Free tool

Internal interview scorecard builder

Pick the role you are promoting into and get a question set and a scorecard you can copy straight into your notes. Most small companies have no structured internal interview at all, so this is often the first version of one.

Build your scorecard

What this track measures

  • Delegation instinctDo they hand work off when the arithmetic says not to
  • Willingness to hold a standardWill they correct someone they like or who has longer tenure
  • Diagnostic habitDo they gather information before acting
  • Team-level thinkingHas their definition of success moved off their own output
  • DirectnessDo they raise things with the person who can act
Read the full team lead guide

Your scorecard

INTERNAL INTERVIEW SCORECARD — TEAM LEAD

Score each dimension 1-5. Write one sentence of evidence per dimension.
The written evidence is what makes the decision defensible and what
lets you give the runner-up something specific to work on.

QUESTIONS
  1. You can finish a task in an hour that would take Priya three. The deadline is tomorrow. Walk me through what you do.
  2. Someone on the team is doing the job the way it has always been done, and it is wrong. They have been here longer than you. How does that conversation go?
  3. Tell me about a time you disagreed with how something was being run here. What did you do?
  4. Two people on the team are not getting along and it is affecting the work. What do you do first?
  5. How would you know the team was doing well? What would you actually look at?
  6. What part of your current job would you miss most, and what would you be glad to hand over?

DIMENSIONS
  1. Delegation instinct
     Do they hand work off when the arithmetic says not to
  2. Willingness to hold a standard
     Will they correct someone they like or who has longer tenure
  3. Diagnostic habit
     Do they gather information before acting
  4. Team-level thinking
     Has their definition of success moved off their own output
  5. Directness
     Do they raise things with the person who can act

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Candidate A
  Delegation instinct                  [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Willingness to hold a standard       [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Diagnostic habit                     [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Team-level thinking                  [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Directness                           [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Overall: ________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------
Candidate B
  Delegation instinct                  [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Willingness to hold a standard       [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Diagnostic habit                     [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Team-level thinking                  [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Directness                           [ ] 1  [ ] 2  [ ] 3  [ ] 4  [ ] 5
  Evidence: ______________________________________________
  Overall: ________________________________________________

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PREPARATION CHECK (do this before any interview)
  [ ] Every candidate received the dimensions above at the same time
  [ ] Every candidate got the same notice and the same format
  [ ] A second interviewer is in the room
  [ ] The runner-up conversation is scheduled within one day of the decision

Why the written evidence line matters more than the score

A number on its own drifts toward whoever you know better, particularly when two candidates are close and you work alongside both of them every day. One sentence of evidence per dimension forces the reasoning into the open, and it is what you fall back on when the decision is questioned later.

It is also what makes the runner-up conversation survivable. "It was close, keep doing what you are doing" is the answer that makes people start looking. A specific dimension, a specific answer of theirs, and a date to revisit is the answer that keeps them.

The preparation checklist at the bottom of the generated scorecard covers the largest source of unfairness in internal promotions, which is not the questions. It is that one candidate had a hallway conversation with you three weeks ago about what the role needs and the other did not.

Prepare every candidate, not just the one who asks

Employees at organizations with high internal mobility stay 5.4 years against 2.9. The candidate who loses a promotion they were never prepared for is the one you are most likely to lose.

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