Have a range of questions prepared so you can fall back on easier questions (in case the candidate is drawing blanks or is having trouble getting past their nervousness/anxiety) or harder questions (in case they totally blow away your regular ones).
Ask HN: Advice for a first-time interviewer
11–13 of 13 posts
Re: Ask HN: Advice for a first-time interviewer
#12You should be familiar with the role for which the candidate is being considered.
If you're not the hiring manager, find out what the hiring manager wants you to find out about the candidate during your interview with said candidate.
If you don't know how to implement the answer or it doesn't seem to relate to the role, there's a problem in the hiring process. ("good technical and cultural fit" is much too vague to be an answer.)
Unfortunately, you don't have enough time to figure out a solution. However, this won't be your last interview and you can get more of the answer while discussing the candidate with said hiring manager.
Re: Ask HN: Advice for a first-time interviewer
#13FWIW: I started interviewing people in college for non-technical position although a very stressful job (favorite interview question: 'We think this job requires a sense of humor, tell us a joke'). Off and on over the years I've interviewed others for different positions. Regarding technical vs non-technical, both are the same for me; if the person is good it will show in both areas while if they stink then it will show in one area or the other.
Behavioral interviewing as mentioned in a previous post is Situation-Action-Result = SAR. Haldane I believe was the originator (Career Satisfaction and Job Success) although it might be someone else. Easy type of question to 'game' as you can construct answers to the typical questions. "Describe a situation where you made a mistake and how you fixed it."
IMHO much better to ask open ended questions. "You come across a car wreck with a person trapped inside the vehicle, what do you do?" "A 34 kV breaker continues to trip, what do you do?" "You are asked to code a function to compute compound interest, describe your actions and the code?" The idea is to find out how the person thinks; not whether the answer is right or wrong.
I'm good at interviewing people but it has taken lots of practice. One job had me as the plant tour and lunch interviewer; I could tell about the interviewee's technical skill just by the the questions they asked during the tour and at lunch. You do not have to focus on specific technical questions to find out if the person is knowledgeable. If they will fit into the group and have good learning habits then they will learn what it takes to be successful at the company. Technology changes but the ability to think and learn does not.
Ask yourself: If I had a problem, would this individual be someone that I could ask to help me solve it?