Interview Checklist

Constructive performance interviews are essential to conveying a firm understanding of strengths and weaknesses in relation to employment roles. Because workers spend a lot of time in the workplace and put a lot of heart into job performance, it is easy for a performance interview to become personal or sidetracked. Using this interview checklist is a practical way to insure that performance interviews stay on target and about performance.

Reasons to Use This Performance Interview Checklist

Although staying on point is the primary reason for using this per performance interview checklist, there are several other reasons to consider using the checklist as well.

• It is customizable and free to download from this website.
• Its section titles facilitate an easy flow during the planning process.
• The simple “Yes”, “No” and “Not Required” format makes it easy to insure all necessary points are covered during the performance interview and provides space for making notes and comments about specific aspects of performance to be covered.

How to Use the Performance Interview Checklist

• Work through each section, determining if it is an area that needs to be reviewed, and check the appropriate box.
• Write appropriate comments about specific talk points in the box provided next to each point on the performance interview checklist. Positive encouragement regarding strong attributes is just as important as pointing opportunities for improvement, so it is a good idea to try to balance the amount of comments in the “Yes” and “No” sections.
• Additional necessary talking points can be added to the checklist by right clicking in a box and selecting insert from the menu that appears. Column can also be added for rating systems, etc.
• Print a copy of the completed checklist and have it in front of you for reference as you conduct the performance interview. Print an additional copy to give to the employee if you desire.

Tips for Using the Performance Interview Checklist

• If the list is too comprehensive, irrelevant points can be removed by right clicking on a row and selecting “Delete Cells.”
• Be sure to save the document for future reference or editing, particularly if it is intended as a live document.
• Consider giving the employee a copy of the document to complete on his or her own. This is an ideal, non-confrontational way to determine prospective breakdowns in communication regarding expectations.

Download: Interview Checklist