The FDE Hiring Scorecard (Free Template)
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Score every FDE candidate on five dimensions - engineering craft, discovery & scoping, production judgment, communication, ownership - each 1-4 with written evidence, plus deal-breakers; calibrate debriefs evidence-first.
The short answer
A scorecard exists to fight two hiring failures: vibes (senior interviewer charisma) and single-dimension hires (brilliant coder who can't talk to customers). Five dimensions, written evidence, evidence-first debriefs.
The scorecard
| Dimension | 1 (weak) | 2 | 3 | 4 (strong) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering craft | Needs hand-holding; no tests | Ships with gaps | Solid, tested, narrated | Production-grade under constraints |
| Discovery & scoping | Solutions before questions | Questions prompted | Structured discovery unprompted | Reframes problem; surfaces hidden constraints |
| Production judgment | No failure thinking | Aware, not applied | Design includes failure paths | Designs for failure, cost, rollback natively |
| Communication | Jargon-bound | Clear when asked | Adapts to audience | Executive-ready with honest trade-offs |
| Ownership | Ticket-shaped | Finishes assigned | End-to-end instinct | Owns outcomes incl. ops + follow-through |
Deal-breakers (any one ends the loop): fabrication of experience; blaming narrative with no self-contribution; contempt for customers or support staff; inability to name a personal failure.
Hire bar: ≥3 on craft or production judgment; nothing below 2; communication ≥3 for customer-heavy roles.
Debrief rules
- Scores submitted before the meeting (independent calibration).
- Evidence first: read quotes, not adjectives.
- Hiring manager speaks last.
- Disagreements >1 point trigger a specific follow-up probe next round.
Use it alongside the loop design and the assessment dimensions for the practical portion.
Continue: Hiring playbook · Assessing discovery skills