04 Aug, 2022
During the technical interview, you will be assessing the technical knowledge of the candidates and whether they have the skills and abilities needed to do a specific job. In technical interviews it’s a good idea to use a mix of traditional interview questions, brainteasers, technical proficiency tests and problem-solving questions to assess your applicant’s technical knowledge and skills and get a good indication of how they solve problems and whether they’ll fit into your company’s culture and your team. Read on as we discuss the types of questions you could use. Behavioural interview questions Technical interviews usually begin in the same way any other interview would: with a series of general and behavioural interview questions intended to learn more about who the candidate is and how they will fit in with the culture of the company. Here are a few common behavioural interview questions you could use during a technical interview: What was your specific role and responsibilities on the most recent project you worked on? What is the project you are most proud of, and how did you contribute to it? Situational interview questions After asking a few behavioural interview questions, you can move on to asking a few situational interview questions in which you present the interviewee with a hypothetical situation and ask them how they would resolve the problem or respond to the situation. This type of question will help you assess how the candidate will respond to workplace challenges that may arise and how they would respond to them. You would expect the interviewee to answer using the STAR technique to answer these questions, giving you examples of a similar situation they’ve encountered in the past. Here are a few common situational interview questions you could asked during the interview: What would you do if you were asked to perform a task and weren’t sure how to complete it? Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond your expected tasks while working on a project. Education interview questions Questions about education, will help you dig into the specific technical training and education candidates have and how it has prepared them for the role they’ve applied for. Interviewees should be able to give examples of training, special certifications, or course work or projects they have done and any academic accomplishments relevant to the position they are applying for. Here are a few common technical interview questions about education: How did your education prepare you for this job? What technical certifications do you have? What do you do to stay up-to-date on your technical certifications and knowledge? Technical Knowledge skills and experience Technical knowledge, skills and experience questions will help you to identify if the candidate has enough knowledge and experience to carry out the job or whether, with some support, they have the potential to do the job. When answering these questions, you should expect them to be able to communicate technical concepts in an easy-to-understand manner and describe their work processes. The specific technical questions you ask will vary based on the technical needs of the role, but here are a few common technical interview questions and example answers: What coding language are you most comfortable with? What is a SAN, and how is it used? When is it appropriate to de-normalise database design? What methods do you use to solve problems? Some technical interview questions have several answers that could be correct. If there are several possible scenarios for arriving at a solution, ask the candidate to explain their problem-solving process. Look for candidates who ask for more detail A good candidate may ask you for additional information or clarification about the question. This is a good sign and show you that they’re able to identify when additional information is needed and that they aren’t afraid to ask for clarification when they need to. What if a candidate doesn’t know the answer? You can probe by asking them how they would go about finding the information for the answer. This will show you that they’re able to search for information to solve problems when they don’t know how to do something. Ask them to prove their skills with a practical exercise Many technical interviews include an aspect where you ask candidates to prove their problem solving skills by giving them a brainteaser. While this phase typically occurs during the second or third interview, a brainteaser interview question is a good way to assess their skills. Ask the candidate to talk through their reasoning process and explain the steps they used to solve the brainteaser.  If you want help pulling together questions for interviews for technical clients, get in touch with our Technical Recruitment Expert Peter Donnelly 01782 338787 or email peter@appointmentspersonnel.co.uk
