Interview scorecard template

Desktop Support Technician interview scorecard

Evaluate Desktop Support Technician candidates across 4 weighted areas: hands-on competence, safety discipline, fault finding, and reliability and conduct. Hands-on competence leads at 35%, so check hands-on range: Windows 10/11 imaging via SCCM, Intune or Autopilot, Active Directory account and GPO tasks, Office 365 fixes, printer drivers, laptop RAM and SSD swaps. Use the rubric to compare role-specific evidence consistently.

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skilled trades technical operationsactive directorydesktop supportitil ticketingwindows imaging
TL;DR
For hands-on competence, look for evidence the candidate names specific builds, deployment tools and hardware repairs performed, including device counts handled during refresh or migration projects. For safety discipline, look for evidence the candidate treats privileged access and end-of-life disk wiping as procedure, citing asset registers, chain of custody and refused social engineering attempts. Apply the written 1–5 anchors to every answer, record the evidence behind each rating, and use the factor weights to reach a consistent overall assessment.
Complete evaluation framework

What to assess and how to score it

Review the evidence signals before interviewing. Then use the anchored descriptions—not instinct alone—to choose the score that best matches each answer.

01
Evaluation factor

Hands-on competence

35% weight

Check hands-on range: Windows 10/11 imaging via SCCM, Intune or Autopilot, Active Directory account and GPO tasks, Office 365 fixes, printer drivers, laptop RAM and SSD swaps.

Evidence to listen for

  • Names the equipment, materials, and tolerances they work to
  • Can describe a job start to finish without hand-waving the hard parts
  • Holds the tickets, licences, or certifications the work requires, and they are current
  • Knows what they are not qualified to touch

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Cannot describe the work concretely; lacks required tickets or licences.

2
Needs Improvement

Basic familiarity; needs supervision on routine tasks.

3
Satisfactory

Competent on standard work; slower or unsure on unfamiliar jobs.

4
Very Good

Skilled and independent across the normal range of the role.

5
Excellent

Names specific builds, deployment tools and hardware repairs performed, including device counts handled during refresh or migration projects.

02
Evaluation factor

Safety discipline

30% weight

Probe handling of data protection and physical safety: BitLocker keys, secure disposal of drives, ESD wrist straps, admin credential hygiene, and refusal to bypass MFA on user request.

Evidence to listen for

  • Treats procedure as protection rather than paperwork
  • Can describe a time they stopped work and why
  • Knows the specific hazards of this trade and the controls for each
  • Reports near misses instead of hiding them

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Casual about safety; describes shortcuts with pride.

2
Needs Improvement

Follows procedure when watched; cannot name the hazards that matter.

3
Satisfactory

Sound safety habits; less certain on unfamiliar hazards.

4
Very Good

Safety is instinctive; can describe stopping work over a real concern.

5
Excellent

Treats privileged access and end-of-life disk wiping as procedure, citing asset registers, chain of custody and refused social engineering attempts.

03
Evaluation factor

Fault finding

20% weight

Test structured triage: how they isolate a boot loop, profile corruption, VPN failure or slow Outlook, what they check in Event Viewer, and when to escalate to network or server teams.

Evidence to listen for

  • Has a method for narrowing a fault rather than swapping parts
  • Reads schematics, manuals, or error codes and acts on them
  • Knows when to escalate rather than guess
  • Can describe a fault that took real work to find

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Parts-swapper; no diagnostic method.

2
Needs Improvement

Fixes symptoms; cannot explain how they found the cause.

3
Satisfactory

Solid on familiar faults; less structured on new ones.

4
Very Good

Clear systematic method with a real hard-fault story.

5
Excellent

Describes a layered process (user, device, network, application) with a real fault traced to root cause rather than repeated reimaging.

04
Evaluation factor

Reliability and conduct

15% weight

Assess ticket discipline in ServiceNow, Jira Service Management or Freshservice: SLA adherence, queue volume per day, documentation quality, and manner with frustrated or senior users.

Evidence to listen for

  • Turns up, on time, prepared
  • Handles shift work, callouts, or travel as the role requires
  • Documents work so the next person can pick it up
  • Deals with customers or site staff professionally

Five-point scoring guide

1
Poor

Unreliable attendance; unprofessional on site.

2
Needs Improvement

Inconsistent; documentation is an afterthought.

3
Satisfactory

Dependable; paperwork is adequate.

4
Very Good

Consistently reliable, documents well, professional with customers.

5
Excellent

Quotes ticket throughput and first-contact resolution rates, writes reusable knowledge base articles, and stays calm with executive escalations.

Evidence-led prompts

Interview questions for a Desktop Support Technician

Use these prompts to surface evidence for the weighted factors above and compare candidates against the same role-specific criteria.

  1. 01

    What is your experience with the operating systems you have supported?

  2. 02

    Do you have experience with hardware and software installation and upgrades?

  3. 03

    Do you have experience supporting virtual machines or remote desktop environments?

  4. 04

    What strategies do you use to troubleshoot technical problems?

  5. 05

    Can you provide an example of a challenging technical issue you resolved?

See the complete Desktop Support Technician question set
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