Interview feedback notes that help the next reviewer

Feedback is useful when another reviewer can understand what happened without attending the interview. "Great energy" or "not a fit" leaves them guessing about both the evidence and the standard.

Write notes close enough to the conversation that you can distinguish what the candidate said from your impression of it. Use the agreed scorecard as a guide.

Capture the evidence you were assigned to assess

Begin with the criterion and the question or exercise. Describe the relevant answer in your own words, keeping enough detail to support your assessment.

For example, an interviewer could write: "For the reporting exercise, the candidate checked the missing date range before comparing the totals. They explained which records they would exclude and why." The observation gives the hiring manager something specific to evaluate.

Avoid presenting an inference as a fact. If you believe an answer suggests a training need, explain the behavior behind that interpretation and what remains uncertain.

Replace vague judgments

Vague note	More useful direction
Not senior enough	Identify the decision or responsibility they could not explain
Good communicator	Describe how they explained the problem to the intended audience
Culture fit concern	Name a job-related behavior and the evidence for it
No experience	State which required experience was not evidenced in this interview

Do not add unrelated personal information or speculate about protected characteristics. Follow your organization's interviewing and recordkeeping guidance, including the rules that apply where you hire.

State the limits of your assessment

If the interview did not cover a criterion, mark it not assessed. If the candidate described a team outcome, make clear which part they personally owned and which part you could not establish.

Finish with a recommendation that follows from the evidence: proceed, do not proceed, or resolve a named question. Avoid demanding another full interview when one specific clarification would answer the concern.

Submit before group discussion where possible

Independent notes preserve differences in what interviewers observed. After everyone has written their assessment, the group can compare evidence without relying on memory of the loudest contribution.

Check your notes once before submitting: can someone identify the criterion, observation, uncertainty, and proposed next step? If the recommendation depends mainly on an adjective, add the missing evidence or narrow the conclusion.

Further reading

• How to implement structured hiring: Steps 5 and 6 – interviewing candidates and reviewing feedback
• How interview scorecard peeking can create bias in hiring

Related guides

• Build a review scorecard
• Connect feedback to a shared scorecard
• How to manage job applications without spreadsheets