How do I assess a technical candidate when I am not technical? — answered by Engineer Saeed Baatiah
Do not test their technical knowledge — you cannot, and you do not need to. Test their ability to explain and to judge instead: ask them to explain a technical decision they made and its effect on cost and time, ask about a project that failed and what they learned, and put a real problem from your company to them and see whether they ask questions before proposing a solution. Someone who proposes immediately without questions is the most important warning sign.
The rule that frees you from your own lack of technical knowledge: you are not assessing what they know, you are assessing their judgement and their ability to explain — and you can judge both with no background at all. A candidate who explains a decision by its effect on cost, time and risk can work with you. One who explains in terms that leave you more confused cannot, however much they know — because working with them would be a series of decisions you do not understand.
And one practical test reveals more than an hour of questions: put a real problem from your company to them, and then be quiet. A good candidate asks before answering — who is the user? What is the volume? What exists now? What is the budget? A weak one proposes a solution immediately, which is not sharpness but indifference to context. Someone who proposes before asking will build you what they want rather than what you need.
And bring a technical third party into the final interview if you can — not to test knowledge but to ask two technical questions and tell you whether the answer was specific or generic. One hour from an independent advisor is orders of magnitude cheaper than a bad hire discovered six months later.
- Assess judgement and explanation, not knowledge — you can judge both
- Put a real problem to them and be quiet — do they ask before proposing?
- Who proposes without questions builds what they want, not what you need
- An hour from an independent advisor beats a bad hire