Leading PreSales · 2026-07-01 · 6 min
Hiring Series 4/4. Three interviewers, three opinions, no shared rubric - and how to fix it before the loudest voice in the debrief wins. Series finale (part 4 of 4) on hiring the right SE. Three interviewers, the same candidate, three completely different evaluations - and the most senior person in the room won the debrief. Four months later: performance plan. The structured scorecard that fixes the unstructured-evaluation problem. What Nate and Ava discuss Why a 1-to-3 scale forces a decision where 1-to-5 lets everyone cluster at 3 Non-negotiable minimums - categories where a 1 is an automatic pass, no matter how charming the candidate The halo and horn effects - and why structured scoring protects you from both Blind scoring before the debrief - and why disagreements are the most valuable part of it Why the hire-or-pass criteria must be written BEFORE you start interviewing The move Build your scorecard before the next interview. Categories down the left, one-to-three scale across the top. Define what a 1 and a 3 look like for each category - write it down so every interviewer is grading the same exam. Score during, not after. Submit blind.
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