Technical Interview Rubric and Structured Interview Kit Template

Technical Interview Kit: [Role title, level]

Structured interview kit for hiring software engineers and engineering managers: the competencies assessed and their mapping to career-ladder levels, the interview loop, a question bank with probes per competency, an anchored 1 to 4 rating scale with behavioural anchors, the interviewer scorecard, the calibration and debrief protocol, bias and legal-compliance controls (job-relatedness, consistency, accommodations), candidate experience and data retention. There is no formal standard for technical interviews; the kit follows widely published structured-interview good practice and fair-selection guidance such as UK Acas recruitment guidance and the US Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978). All questions and anchors are original text. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example. This is a documentation format, not legal advice.

Document control

Approvals

Revision history

Contents

1. Purpose, scope and principles
2. Roles and responsibilities
3. Competencies and level mapping
4. Interview loop design
5. Question bank
6. Rating scale and behavioural anchors
7. Interviewer scorecard
8. Calibration and debrief protocol
9. Bias and legal-compliance controls
10. Candidate experience
11. Data protection and retention
12. Interviewer training and kit quality
13. Glossary and references

1. Purpose, scope and principles

1.1 Purpose

This kit makes hiring decisions for [Role title] consistent, job-related and defensible. Every candidate for the role meets the same stages, is asked questions drawn from the same bank, and is rated on the same anchored scale by trained interviewers who write evidence before they discuss the candidate.

1.2 Scope

In scope: all interview stages from the technical screen to the debrief, levelling within the target band, and the records produced. Out of scope: sourcing, the offer and negotiation, background checks and reference checks, which follow [linked People procedures].

1.3 Principles

2. Roles and responsibilities

R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed.

Debrief facilitator. A trained interviewer who is not the hiring manager, ideally from another team (sometimes called a bar raiser). The facilitator enforces the protocol in section 8 and may block a decision that is not supported by the written evidence, escalating to the Head of Engineering.

3. Competencies and level mapping

3.1 Competencies assessed

CMP-03 Impact and scope is inferred from the evidence of the other areas and from the experience interview; it is not scored separately for L2 and L3 roles.

3.2 Coverage matrix (traceability)

Every must-have competency needs at least two observations by different interviewers. Where the matrix shows one, the kit adds a follow-up probe in another stage (CMP-02 and CMP-05 in this Example).

4. Interview loop design

4.1 Stages

Total candidate time after the recruiter conversation: 5 hours (Example). Offer the loop on one day or split across two, at the candidate's choice.

4.2 Level variations

4.3 Exercise policies

• Take-home work. Optional alternative to STG-3 only, time-boxed to [two hours], with the same rubric. Never ask for work that resembles real product work, and never use candidate output in production.
• AI coding assistants. State the policy to the candidate in advance: Example: "Allowed in STG-3 for syntax and documentation look-ups; explain any generated code you keep." Interviewers assess understanding and judgement, not typing speed.
• Languages and tools. Candidates choose from [list]. Do not penalise unfamiliarity with internal tools.
• Recording. Interviews are not recorded unless the candidate agrees in writing in advance and there is a stated purpose (section 11).

5. Question bank

5.1 Rules for questions

1. Each question has an ID (Q-AREA-NNN), a competency, the levels it suits, a main prompt, two to four probes and signals.
2. Interviewers ask the main prompt as written and use only listed probes or neutral follow-ups ("tell me more", "what happened next").
3. Questions about protected characteristics, family plans, health, age, nationality beyond right to work, religion or political views are never asked (section 9.2).
4. A question is retired when it leaks publicly, when its pass rate shows it does not discriminate between levels, or when it shows unexplained adverse impact.

5.2 Technical skill: coding (CMP-01)

5.3 Technical skill: design (CMP-01, CMP-06)

5.4 Operational and security ownership (CMP-06)

5.5 Delivery, collaboration and leadership (CMP-02, CMP-04, CMP-05)

6. Rating scale and behavioural anchors

6.1 Scale

Ratings are relative to the target level stated on the scorecard. The same answer can be a 3 for L2 and a 2 for L3. "Not assessed" is recorded when the stage did not produce evidence; it is not a 2.

6.2 Behavioural anchors per competency (target level L3, Example)

7. Interviewer scorecard

7.1 Scorecard fields

7.2 Worked example

8. Calibration and debrief protocol

8.1 Interviewer calibration

New interviewers shadow two interviews and reverse-shadow two more before interviewing alone. Every [quarter], interviewers rate the same recorded mock interview (with consenting actors) and compare scores; a spread of more than one point on the same competency triggers a calibration discussion of the anchors.

8.2 Debrief sequence

The facilitator runs the debrief in the order below so that the hiring manager and senior interviewers do not anchor the discussion.

