Interview scorecard template

Maintenance Supervisor interview scorecard

Evaluate Maintenance Supervisor candidates across 4 weighted areas: hands-on competence, safety discipline, fault finding, and reliability and conduct. Hands-on competence leads at 35%, so check which trades they hold papers in (electrical, hydraulics, welding, HVAC) and how they run PM schedules in CMMS tools like Maximo, Fiix or SAP PM. Use the rubric to compare role-specific evidence consistently.

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skilled trades technical operationscmmslockout tagoutmechanical troubleshootingpreventive maintenance
TL;DR
For hands-on competence, look for evidence the candidate names asset classes maintained, cites PM compliance and wrench-time figures, and still troubleshoots alongside technicians when a line goes down. For safety discipline, look for evidence the candidate describes verifying isolation personally, has stopped a job over an unsafe practice, and tracks incident and near-miss trends with corrective actions. Apply the written 1–5 anchors to every answer, record the evidence behind each rating, and use the factor weights to reach a consistent overall assessment.
Complete evaluation framework

What to assess and how to score it

Review the evidence signals before interviewing. Then use the anchored descriptions—not instinct alone—to choose the score that best matches each answer.

01
Evaluation factor

Hands-on competence

35% weight

Check which trades they hold papers in (electrical, hydraulics, welding, HVAC) and how they run PM schedules in CMMS tools like Maximo, Fiix or SAP PM.

Evidence to listen for

  • Names the equipment, materials, and tolerances they work to
  • Can describe a job start to finish without hand-waving the hard parts
  • Holds the tickets, licences, or certifications the work requires, and they are current
  • Knows what they are not qualified to touch

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Cannot describe the work concretely; lacks required tickets or licences.

2
Needs Improvement

Basic familiarity; needs supervision on routine tasks.

3
Satisfactory

Competent on standard work; slower or unsure on unfamiliar jobs.

4
Very Good

Skilled and independent across the normal range of the role.

5
Excellent

Names asset classes maintained, cites PM compliance and wrench-time figures, and still troubleshoots alongside technicians when a line goes down.

02
Evaluation factor

Safety discipline

30% weight

Probe their command of lockout/tagout, confined space and hot work permits, OSHA 1910 obligations, plus how they run toolbox talks and near-miss reporting for their crew.

Evidence to listen for

  • Treats procedure as protection rather than paperwork
  • Can describe a time they stopped work and why
  • Knows the specific hazards of this trade and the controls for each
  • Reports near misses instead of hiding them

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Casual about safety; describes shortcuts with pride.

2
Needs Improvement

Follows procedure when watched; cannot name the hazards that matter.

3
Satisfactory

Sound safety habits; less certain on unfamiliar hazards.

4
Very Good

Safety is instinctive; can describe stopping work over a real concern.

5
Excellent

Describes verifying isolation personally, has stopped a job over an unsafe practice, and tracks incident and near-miss trends with corrective actions.

03
Evaluation factor

Fault finding

20% weight

Test how they attack recurring breakdowns: vibration analysis, thermography, root cause methods like 5-Why or fishbone, and spare parts decisions during unplanned downtime.

Evidence to listen for

  • Has a method for narrowing a fault rather than swapping parts
  • Reads schematics, manuals, or error codes and acts on them
  • Knows when to escalate rather than guess
  • Can describe a fault that took real work to find

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Parts-swapper; no diagnostic method.

2
Needs Improvement

Fixes symptoms; cannot explain how they found the cause.

3
Satisfactory

Solid on familiar faults; less structured on new ones.

4
Very Good

Clear systematic method with a real hard-fault story.

5
Excellent

Walks through a repeat failure they eliminated, names the diagnostic evidence used, and quantifies MTBF or downtime hours recovered afterwards.

04
Evaluation factor

Reliability and conduct

15% weight

Assess how they cover shift handovers, on-call callouts and contractor oversight, and how they coach apprentices or handle a technician skipping documented procedures.

Evidence to listen for

  • Turns up, on time, prepared
  • Handles shift work, callouts, or travel as the role requires
  • Documents work so the next person can pick it up
  • Deals with customers or site staff professionally

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Unreliable attendance; unprofessional on site.

2
Needs Improvement

Inconsistent; documentation is an afterthought.

3
Satisfactory

Dependable; paperwork is adequate.

4
Very Good

Consistently reliable, documents well, professional with customers.

5
Excellent

Gives concrete examples of holding a crew accountable, structured handover notes, and retained technicians they trained into higher trade grades.

Evidence-led prompts

Interview questions for a Maintenance Supervisor

Use these prompts to surface evidence for the weighted factors above and compare candidates against the same role-specific criteria.

  1. 01

    What previous experience do you have in a maintenance supervisor role?

  2. 02

    Do you have experience training and developing maintenance staff?

  3. 03

    How do you evaluate the performance of your maintenance team members?

  4. 04

    Can you share your experience with preventive maintenance?

  5. 05

    Can you describe your experience developing and implementing a maintenance programme?

See the complete Maintenance Supervisor question set
Put this rubric to work

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