What is the best way to interview and evaluate an Electrical Engineer (HW or FW)? I am sure I am not the only one who has found themselves frustrated by this task. The challenge is finding a process that filters out the weak candidates without accidentally rejecting the good ones.

Over the years, I have experienced a wide range of interview methods both as the interviewer and interviewee. Methods vary from technical exams, asking candidates to present and defend past designs, scrutinizing every line of a resume, to just a general conversation.

One of the most difficult interviews I ever experienced was an eight-hour process involving eight separate interviewers. Every session was highly technical and felt more like an exam than a discussion. The problem was that I was being tested on topics that neither I nor my resume indicated I had experience doing. Ironically, I had been recommended for the role by people already working in the position who believed I would excel at it.

In that case, the interview process likely eliminated a strong candidate who could have easily picked up the detailed technical items not yet experienced. This is also one of the major weaknesses of technical testing in Electrical Engineering: the field is simply too broad. Designing a “fair” technical test is extremely difficult because engineers often specialize in very different areas.

After years of refining my own hiring approach, I eventually settled on a simpler philosophy: assume nothing and verify everything on a resume. Rather than trying to determine whether a candidate can pass a generalized technical exam, I focus on understanding whether they can explain every item on their resume in a way that makes me believe they understand it. I remember interviewing a young PhD physicist and simply by asking a deep line of questions about a project on her resume, she finally just stopped and admitted “I was on the team that did those things, but I didn’t do the work and can’t explain it.”

If you spend the time and listen, you can really learn to see the difference between someone searching for explanations versus someone with deep knowledge. So, if you currently looking for a job, make sure you have details and knowledge of everything you put on your resume.

Interestingly, I do not necessarily mind if a candidate includes technologies or topics on a resume that were not part of their direct professional responsibilities, provided they genuinely understand them. Ultimately, the goal is to determine a candidate’s knowledge, capabilities, and propensity to learn, not simply being on projects at a job.

Another growing challenge now comes from AI-generated resumes. It is becoming increasingly common to see candidates with only a few years of experience submitting four-page resumes filled with overly complex or vague descriptions that do not clearly communicate real technical contributions. In some cases, the descriptions of work are so nonsensical that you can’t figure out their purpose at all.

Hiring and Interviewing Engineers: What works?

Love to hear feedback or questions