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 work with AMI meters (Itron, Landis+Gyr), RTUs, SEL relays, reclosers and capacitor bank controllers: ask about CT/PT wiring, DNP3 point mapping and field commissioning.
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 meter forms, relay models and DNP3 or Modbus point lists they configured, and describes commissioning tests they personally ran.
02
Evaluation factor
Safety discipline
30% weight
Probe NFPA 70E arc flash boundaries, PPE category selection, lockout/tagout on 15kV distribution gear, and OSHA 1910.269 rules for switching and grounding practices.
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
Describes a switching order or grounding step they refused or paused, citing arc flash labels, PPE class and the clearance process followed.
03
Evaluation factor
Fault finding
20% weight
Test troubleshooting of intermittent AMI mesh or cellular backhaul dropouts, failed head-end reads, SCADA point mismatches and recloser misoperations; ask how they isolated cause from symptom.
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
Walks through a real outage or comms failure, showing how loggers, signal readings and OMS or ADMS data narrowed it to one component.
04
Evaluation factor
Reliability and conduct
15% weight
Assess storm restoration callout history, truck stock and calibration discipline, work order closeout in the CMMS, and how they document as-built changes for the GIS team.
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
Shows consistent callout availability, clean closeout notes and redlines, plus examples of correcting bad records rather than passing them along.
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