Scorecards
Unstructured debrief notes in someone's inbox do not constitute a hiring decision. Scorecards give every interviewer a consistent format for post-interview feedback — overall rating, hire recommendation, per-competency scores, and written notes — all stored on the candidate application.
What a scorecard contains
Each scorecard captures four things:
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 1–5 stars | Holistic impression of the candidate for this role |
| Recommendation | Strong Yes / Yes / No / Strong No | The interviewer's hire signal |
| Competencies | Per-competency star ratings | Configurable; defaults provided |
| Notes | Free text | Interview observations, specific quotes, red flags |
All four fields are optional individually, but a scorecard must have at least one of overall, recommendation, or notes to submit.
Submitting a scorecard
- Open the candidate detail page.
- Scroll to the Scorecards section.
- Click Add Scorecard.
- The scorecard form expands inline.
- Set your overall rating, recommendation, and any competency scores.
- Add your interview notes.
- Click Submit Scorecard.
The submitted scorecard appears in the Scorecards list with the submitter's name, recommendation chip, overall rating, and timestamp. It is also recorded in the activity timeline.
Any recruiter account with access to the pipeline can submit a scorecard. Multi-user access within a team account is not available in the current release — see How it's different.
Default competencies
When you open the scorecard form, LightningHire offers a set of default competency buttons to add quickly:
- Technical Skills
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Culture Fit
- Leadership
Click a competency name to add it to the form. Each added competency gets a 1–5 star rating field.
You can also type a custom competency name in the text input at the bottom of the competency section and press Enter or click the add button.
Role-specific competencies
For consistent evaluation across a hiring panel, define your expected competency areas on the requisition before interviews begin. See Requisitions — under Evaluation Criteria. The competencies defined there appear as the default set when an interviewer adds a scorecard for a candidate in that requisition.
Question rubrics and scorecards
If your team uses structured interview question rubrics, the competency areas in a scorecard align directly with the rubric's competency dimensions. A rubric defines what to listen for and how to score each dimension; the scorecard captures the result. See Question rubrics for how to set up rubrics before interviews.
Reading accumulated scorecard data
When multiple interviewers submit scorecards for the same candidate, the candidate detail page shows:
- All submitted scorecards listed chronologically
- The recommendation from each interviewer (Strong Yes / Yes / No / Strong No) as a chip for quick scanning
- Individual competency ratings per scorecard
LightningHire does not aggregate or average scores automatically. The hiring decision remains a human judgment call — the scorecard data gives you the inputs.
Scorecard best practices
Submit immediately after the interview. Memory degrades within hours. A scorecard submitted the same day is more useful than one reconstructed a week later.
Score before seeing other interviewers' feedback. If you read two "Strong Yes" scorecards before submitting your own, your rating will be influenced. Submit independently, then compare.
Use the Notes field for specifics. A 3-star "Culture Fit" rating with no notes is not actionable. Write down the specific moment or exchange that drove the rating.
Disagreement is information. If three interviewers give Strong Yes and one gives Strong No, that is not noise — it is a signal worth a conversation before the hiring decision.
Related pages
- Candidates — candidate detail page where scorecards live
- Question rubrics — structured question sets that feed competency evaluation
- Pipeline — pipeline stage and scorecard context
- Fit scores — AI-generated score alongside human scorecards