# Review a Candidate

Every score comes with the evidence behind it. This is how to read one.

## Open the candidate

Go to **Candidates** and click their row.

![A candidate's assessment](/imgs/guides/07-candidate-profile-full.png?v=2)

Two columns. The interview itself on the left, the assessment on the right.

## The assessment, on the right

Three tabs: **Assessment**, **Transcript** and **Coach**.

**Assessment** is where you start:

- **Competencies** — each one the position measured, scored as a percentage.
  Click the arrow on a row to see what drove that particular number.
- **Overall Score** — the competencies combined.
- **Knockout Checks** — a green tick means they met a hard requirement. This is
  where a [knockout question](/docs/knockout_questions) shows its result.

A candidate flagged for a person to look at is marked **Review Required**.

## The outcome, on the left

![Outcome, strengths and risks](/imgs/guides/07-interview-summary.png?v=2)

**Outcome** gives you a recommendation — *Hire*, for instance — and a few
sentences explaining it in plain language.

**Top Strengths** and **Top Risks** pull out the specifics underneath. Risks
often read *None identified*, which is a real answer rather than a blank.

**Read the outcome, then check it.** The recommendation is the conclusion; the
transcript is how you decide whether you agree.

## The transcript

![The transcript tab](/imgs/guides/07-interview-transcript.png?v=2)

The whole conversation, turn by turn. Your candidate and **NERVAI**, the
interviewer.

You will see markers like `[excited]` or `[fast]` on the interviewer's lines —
that is the tone it used, not something the candidate said.

**This is the single most useful habit for anyone using HRMLESS.** If a score
looks surprising, the transcript almost always explains it in a sentence or two.
**Download Transcript** saves a copy if you need it in a file.

## Watching it back

The player on the left plays the interview. A transcript will not tell you
whether somebody sounded confident, hesitant or rehearsed.

If the position had video recording turned off, the player is replaced by **No
Video Available** — everything else stays, so you still get the assessment, the
scores and the full transcript. The same message appears for a candidate who has
not been interviewed yet, where there is genuinely nothing to play.

## Passing or rejecting

A candidate in **Needs Review** has **Pass** and **Reject** actions. That is how
you clear the queue, and it is the point at which a person, not a score, makes
the call.

Until you press one of those, they sit outside your Avg. Score and your
[status breakdown](/docs/analytics).

## Common questions

**The score looks wrong. What do I do?**
Read the transcript. Either the interview shows something the assessment
under-weighted — in which case go with your own judgement — or the position's
questions need adjusting for future candidates. Both are fine; the point is that
the evidence is there to check.

**What is the Coach tab?**
Coaching notes drawn from the interview. Useful for the follow-up conversation
rather than for the hire decision itself.

**Does the candidate know I looked?**
No. Nothing you do on this page reaches them.

**Why does this page look different for some candidates?**
A candidate who has not been interviewed yet has nothing to assess, so you get a
simpler view with their contact details and not much else. The full assessment
appears once their interview has been scored.

## What next

- [Candidate statuses](/docs/candidate_statuses)
- [Knockout questions](/docs/knockout_questions)