8.3 Debrief rules

1. Hold the debrief within [two working days] of the last interview. Nobody discusses the candidate before submitting a scorecard.
2. Discuss evidence by competency, not by interviewer. Ratings may change only with a stated reason recorded in the notes.
3. Comments not tied to evidence on the scorecard, or not job-related (accent, appearance, school name, "culture fit", career gaps without job relevance), are stopped by the facilitator.
4. Decision rule (Example): hire when every must-have competency has a calibrated rating of 3 or 4, no competency is rated 1, and at least half of the overall recommendations are Yes or Strong yes. Any rating of 1 must be discussed and either upheld with evidence or revised with a reason.
5. Level decision. Level is set by the profile of calibrated ratings against the ladder's expectations matrix. When evidence sits between two levels, offer the lower level and record the evidence that supports an early review.
6. Record the decision, level, rationale and any dissent in the applicant tracking system within one working day.

8.4 Worked debrief outcome

Example for candidate CAN-0187 at target L3. The CMP-04 rating of 2 in STG-6 was discussed; the interviewer noted short answers but no negative evidence, and the panel calibrated to 3 based on stronger evidence in two other stages. The STG-4 ratings for CMP-02 and CMP-05 come from the follow-up probes required by section 3.2 (rollout plan and how the candidate would guide a less experienced engineer through the design), so every must-have has two observations by different interviewers. Overall recommendations: 4 Yes and 1 Strong yes (5 of 5 at Yes or above). All must-haves are at 3 or above and no rating is 1: hire at L3.

9. Bias and legal-compliance controls

9.1 Controls

9.2 Prohibited and restricted topics

Interviewers do not ask about or record: age, marital or family status, pregnancy or plans for children, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity or national origin, disability or health, trade union membership or political opinions. Right-to-work questions are asked by the recruiter, of every candidate in the same way, at the stage set by local law. If a candidate volunteers such information, do not record it or discuss it in the debrief.

9.3 Legal context (check local law)

• UK: the Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics and requires reasonable adjustments for disabled applicants; section 60 restricts questions about health and disability before a job offer, with limited exceptions (such as asking about adjustments needed for the assessment). Acas guidance recommends asking all applicants the same questions and using more than one interviewer where possible.
• US: federal law (including Title VII, the ADA and the ADEA, enforced by the EEOC) prohibits discriminatory selection procedures; procedures with adverse impact must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR Part 1607) describe impact monitoring and validation. As of October 2026 the EEOC has announced plans to rescind the Uniform Guidelines and a June 2026 Department of Justice opinion questions parts of them; they remain codified and private Title VII disparate-impact claims remain available. Check their current status.
• EU: AI systems intended for recruitment or selection are listed as high-risk under the AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Annex III point 4, employment, workers' management and access to self-employment). After amendment by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the high-risk obligations for Annex III systems apply from 2 December 2027; check the consolidated text. Separately, Article 5(1)(f) has prohibited AI systems that infer emotions of people in the workplace (except for medical or safety reasons) since 2 February 2025, which rules out emotion-analysing video-interview tools. The GDPR applies to all candidate data (section 11).

This section is orientation only. Take advice from qualified counsel for each hiring jurisdiction.

10. Candidate experience

Interviewers start each stage by introducing themselves, stating the format and time, and leaving at least five minutes for the candidate's questions. Do not ask candidates to repeat a stage because of interviewer no-shows; reschedule promptly and apologise.

Communication template for the loop invitation. "You will meet [number] interviewers over [total time]. Each session covers one area: [list]. You may use [languages] and [AI-assistant policy]. If you need any adjustments for any part of the process, tell us at [contact] and we will arrange them. You do not need to tell us why."

11. Data protection and retention

11.1 Data inventory

Retention periods are Example values. Set them with People and legal counsel to cover the period in which a selection decision can be challenged in each jurisdiction, and no longer (GDPR Article 5(1)(e) storage limitation, where it applies).

11.2 Rules

1. Notes are written only in the ATS scorecard. Personal notebooks, chat messages and private documents are not used for candidate evaluation.
2. Notes are factual and professional, written on the assumption that the candidate may request a copy.
3. Candidates are told in the privacy notice what is collected, why, for how long and how to request access or deletion.
4. Requests for access, correction or deletion are routed to [privacy contact] and answered within the legal deadline.
5. No candidate data is entered into external AI tools unless the tool is approved under BIA-009 and the privacy notice covers it.

12. Interviewer training and kit quality

12.1 Interviewer readiness

12.2 Quality metrics

12.3 Review cadence

Review the kit every [six months] or after [20] completed loops, whichever is sooner: retire leaked or non-discriminating questions, add new ones with IDs, check anchors against recent debriefs, and update the revision history. Major changes (competencies, decision rule, stage list) are approved again by the approvers in Document control and apply only to candidates who start the process after the change.

13. Glossary and references

13.1 Glossary

13.2 References

Standard and licence note

Structure aligned with widely published structured-interview good practice and with fair-selection guidance from UK Acas and the US Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR Part 1607, a US government publication, whose rescission the EEOC has announced it plans), with legal orientation from the UK Equality Act 2010, the GDPR and the EU AI Act. These sources are cited for context only; no text is reproduced. All questions, anchors and examples are original text written for this collection. Check the current official versions and the law of each hiring jurisdiction before use. This is a documentation format, not legal advice. Template licence: MIT.