Why pre-screen digital preservation specialists before the interview
Digital material fails without any warning. A stored file can degrade unnoticed, a proprietary format stops opening when the software is retired, and a backup taken faithfully for a decade turns out to be unreadable. Specialists worth hiring check fixity on a schedule and can say when a check last failed. A short screen asks how they know files have not degraded.
What actually matters when screening Digital Preservation Specialist candidates
- 01
Technical proficiency
Check hands-on command of OAIS workflows: BagIt packaging, PREMIS and METS metadata, format identification with DROID or Siegfried, and validation via JHOVE or veraPDF.
- 02
Systems and trade-offs
Probe storage architecture choices: number of replicas, geographic separation, tape versus object storage, fixity check cadence, and when they chose migration over emulation for at-risk formats.
- 03
Evidence and rigour
Test how they prove content is intact: checksum algorithms used, audit reports run, corruption events detected, and how repository health was evidenced against ISO 16363 or CoreTrustSeal.
- 04
Collaboration and communication
Assess work with donors, curators, records managers and IT: negotiating deposit agreements, handling forensic disk images of legacy media, and explaining preservation risk to non-technical stakeholders.
Pre-screening questions to ask Digital Preservation Specialist candidates
12 questions grouped by what they test. Ask the same set in every screen and score answers on a consistent scale, or send them as an async video screen and compare answers side by side.
Collections preserved
3 questions01Describe a digital preservation project you have managed.
Listen forA collection with volume and formats described, and the current state of access to it stated.
Projects described as storage migrations, or no confirmation the material is still accessible.
02What experience do you have with digital archives and repositories?
Listen forRepository systems operated, with ingest, storage and access workflows all understood in practice.
Systems named without operation, or ingest processes handled entirely by another team.
03Describe a time when you had to recover data from failing or obsolete media.
Listen forA real recovery with the media type and method described, including what could not be recovered.
Recovery described as sending media to a vendor, or no experience of failed carriers.
Fixity and formats
3 questions04Can you explain the importance of checksums and fixity in preservation?
Listen forFixity checked on a defined schedule with failures investigated, not only calculated at ingest.
Checksums generated once and never rechecked, or corruption assumed to be impossible.
05How do you decide the appropriate preservation format for different content?
Listen forOpen, well-documented formats preferred, with information lost in conversion identified and recorded.
Everything converted to a single format, or loss during normalisation never assessed.
06How do you handle metadata for digital assets?
Listen forTechnical, descriptive and provenance metadata captured to a standard, and stored with the content.
Metadata held only in a separate system, or provenance not recorded through transformations.
Obsolescence managed
3 questions07What strategies do you use to manage digital obsolescence?
Listen forFormat risk monitored actively, with migration planned well before software support disappears.
Obsolescence addressed once a format has already stopped opening, or no monitoring at all.
08What practices do you follow when migrating data to new formats or systems?
Listen forMigration validated by comparing before and after, with the original retained until verified.
Originals deleted after migration, or conversion results checked only by sampling visually.
09What role does automation play in your preservation processes?
Listen forIngest checks and fixity verification automated, so preservation does not depend on manual effort.
Everything done manually, or automation that nobody monitors for silent failures.
Priorities set
3 questions10How do you prioritise digital content for preservation?
Listen forPriorities set by value and risk, with an honest acknowledgement that not everything can be kept.
Everything treated as equally important, or selection decisions avoided entirely.
11How do you assess and mitigate preservation risks?
Listen forStorage, format, funding and knowledge loss all treated as risks, with mitigations actually in place.
Risk limited to hardware failure, or dependence on one person's knowledge not recognised.
12How do you ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements?
Listen forRetention schedules, copyright and personal data obligations applied to the collection deliberately.
Everything retained indefinitely, or personal data preserved without any lawful basis.
How to score responses
Score every candidate on the same four criteria immediately after the screen. At this stage you are shortlisting for panel interviews, not making the final call.
Technical proficiency
35%5Names specific ingest pipelines built in Archivematica, Preservica or custom scripts, and explains PREMIS event capture without prompting.
Systems and trade-offs
25%5Weighs cost per terabyte, bit-rot risk and access demand together, citing a real decision on obsolete formats like WordPerfect or QuickTime.
Evidence and rigour
25%5Cites fixity failure rates, dates of detected corruption, and the restore path taken; treats audit evidence as routine, not aspirational.
Collaboration and communication
15%5Describes translating a floppy or hard drive accession into a preservation plan curators understood and funders approved.
Files decay unnoticed and proprietary formats stop opening. A one-way video screen asks how they would know.
Try it on HirevireScreening FAQ
Process basics
How long should a pre-screening round for this role take?
Fifteen minutes across eight to ten questions, answered async. Enough to establish collections they preserved, test fixity and format practice, and check how they handle obsolescence.
How technical does this role need to be?
Technical enough to script checks and inspect file formats. Someone who only writes policy will produce a preservation plan that nobody verifies against the actual repository.
Evaluating answers
What is the strongest signal when screening this role?
How they know files have not degraded. Specialists who do this properly describe scheduled fixity checking and when a check last failed. Anyone relying on backups is not preserving anything.
How do I judge their format thinking?
Ask how they choose a preservation format. Real answers weigh openness, tool support and what is lost in conversion. Anyone converting everything to one format will destroy something.
Go deeper on this role
Sanat has been hiring since 2012 and watching the recruitment industry change up close ever since, and turned that screening process into Hirevire's video screening platform. LinkedIn
