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Detecting Performance Problems in an Engineering Candidate’s Interview

Conducting a detailed job interview is one of the more tedious tasks that a hiring manager has to do to find the best engineering employees. Even though interviewing endless job candidates can be daunting and tiresome, you still need to focus on each individual candidate and what they have to offer your company. This includes whether or not they have had performance problems during their engineering career.

Know Which Questions to Ask

One of the first steps in detecting performance problems in an engineering candidate’s interview is to know which questions the interviewer should ask. Every interview is different, even though they might seem similar at times, but questions need to be prepared beforehand so you know the interviewee is being challenged as much as possible. Some important questions to ask include the following:

  • Have you ever had to reinvent your job due to a changing environment or circumstances at your current or previous employer?
  • How have you progressed as an engineer from day one on the job to this point in your career?
  • What are the relationships at your current employer when it comes to reporting to superiors?
  • How many hours per day do you need to work in order to complete your assigned projects?
  • How well do you respond to constructive criticism?
  • How much structure or direction do you need while at work in order to complete your projects?
  • When you make a decision on the job, do you typically ask for forgiveness or ask for permission?

Discuss Anger With Co-Workers and Customers

Everyone who has ever worked a job will have experienced a time when he or she has become angry with a co-worker or a customer/client while on the job. When this happens, it is important to know how the employee will react to the situation. When you are sitting down for a job interview with an engineering candidate, be sure to have the candidate explain such a situation to you in order to determine how they would handle this problem when working for your company. This is an excellent way to gauge how they will perform on the job.

Discuss a Time When the Employee was Right, But Still Had to Follow Guidelines

Many times, engineering employees will experience a time when he or she is right about something, but will have to ignore it because they must follow guidelines set forth by their employer. Broach this subject with your candidate to determine if they stayed loyal to the company and followed those guidelines or went out on their own and did what they thought was right at the time.

You can learn a lot about an engineering candidate in a job interview, especially when it comes to their performance. Be sure you take an extra-long look at their history before making a decision. For access to skilled engineering candidates in Troy MI, be sure to speak with a recruiter at Venteon technical today.

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