A simple guide to rating the skills of the person you’re assessing.
The key question
The goal isn’t to rate everything highly, but to identify the skills that genuinely set the candidate apart. Ask yourself: which skills would make me especially recommend this person?
Assessing is an exercise in prioritising. These five rules help make your rating say something useful about the candidate, rather than an “all good” that sets nothing apart.
There’s a maximum number of stars to spread across all the skills. This means:
The aim is to identify the candidate’s most representative strengths.
If no other skill deserves an extra rating, you can leave stars unused.
There’s no obligation to spend the full amount.
For a more meaningful ranking, the same number of stars can repeat across two skills at most.
This helps make the candidate’s differentiating strengths clearer.
Skills rated with:
★★★★★
★★★★★need a short justification. No long paragraphs needed: one or two concrete examples are enough.
Communication ★★★★
Because they help whoever reads the reference understand how the skill shows up, in what context it was observed and what concrete behaviours back it up.
A balanced assessment grounded in examples adds far more value than one where every skill gets the same rating.
With these rules in mind, your rating will really set apart what makes the candidate stand out.
Leadership ★★★★★