Free template
Word, Excel and PDF
Scoring rubric 1–5

Interview Evaluation Form (Free Template)

An interview evaluation form is the one-page document an interviewer fills in after each interview: the criteria for the role, a rating for each on the same scale, the evidence behind the rating, and a recommendation. Its job is to make candidates comparable and decisions defensible. Download ours below in Word, Excel or PDF, and use the same form for every candidate for the role.

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4.8 out of 5 350+ reviewsUpdated: August 2026

Chosen by over 1,000 companies to document their interviews

Most companies have an interview evaluation form and most interviewers fill it in from memory, two days later, with a number and no evidence. The form is not the problem; how it is used is.

This page gives you a form that works — criteria, a written 1-5 scale, an evidence column and a recommendation — and explains how to fill it in so that the debrief compares facts instead of impressions.

7criteria, each rated on the same 1–5 scale

3formats: Word, Excel and PDF

1page per interview, completed before the debrief

Download the interview evaluation form

Three formats, same content. The Excel version calculates the average rating and validates the 1-5 scale; Word and PDF are for editing the criteria or filling in by hand during the interview.

Free download

Interview evaluation form.Candidate details, seven criteria with a 1-5 rating, an evidence column, the written rating scale, overall rating and a hire / no-hire recommendation. No sign-up, no email. Better still: tell Voicit which form you use and it fills it in for you after every interview, with the candidate’s literal answers. See how it works.

Word (.docx)Excel (.xlsx)PDF

What is on the form, and why

Every field on the form exists to make a later comparison possible. If a field does not help you compare two candidates or explain a decision to someone who was not in the room, it should not be there.

Candidate details

What goes in itName, position, interviewer, date, stage

Why it mattersForms from different rounds and interviewers get matched later

Criteria (7 rows)

What goes in itThe competencies and skills the role actually needs

Why it mattersThe same rows for every candidate is what makes scores comparable

Rating 1-5

What goes in itA number against the written scale, not a gut feeling

Why it mattersNumbers without a shared definition are opinions with decimals

Evidence

What goes in itWhat the candidate said or did, in their words

Why it mattersThis is what the debrief will actually discuss

Overall rating and recommendation

What goes in itStrengths, concerns, a 1-5 overall, hire / no hire

Why it mattersForces a decision instead of a summary

How to fill in an interview evaluation form

Five rules that separate a useful form from paperwork. They take less time than they sound, because most of the work happens during the interview rather than after it.

Decide the criteria before the interview

In practicePick the seven rows from the role’s requirements; delete the ones that do not apply

What goes wrong otherwiseCriteria invented after the interview fit the candidate you liked

Write evidence during the interview

In practiceOne line per criterion: the situation and what they did, in their words

What goes wrong otherwiseFrom memory, two days later, everyone sounds the same

Rate against the written scale

In practiceRead the scale, find the row that matches the evidence, write the number

What goes wrong otherwiseA 4 from one interviewer is a 3 from another

Score before the debrief

In practiceComplete the form alone, then compare

What goes wrong otherwiseThe first strong opinion in the room sets everyone’s scores

Recommend, don’t summarize

In practiceStrong hire / hire / no hire / strong no hire, with the one reason

What goes wrong otherwise«Good candidate, some concerns» helps nobody decide

The rating scale, written down

The scale on the form is the same one we use across every guide in the interview questions library. The point is not the numbers; it is that everyone rates against the same definition of what a 3 looks like.

1
No example
Talks in the abstract; no real situation
2
Generic example
A situation, but their own actions are vague
3
Solid example
Specific situation, their actions, an outcome
4
Strong example
Above, plus the trade-off made and what they would change
5
Exceptional
Above, plus lasting impact on the team or the result

How to write the evaluation: the evidence column

The evidence column is where most forms fail. A good line is short, specific and quotes the candidate: «Inherited a team of 6 with two people on PIPs; had both conversations in week two; one improved, one left.» A bad line is an adjective: «strong leader». If you cannot write the evidence, you do not have the rating. Voicit records the interview and fills this column with the candidate’s literal answers, which is the part interviewers skip when they are taking notes by hand.

Common mistakes with interview evaluation forms

Rating everything a 3 or a 4 to avoid a decision; filling in the form days later; changing the criteria per candidate; letting the hiring manager’s form carry more weight than the panel’s; and treating the overall rating as an average of the rows. The overall rating should be a judgment informed by the rows, and a single 1 on a must-have criterion should be able to sink an otherwise strong candidate. The form is a record of evidence, not a formula.

Evaluation form or scorecard?

They are the same idea at two levels of detail. The evaluation form on this page is one page per interview, seven criteria, fast to fill in. The interview scorecard template adds weights per competency, a weighted total and a second sheet with 30 questions by competency — use it when several interviewers assess the same candidate and you want a single comparable score. Start with the form; move to the scorecard when the process has more than one round.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is an interview evaluation form?

A one-page document the interviewer completes after each interview: the criteria for the role, a rating for each on a shared scale, the evidence behind each rating, and an overall recommendation. It exists so that candidates can be compared on the same basis and so that a hiring decision can be explained later.

How do you write an interview evaluation?

Decide the criteria before the interview, write one line of evidence per criterion during it (what the candidate said or did, in their words), rate each against the written 1-5 scale, and end with a recommendation and the single main reason. Do it alone, before the debrief, so your rating is not shaped by the room.

What criteria should an interview evaluation form include?

The four to seven things the role actually needs, decided before the interview: usually the core role-specific skill plus a handful of competencies such as problem solving, communication, collaboration, adaptability and accountability, and motivation for this role. Delete rows that do not apply; do not add rows after meeting the candidate.

How do you write an interview assessment report?

Take the completed forms from every interviewer and summarize them by criterion, not by interviewer: where the panel agreed, where it disagreed and why, the strongest evidence on each side, and the recommendation with its main reason. Attach the forms. A report that reads as a list of opinions has skipped the evidence step.

Should the candidate see the interview evaluation form?

In most jurisdictions candidates can request personal data held about them, and in the EU under GDPR that includes interview notes. Write the form as if the candidate will read it: evidence and observations, not personal remarks. It is also simply better feedback if you decide to share it.