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
Technical depth
35% weight
Check depth in C on bare metal or RTOS: interrupt latency, DMA, memory maps, linker scripts, I2C/SPI/CAN drivers, and which MCU families (STM32, NXP, ESP32) they programmed.
Evidence to listen for
Explains the physics or mechanism behind their work, not just the tooling
Names the standards, tolerances, and constraints they designed against
Can defend a design decision under follow-up questions
Distinguishes what they personally engineered from what the team delivered
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
Cannot explain the fundamentals of their own stated specialism.
2
Needs Improvement
Knows the vocabulary but not the underlying mechanism; struggles under follow-ups.
3
Satisfactory
Solid working knowledge for the role; depth thins out on edge cases.
4
Very Good
Strong command of the domain; explains trade-offs and defends decisions well.
5
Excellent
Names specific silicon and peripherals, explains ISR design, stack sizing and register-level work without reaching for vague abstractions.
02
Evaluation factor
Work that shipped
30% weight
Ask for products that reached production: board bring-up, firmware versions released, OTA update mechanisms, certification runs (CE, FCC, IEC 62304) and unit volumes behind them.
Evidence to listen for
Names specific programmes, parts, or systems that reached production or field use
States their own scope inside the project
Can give measured outcomes: yield, cycle time, cost, failure rate
Explains what went wrong and what they changed
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
No delivered work; experience is coursework, lab-only, or purely observational.
2
Needs Improvement
Contributed to projects but cannot say what shipped or what their part was.
3
Satisfactory
Has delivered real work; outcomes described without numbers.
4
Very Good
Names shipped work and their scope, with some measured results.
5
Excellent
Points to shipped devices, describes their role from prototype through EVT/DVT/PVT, and cites field firmware versions and defect rates.
03
Evaluation factor
Diagnosis under uncertainty
20% weight
Probe how they chase intermittent faults: oscilloscope and logic analyser traces, JTAG or SWD sessions, watchdog resets, memory corruption, and bugs appearing only at temperature or on one batch.
Evidence to listen for
Describes a real failure they chased to root cause
Shows a method: isolate variables, reproduce, measure, eliminate
Distinguishes correlation from cause
Says what they ruled out and why, not only what the answer turned out to be
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
No diagnostic method; guesses or escalates immediately.
2
Needs Improvement
Trial and error with no structure; cannot explain how they narrowed the cause.
3
Satisfactory
Reasonable method on familiar problems; less structured on novel ones.
4
Very Good
Clear systematic approach with a real root-cause story.
5
Excellent
Recounts a specific hard fault, the instrumentation used, hypotheses eliminated in order, and how root cause was proven not guessed.
04
Evaluation factor
Working across the org
15% weight
Explore work with hardware, test and manufacturing: reviewing schematics before layout, negotiating pin assignments, writing production test fixtures, and handing off to QA or field support.
Evidence to listen for
Explains technical constraints to non-technical stakeholders without condescension
Has negotiated scope, cost, or timeline with manufacturing, product, or suppliers
Documents decisions so others can act on them
Takes review feedback without defensiveness
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
Cannot communicate outside their specialism; dismissive of other functions.
2
Needs Improvement
Communication gaps cause rework; avoids stakeholder contact.
3
Satisfactory
Works adequately with other teams; documentation is thin.
4
Very Good
Communicates clearly across functions; reliable collaborator.
5
Excellent
Describes concrete pushback given to EE or mechanical peers, plus test jigs or bootloaders built so factory and support teams could work.
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