Free hiring checklists
Fourteen copy-ready hiring checklists covering every stage — writing the job post, screening, interviewing, making the offer, and onboarding through a new hire's first ninety days. Each one lists the concrete steps in order, so nothing is dropped in the handoff between stages.
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How to use these hiring checklists
Hiring goes wrong in the gaps — a missed reference check, an unstructured interview, a job post that scares off good applicants. These checklists exist to close those gaps by turning each stage of hiring into a repeatable, shared routine your whole team follows. The five lists below cover the full journey: defining and posting a role, screening applicants, preparing and running interviews, and onboarding the new hire. Use them together for an end-to-end process, or pull the single list you need for the stage you're on right now.
Get the most from them by making them a habit rather than a one-off. Adapt each list to your context — add role-specific criteria, remove steps that don't apply, and agree as a team on what "done" means for each item. Attach the same checklist to every role so candidates get a consistent, fair experience and your decisions stay defensible. The biggest wins come from the steps teams most often skip: writing a real scorecard before interviews, asking every candidate the same core questions, and sending timely updates so strong applicants don't drop off. When you're ready to stop tracking all this by hand, an applicant tracking system turns these steps into an automated workflow.
Get the full hiring checklist pack — editable + printable
All five checklists in one editable, printable pack, emailed straight to you. Use them with your team or import them into your ATS workflow.
End-to-end hiring process checklist
- Define the role, scorecard, and must-have vs nice-to-have criteria
- Get budget and headcount approval (raise a requisition)
- Write a clear, inclusive job description
- Post to the right job boards and your careers page
- Source passive candidates to supplement inbound applicants
- Screen resumes against the scorecard consistently
- Run a structured phone screen, then structured interviews
- Check references and run background checks where required
- Make a timely, competitive offer
- Plan onboarding before day one
Job posting checklist
- Use a clear, searchable job title (avoid internal jargon)
- Lead with impact: what the person will own and achieve
- List genuine must-have requirements only (over-listing deters good applicants)
- Include a salary range — it improves application rates
- Describe the team, mission, and what makes the role appealing
- State location and remote/hybrid policy explicitly
- Add an inclusive equal-opportunity statement
- Keep the application short and mobile-friendly
- Distribute to multiple boards and track source performance
Interview preparation checklist
- Align the panel on the scorecard and who assesses what
- Prepare structured, role-relevant questions in advance
- Use the same core questions for every candidate (fair comparison)
- Brief interviewers on bias and legally off-limits topics
- Share the candidate's resume and context beforehand
- Block enough time and a quiet space (or stable video link)
- Plan to sell the role, not just evaluate
- Collect written, criteria-based feedback right after
Candidate screening checklist
- Score every applicant against the same defined criteria
- Use knockout questions for non-negotiable requirements
- Look for evidence of outcomes, not just responsibilities
- Verify must-have credentials, licenses, or certifications
- Keep notes attached to the candidate record for an audit trail
- Move qualified candidates forward quickly to avoid drop-off
- Send timely, respectful updates to everyone who applied
New-hire onboarding checklist
- Send the offer, contract, and welcome details promptly
- Provision accounts, hardware, and access before day one
- Share a first-week schedule and clear 30/60/90-day goals
- Assign a buddy or mentor
- Schedule role, team, and tooling introductions
- Confirm payroll, benefits, and compliance paperwork
- Check in at the end of week one and month one
Onboarding & new-hire checklists
Hiring does not end at the offer. These cover the first day, the first week, and the first ninety days — plus remote, contractor, and manager onboarding.
New Hire Onboarding Checklist
A complete new hire onboarding checklist for HR and people teams: owners, phases, system handoff, manager scripts and the measures that prove it worked.First Day Onboarding Checklist
Run a first day that works: readiness checks the night before, an hour by hour schedule, access handover, introductions and a proper end of day close.First Week Onboarding Checklist
Week one for employers: teach company context before job detail, book the right introductions, assign a first real task and catch problems by Friday.30 Day Onboarding Checklist
Month one for employers: put role expectations in writing, hand over first ownership, map stakeholders and run a structured 30 day calibration review.90 Day Onboarding Checklist
The 90 day mark for employers: define full productivity, withdraw support deliberately, gather evidence, run the review and set goals beyond onboarding.Remote Employee Onboarding Checklist
Onboard remote hires properly: hardware logistics, time zone aware scheduling, written norms, deliberate social connection and isolation warning signs.Manager Onboarding Checklist
Onboarding a new people manager: team handover, decision authority, inherited commitments, a structured listening period and the duties managers carry.IT Onboarding Checklist
IT and security onboarding: identity setup, device build, least privilege access by role, licence assignment, asset tracking and offboarding hooks.Onboarding Documents Checklist
The categories of paperwork employers collect when someone joins: eligibility, contract, payroll, benefits, policies, confidentiality and record retention.Pre-Boarding Checklist
What employers should do between offer acceptance and the start date: contact cadence, early paperwork, equipment lead times and no-show risk management.Sales Rep Onboarding Checklist
Ramp a new sales hire: product certification, territory and CRM setup, buyer knowledge, call shadowing, pipeline milestones and commission briefing.Engineer Onboarding Checklist
Onboard a software engineer: working environment on day one, a first merged change in week one, architecture context, review norms and on-call readiness.Contractor Onboarding Checklist
Onboard contractors correctly: agreed scope, invoicing terms, limited scope access, IP terms, an end date and clear separation from employee processes.Employee Offboarding Checklist
Structured offboarding: knowledge transfer, access revocation timing, asset recovery, final pay, exit interviews and team communication.Hiring checklists — FAQs
What should a hiring process checklist include?
Why use a checklist for hiring?
What goes in a job posting checklist?
How do I run a fair, structured interview?
Can I automate these hiring checklist steps?
Run this checklist inside your hiring pipeline
Pitch N Hire is an applicant tracking system. The steps on this page become stages in a pipeline, so nothing is skipped and everyone can see where each candidate stands.
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