On average, a large corporate job opening attracts approximately 250 applicants. In the end, an average of six people are typically called in for an interview. The hiring process may be even more challenging in the event that the open role is for a technical candidate. However, there are tips managers can take into account to make their selection process move smoothly:
1. Be Prepared to Focus on the Candidates
Coming into an interview, hiring managers should always be prepared to give 100 percent of their attention to the candidate at hand. Aside from a proper introduction, phones (and other distractions) should be turned off. Note-taking should be encouraged to the candidate, and confidentiality should be stressed before the interview begins.
2. Sell the Job to the Candidate
There is no guarantee that the interviewee will take the final offer, assuming he or she is offered the technical job. For this reason, the interviewer should be ready to sell the position, as well as the company, for at least 10 minutes of the meeting.
3. Understand the Candidate’s Past Experiences
A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found that 48 percent of employers rely on Google and other search engines to “learn” about their candidates. However, these extracurricular activities should not replace the question portion of any interview. An interview is the prime opportunity to ask a candidate about relevant past experiences, as well as open the floor to questions from him or her about the position.
4. Avoid Questions with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ Answers
Open-ended questions will encourage candidates to give more complete answers that provide insight into their character. Questions asked in a conversational tone can also help managers determine if candidates can perform up to expectations. Here are some examples of open-ended questions that can offer a glimpse into a technical candidate’s potential “fit.”
- “Why do you feel that you are qualified for this position?”
- “How do your past experiences make you a suitable fit for this position?”
- “Explain a moment of success in a recent career endeavor.”
- “How would you handle an irate client or customer?”
5. Determine the Technical Abilities of Your Candidates
When it comes to interviewing for a technical position, there is an abundance of information that needs to be derived from the applicants to find a viable fit. For instance, managers should always be prepared to ask technical candidates about past projects, as well as their preferred systems and technology. To help simplify, we’ve compiled some sample questions:
Questions to Ask Technical or Project People
- Tell me about your recent projects over the past year?
- How did the projects come in regarding on time and within budget? Get details of both.
- How do you address user problems? Be specific – who, what, when, where, how, why?
- What systems do you most enjoy working on? What applications? Why?
- What systems do you least enjoy working on? What applications? Why?
- What kind of a technical manager do you enjoy working for?
- How do you feel about working on remote projects?
- What have you done to keep up with the latest technology – ergo internet, SAP, etc…?
- How do you feel about the constantly changing technology?
Questions to Ask Technical Management or Project Management People
- How do you manage your technical staff?
- How many people have you managed in the past two years?
- What were your management responsibilities?
- Tell me about your team’s successes for the past three years.
- What were the most important reasons of your team’s success?
- What were the reasons you didn’t meet your goals (deadlines)?
- What training programs have you put in place to develop your team? What were the results?
- Tell me about some of your successes in dealing with your non-technical management counterparts in getting projects defined and completed
- Tell me about a major management problem you’ve had in the past year and how you addressed it? What was the result?
- Tell me about how you manage your time between business and personal requirements?
- Tell me about each of your technical reports and how they performed against their individual goals.
- How do you measure a technical person’s performance?
- What type of management superiors are you best suited to report to?
By the end of the interview, the candidate should know the next steps, as well as how he or she may be contacted for future follow-up. Hiring managers must keep the priorities of their candidates in mind, in addition to their own company needs, throughout the interview process. Contact us for more information regarding how to interview technical candidates.