conflict, talks about being organized. | | **3** | Drifts toward the competency but never lands on it. | | **4-5** | Directly on target. Asked about conflict, the whole story is the conflict and how it resolved. | **Quote:** The part of the answer that addresses the competency you asked about, or note the drift. ## Scoring Score each criterion 1 to 5. Mark n/a where the transcript gives you nothing, and say what was missing rather than guessing. For a hypothetical question, skip criterion 1 and weight criterion 3. Report the average across the criteria you could score, to one decimal place, plus the per-question spread. - **4.0 and up.** Strong evidence. Advance, and note the one competency to confirm in the next round. - **3.0 to 3.9.** Real but uneven. Name the two lowest criteria; those are the next round's questions. - **2.0 to 2.9.** Fluent, unproven. Little that was said can be checked. - **Below 2.0.** No evidence. Treat as a screen that did not happen. A high average with a 1 on criterion 1 across most questions is not a strong candidate. Say so plainly: the answers were rehearsed, not real. ## Red flags - **All maxims.** Every answer is how they would behave, never a thing that happened. - **The "we" curtain.** The candidate never once says what they personally did. - **One rehearsed story.** A single vivid answer, and four thin ones around it. - **Feelings as results.** Outcomes described only as "it went well," never as a fact you could check. - **Off-competency.** The strongest story does not answer the question that was asked. - **No reflection.** Nothing they would change, on any answer. ## How to report - Open with the average, the per-question spread, the strongest criterion, and the weakest. One sentence each. - Under what went well: each criterion scoring 4 or 5, with its number and the quote that earned it. - Under what to improve: each criterion scoring 3 or below, with its number, the quote that cost it, and the follow-up the next round should ask. - Under decisions: only what the panel actually decided, in plain terms (advance, hold, reject). - Under action items: who owns the next round or the reference check, and by when. - If instead you are asked for a single performance block, run the six criteria there, item by item, same evidence rule. ## Coaching notes - Score the words, not the delivery. A confident voice is not a checkable result. - Compare candidates on the same criterion, never on overall gut. That is what makes the scores fair. - If your whole panel scores soft on criterion 3, your interviews reward likable people who never show judgment. Fix the question, not the scorer.