Interview scorecard template

Smart Grid Technician interview scorecard

Evaluate Smart Grid 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 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. Use the rubric to compare role-specific evidence consistently.

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skilled trades technical operationsami meteringdistribution automationnfpa 70erecloser commissioningscada dnp3
TL;DR
For hands-on competence, look for evidence the candidate names specific meter forms, relay models and DNP3 or Modbus point lists they configured, and describes commissioning tests they personally ran. For safety discipline, look for evidence the candidate describes a switching order or grounding step they refused or paused, citing arc flash labels, PPE class and the clearance process followed. 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 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.

Evidence-led prompts

Interview questions for a Smart Grid Technician

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

  1. 01

    Explain your experience with supervisory control and data acquisition systems.

  2. 02

    What experience do you have with remote terminal units and field devices?

  3. 03

    Describe any experience you have with distribution automation.

  4. 04

    Can you describe a time when you had to troubleshoot a network or grid issue?

  5. 05

    What hardware and software tools do you use for diagnostics?

See the complete Smart Grid Technician question set
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