Screening notes and scorecards: a simple format to reuse after every interview

A screening note is a short record of what the candidate actually said on the call, written against the req before you dial the next number. A scorecard takes the four to six must-haves from the job description and gives each one a score and a line of evidence, so every candidate on the req is judged the same way and you can show the client why you sent who you sent.

Example scene (illustrative): It's 4:30 on a Thursday. You've screened three people for a .NET contract since lunch. The account manager leans over and asks which one is strongest. Your notes say "good comms, solid, keen" for all three. You call one of them back to check something you should have written down the first time.

Below is the format we'd use: one note, one scorecard, a filled-in example and a copy-paste template.

Who reads your notes

Three people read a screening note, and none of them were on the call:

• you, tomorrow morning, when the client calls about the candidate
• the account manager or a colleague covering the req
• the client, because the write-up that goes with the CV / resume is built from these notes

"Good comms" is a verdict, and nobody else can check it. The US Office of Personnel Management's structured interview training puts it well: notes should "summarize the content of actual responses" and be "of sufficient quality and quantity to justify your ratings". The same deck says notes should not be evaluative statements about the candidate or their personality.

The screening note: same headings, same order, every call

Keep it to one screen. Write it as the candidate talks, tidy it the minute you hang up.

1. Header. Candidate name, req number, client, date, who screened, how long the call ran.

2. Must-haves, one line each. Copy the four to six must-haves from the job description into the note before you dial. Under each, write what the candidate said, with something you could check: the project, the year, the tool, the size of the team. "Led code reviews for a team of five on a payments app, 2023 to now" beats "strong leadership".

When a candidate says "we migrated to Azure", ask what their part was. OPM's deck tells interviewers to seek clarification when candidates say "we did…" or "our group…". On a staffing desk that one question saves more bad sends than any other.

3. Gaps. What the JD asks for that the candidate doesn't have, said plainly. "Asked for Kubernetes, has used it on one project, read-only." If you can't fill this section, you haven't read the JD closely enough.

4. Logistics. Rate expectation and how they confirmed it, notice period or start date, interview availability this week, planned time off, location or right-to-work answer if the req asks, other interviews they're in, and whether the right to represent is done for this req.

5. Your call. Send, hold or no, and one sentence on why.

What stays out: anything about looks, accent, age, family, health or anything else that has nothing to do with the job. OPM's guidance says interviewers should never ask or comment on these, and its FAQ on structured interviews says "Any reference to an applicant's personal appearance, characteristics, etc., cannot be used in scoring the interview." If it can't go in front of the client, it shouldn't be in the note.

The scorecard: set the scale before the first call

The note records what they said. The scorecard turns it into something you can compare across candidates.

Pick one scale and keep it. OPM suggests between three and seven levels, with at least three of them labelled. We'd use four, because a four-point scale has no middle box to park everyone in:

• 1: doesn't have it
• 2: has some of it, would need support
• 3: has it, can show where
• 4: has it and has led or taught it

Write what a 2 and a 4 sound like before you screen anyone. Google's re:Work guide to structured interviewing describes writing out what "a poor, borderline, solid, and outstanding answer would cover". On a desk, two lines per must-have is enough. It stops the third candidate of the afternoon getting a 3 for an answer that got a 2 at ten o'clock.

Score one must-have at a time, from the note. OPM's process is to review the notes for each question, then choose the rating, one question at a time. Don't score the whole person and work backwards.

A 1 on a must-have is a no. A good total doesn't rescue a missing must-have. If the client says Azure is a must and the candidate has never touched it, don't send them hoping the hiring manager won't notice.

A filled-in example (illustrative)

Req: senior .NET developer, 6-month contract, hybrid. Every name, line and score below is made up to show the format.

Gaps: Azure is lighter than the JD wants. Says so themselves.

Call: send, with the Azure gap stated in the write-up.

That last line matters. The client sees the gap from us, not from their own interview.

What goes to the client, and what stays in the file

The client gets the evidence, not the number. A "3" means nothing to a hiring manager who didn't set your scale. "Rewrote slow reporting queries and walked us through an index change" means something.

Every line that reaches the client has to point back to the candidate's CV / resume or to something they told you. If the call turns up experience the CV / resume doesn't show, ask the candidate to add it to their own CV / resume and confirm it. We never add it for them. More on that in how to match a resume to a job description without making things up.

Make it stick

• File the note before the next call. After two more screens you'll remember the confident one and forget the detail.
• Use the same headings in your ATS notes field for every candidate, so a search for a req number brings back notes you can compare side by side.
• Once a week, put your scorecards next to the client's feedback. If your 4s keep coming back as rejections from one client, your scale is wrong for that client. Rewrite the two lines for that must-have.

Copy-paste template

Candidate:            Req #:          Client:
Date:                 Screened by:    Call length:

MUST-HAVES (from the JD)           SCORE (1-4)   WHAT THEY SAID
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

GAPS (what the JD asks for that they don't have):

LOGISTICS
Rate (and how confirmed):
Notice / start date:
Interview availability:
Planned time off:
Location / right to work (if the req asks):
Other interviews in progress:
Right to represent for this req: yes / no

CALL: send / hold / no
Why (one sentence):

Where Cntrlall fits

We're building a recruiting assistant into Cntrlall that will draft screening questions and a scorecard for an open role. It's coming soon. You'll still run the call and write down what the candidate said. Get your invite at cntrlall.com

Related reading: 5 reasons clients reject candidate submissions and how to put a resume into a client's Word template without retyping it.