The Basics: Technical Competence

Most tech interviews begin with platform-specific questions to assess baseline technical skills. For instance, you might ask:

• What are sed, grep, and awk?
• What does get-disk do in PowerShell?

These questions test familiarity with command-line tools or system management concepts, depending on the role. If the job requires fluency with a command-line interface and the candidate struggles with this, it’s a red flag.

Technical competence is non-negotiable, especially in roles where the wrong keystroke—such as rm -rf /—could have catastrophic consequences. That said, technical skills alone aren’t enough to make a standout candidate.

Beyond Technical Skills: What Sets Candidates Apart

Once a candidate passes the technical assessment, they move into the “maybe” category. So what elevates someone from “qualified” to “the perfect fit”? Here’s a deeper dive into the qualities and questions I focus on:

1. Experience

Experience is one of the most critical factors. It’s not just about knowing the tools—it’s about knowing how to avoid or recover from mistakes. A seasoned engineer understands the risks of commands like delete * from customers in a database and double-checks their actions before proceeding.

More importantly, experience teaches resilience. Mistakes will happen—whether due to fatigue, pressure, or human error. What matters is how someone responds and recovers. A great candidate can demonstrate their ability to troubleshoot, learn from missteps, and prevent future issues.

2. Soft Skills and Attitude

Soft skills can make or break a candidate’s success, especially in team environments. I look for:

• Communication Style: Can they explain technical concepts clearly?
• Attitude: Are they approachable, open to feedback, and enthusiastic?
• Confidence: Is their confidence level proportional to their skillset? Overconfidence without substance is as concerning as a lack of confidence in their proven abilities.

3. Handling Accidents and Outages

One of my favorite interview questions is: Tell me about a major accident, outage, or loss you’ve experienced in your career. How did you handle it?

This question serves two purposes:

1. It highlights their problem-solving skills and ability to stay calm under pressure.
2. It verifies whether they’ve faced real-world challenges. If someone claims they’ve never encountered a serious issue, that’s a red flag—they may lack the depth of experience required for the role.

4. Flexibility and Work Hours

In tech, rigid schedules are often less important than results. My personal policy is straightforward:

• Start around 9-ish.
• Don’t miss meetings.
• Leave when your tasks are done.
• Avoid working overtime unless it’s an emergency.
• Whether they prefer to work from home or the office

If emergencies arise, I will do a 2:1 time swap as compensation (e.g., if they work 4 hours late, they get 8 hours off later that week). I always ask candidates how they handle shifting schedules and their expectations around work-life balance.

5. The Bowling Ball Question

This is a quirky question I always include in interviews. It’s a test of creativity and critical thinking. While I won’t spoil it here, it’s designed to gauge how candidates approach unusual problems. (More on this in a future post!)

6. Home Labs

For technical candidates, I always ask: Do you have a home lab? What do you run on it? How do you use it?

A home lab is often a sign of passion and initiative. Candidates who experiment with tech on their own time tend to stay ahead of industry trends and develop practical problem-solving skills.

7. Conflict Resolution

Collaboration inevitably involves conflict, whether with peers or management. I ask candidates to share examples of how they’ve navigated disagreements and resolved issues in the past. Their response reveals their emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills.

8. Building from Scratch

I’m particularly interested in whether candidates have built their own projects or products from the ground up. These experiences demonstrate:

• Initiative and creativity.
• An understanding of end-to-end workflows.
• Problem-solving in real-world scenarios.

I also ask about their success rate and what they learned from any failures.

9. Project and Time Management

Managing time and projects effectively is a crucial skill, especially in environments with shifting priorities. I ask about their experience with tools, methodologies (e.g., Agile or Kanban), and strategies for staying organized.

Degrees: Are They Necessary?

Traditionally, an advanced degree was considered the gold standard for hiring. But in today’s tech industry, I argue that it’s neither necessary nor always desirable.

Here’s why:

• A degree reflects theoretical knowledge, but experience reflects practical skills.
• Many technical tasks rely on tools and technologies that evolve faster than academic curriculums.
• Engineers and IT professionals often rely on Google, vendor documentation, or community forums to troubleshoot issues.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t hire someone with a degree. Research and analytical skills are valuable assets. But when it comes to solving real-world problems, I’d choose a seasoned engineer with 15–20 years of experience over a recent graduate, even if the former has a few personality quirks.

The Top 10 Traits I Look For

To summarize, here’s my top 10 list of what I value most in candidates:

1. Technical skills relevant to the job (e.g., TCP/IP, command-line tools, disk management).
2. Soft skills, style, and attitude that align with team culture.
3. Confidence appropriate to their expertise.
4. Experience handling accidents or outages and how they recovered.
5. Flexibility with work hours and shifting priorities.
6. Creative problem-solving abilities (e.g., the Bowling Ball question).
7. Passion for learning, demonstrated by personal projects or a home lab.
8. Conflict resolution skills and emotional intelligence.
9. Experience creating and managing projects from scratch.
10. Effective project and time management strategies.

Notice that none of these criteria explicitly require a degree. That’s because adaptability, curiosity, and resilience often matter more in tech roles than formal education.

A Closing Thought

The tech industry is dynamic, and its demands evolve rapidly. Differences in software, platforms, and in-house tools are rarely insurmountable for someone with strong foundational skills. A good candidate can quickly learn the specifics of a new system, often in days or weeks.

What truly matters is their ability to think critically, solve problems, and collaborate effectively. The ideal candidate is not just someone who “knows the answers” but someone who knows how to find them—and applies that knowledge thoughtfully and responsibly.

Degrees can be an asset, but experience, curiosity, and grit are the qualities that truly set candidates apart.