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 depth with Control4, Crestron or Lutron programming, KNX or Rako lighting loads, Cat6A structured cabling, rack builds, and UniFi VLAN setup for AV subnets.
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 dealer certifications, describes a full rack terminate and label job, and explains driver or scene programming they wrote themselves.
02
Evaluation factor
Safety discipline
30% weight
Probe low-voltage licensing, working safely near 240V or mains dimmer modules, ladder and loft work, isolating circuits before pulling cable, and RCD or breaker coordination with the electrician.
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
Draws a clear line between their low-voltage scope and licensed electrical work, and cites lockout, isolation and testing steps they follow.
03
Evaluation factor
Fault finding
20% weight
Test diagnosis of intermittent faults: dropped Zigbee or Z-Wave mesh nodes, HDMI handshake and EDID failures, PoE budget overload, IR versus RS-232 control loss, DHCP conflicts.
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 a real fault from symptom to root cause using layer-by-layer isolation, packet or signal checks, rather than swapping parts hopefully.
04
Evaluation factor
Reliability and conduct
15% weight
Assess conduct in occupied homes: dust protection, punch lists, handover training for owners, documentation of IP schedules and as-built drawings, response on post-install service calls.
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
Describes leaving labelled documentation and a client walkthrough, plus evidence of repeat referrals or a low callback rate on completed jobs.
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