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
Probe hands-on depth with SIEM platforms (Splunk, Sentinel, QRadar), detection rule writing, EDR telemetry, MITRE ATT&CK mapping, and log sources they have actually onboarded and tuned.
Evidence to listen for
Command of the specific attack surface, tooling, and controls the role covers
Understands how the underlying system works, not just how the tool reports on it
Can explain an attack or control chain end to end
Distinguishes what they found themselves from what a scanner flagged
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
Tool operator only; no understanding of the systems underneath.
2
Needs Improvement
Runs tooling but cannot explain findings or how the attack works.
3
Satisfactory
Solid working knowledge; depth thins outside familiar tooling.
4
Very Good
Strong command of the domain; explains attack and control chains clearly.
5
Excellent
Names specific detections they authored, the data sources behind them, and how false positive rates fell after tuning.
02
Evaluation factor
Real incidents and findings
30% weight
Ask them to walk through a real alert they escalated: triage steps, containment, forensic artefacts pulled, and what the post-incident report concluded about root cause.
Evidence to listen for
Brings specific incidents, findings, or audits they personally worked
States their own role rather than the team's
Describes what was actually at risk and what changed afterwards
Can talk about a finding that turned out to be wrong
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
No hands-on work; knowledge is entirely certification or coursework.
2
Needs Improvement
Limited exposure; cannot describe their contribution to an incident.
3
Satisfactory
Real casework with adequate detail; ownership sometimes vague.
4
Very Good
Specific incidents with clear personal scope and what changed after.
5
Excellent
Describes a genuine incident end to end with timestamps, contained scope, indicators recovered, and the control gap it exposed.
03
Evaluation factor
Risk judgement
20% weight
Test how they rank findings when CVSS scores conflict with business context: exploitability, asset criticality, compensating controls, and patch windows they negotiated with system owners.
Evidence to listen for
Prioritises by actual exploitability and business impact, not raw severity scores
Can argue for accepting a risk as well as fixing it
Knows the difference between a finding and a problem
Does not cry wolf or wave things through
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
Treats every finding as critical, or waves real risk through.
2
Needs Improvement
Follows severity scores mechanically; no business context.
3
Satisfactory
Reasonable prioritisation; less confident arguing for risk acceptance.
4
Very Good
Prioritises by exploitability and impact; can justify accepting a risk.
5
Excellent
Separates raw severity from actual exposure, citing a case where they downgraded or escalated based on real reachability.
04
Evaluation factor
Getting things fixed
15% weight
Check how they drive remediation: ticket handoffs to IT, evidence for ISO 27001 or SOC 2 auditors, exception tracking, and phishing awareness metrics they moved.
Evidence to listen for
Writes findings engineers can act on rather than a wall of output
Has persuaded a team to fix something they did not want to fix
Explains risk to executives in business terms
Works with the org rather than policing it
Five-point scoring guide
1
Poor
Adversarial with engineering; findings never get fixed.
2
Needs Improvement
Reports are unactionable; no influence beyond raising tickets.
3
Satisfactory
Adequate reporting; relies on mandate rather than persuasion.
4
Very Good
Actionable findings and a real record of getting fixes shipped.
5
Excellent
Shows closed findings with dates, names the owners chased, and evidence packages accepted by auditors without rework.
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