Guidelines when interviewing someone

[jekstein]

I have to interview a new cad tech for my office on Tuesday the fifth and I have never interviewed anyone before can anyone give me some guide lines, what questions should I ask, how can I determine his AutoCAD competency. etc

Thanks In advance

[BrenBren]

I have to interview a new cad tech for my office on Tuesday the fifth and I have never interviewed anyone before can anyone give me some guide lines, what questions should I ask, how can I determine his AutoCAD competency. etc

Thanks In advance
I am sure there are plenty of people who can tell you what questions you should ask - I have never interviewed anyone for a CAD position before so I don't know. You should probably have some kind of test to determine CAD proficiency. Check the internet, there are some out there.

You do have to be careful to NOT ask questions that could be deemed discriminatory or even illegal (asking someones age, asking a woman if she is pregnant, or planning on starting a family, etc). Your HR department should have some guidelines for that.

Good luck!

[Maverick91]

I have to interview a new cad tech for my office on Tuesday the fifth and I have never interviewed anyone before can anyone give me some guide lines, what questions should I ask, how can I determine his AutoCAD competency. etc

Thanks In advance
Have you read his resume? Are there any interesting projects listed? Are there things that he has done that will be similar to what he'll do for you? These are good discussion points. You can use the conversation to get a feel for the kind of person he is and if his personallity would be a good fit.

When was the last time you were interviewed? What was good about the interview? What was bad? What would you do differently?

[robert.1.hall72202]

Go fishing for anything related to the job you are interviewing for, maybe make some small talk to get the applicant comfortable talking...........sometimes you dont get the full picture when you interview somebody so you have to pay close attention to the resume, study as necessary, ask questions when clarification is needed. The resume should speak for itself.

If you are somewhat impressed with the above, then give the Cad test. Make sure you use something that is related to the job.

Took me 2 tries to get somebody who was good enough to be my Cad assistant. Guy number one only lasted 2 weeks. Keep in mind that once they are with you, they dont have to be kept.

[sestes.68091]

I have to interview a new cad tech for my office on Tuesday the fifth and I have never interviewed anyone before can anyone give me some guide lines, what questions should I ask, how can I determine his AutoCAD competency. etc

Thanks In advance

I am in your shoes too. I'm leaving my job for a better position elsewhere. Since I a the only CAD guy there I will be doing the interviewing. So far I have come up with a quick questionnaire. Half is based on CAD knowledge, the other half on project management. Please post your findings. If you like I can post my questionnaire. Good luck.

[LanceMcHatton]

The best thing I did when I was interviewing people was to come up with a simple test for low level drafting. I was in architecture at the time so I had a floor plan from one of our old projects, plus the exterior elevations. I redlined hardcopies asking to move this window from here to there, add a window here, make this door bigger, stretch this wall down, etc. but I only redlined the floor plan, not the elevations. His finished CAD product would tell me how well he did with reading redlines, adhering to layer standards, asking questions, following through with the elevations, and, of course, basic CAD knowledge.

The simple test should have taken about 15-30 mins. I had one guy who said he knew CAD from college and he took over an hour before I just asked him to leave.

If you're looking for someone who's a little more advanced, a simple test shouldn't hurt anyone's ego since we all know how hard it is to find good drafters/designers. Besides, so many people lie about how good they are. If they do well on the basic test, then start asking them more advanced questions.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. Good luck!

[Maverick91]

If you're looking for someone who's a little more advanced, a simple test shouldn't hurt anyone's ego since we all know how hard it is to find good drafters/designers. Besides, so many people lie about how good they are. If they do well on the basic test, then start asking them more advanced questions.

IMHO, no one should be against being tested in an interview situation. I took a test at AUGI Camp that covered more than the last time I tested for a job, and that was just for fun (and a t-shirt). If a candidate shows some ruffled feathers at the idea of showing his knowledge, simply thank him for his time as you show him the door. Such an ego would not fit well in a professional office.

[Robert.Williams82344]

what questions should I ask, how can I determine his AutoCAD competency. etcThat all depends on the level of competency you want. If you're looking for a draftsman, ask him/her questions you think a draftsman should know, such as: How do you set this line perpendicular to that one? Or How would you dimension two lines [in any given situation]? Start off easy, make the test harder as you go on. That will give you a baseline of what the guy knows. One thing to remember though --> KNOW his resume <--, if he says he has 5 years of ACAD experience, ask him questions that a 5 year vet would or should know. Obviously asking him how to draw a line would be too basic, and he'd probably get up and walk out right then.

The same would apply if you're looking for a Project Manager, but obviously you would need to ask management questions. Ask him/her about file/folder structures, organization, etc.

The interview process is really about how well the person deals with you face to face. If that person can't look you in the eyes, slouches, shows a low confidence level, then kick him to the 6" curb & gutter.

One last item, not everybody can write a flawless resume, look at the resume, EXAMINE it, if you see alot of inconsistencies, misspellings, incorrect wording, etc. Don't even call the guy in. If a person doesn't know the difference between their, there, or they're, or even your and you're (that one really bugs the **** out of me) then they aren't worth your time. Besides, if a person can't take the time to make sure his/her OWN resume is near perfect, then what kind of image is that person going to bring to your company?

Good Luck on the Interviews

[robert.1.hall72202]

One last item, not everybody can write a flawless resume, look at the resume, EXAMINE it, if you see alot of inconsistencies, misspellings, incorrect wording, etc. Don't even call the guy in. If a person doesn't know the difference between their, there, or they're, or even your and you're (that one really bugs the **** out of me) then they aren't worth your time. Besides, if a person can't take the time to make sure his/her OWN resume is near perfect, then what kind of image is that person going to bring to your company?

Good Luck on the Interviews

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one and here is why:
1. Good english has nothing to do with lines, arcs, n circles.
2. The hardest workers do not care about writing, they carry the piles of bricks from
one end of a lot to the other.
3. Engineers are not particularly english majors.

[Wanderer]

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one and here is why:
1. Good english has nothing to do with lines, arcs, n circles.
2. The hardest workers do not care about writing, they carry the piles of bricks from
one end of a lot to the other.
3. Engineers are not particularly english majors.
BUT! ;) good drafters know about checking, and they also know their own strengths and weaknesses, and so would have someone review their resume before sending it out...

[Maverick91]

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one and here is why:
1. Good english has nothing to do with lines, arcs, n circles.
2. The hardest workers do not care about writing, they carry the piles of bricks from
one end of a lot to the other.
3. Engineers are not particularly english majors.
That's not a bad perspective. However, my managers are concerned with how drawings or graphics appear in front of a client, which does involve spelling and grammar, which does fall back to me.

[LanceMcHatton]

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one and here is why:
1. Good english has nothing to do with lines, arcs, n circles.
2. The hardest workers do not care about writing, they carry the piles of bricks from
one end of a lot to the other.
3. Engineers are not particularly english majors.
While you're right that "Good english has nothing to do with lines, arcs, n circles", good English DOES have everything to do with communicating with the client. If I was the client receiving emails like "Your going to have to check this" or "This layout is better then the last one I sent" or even "Here are the drawing's you requested", I wouldn't have a lot of respect for that person.

And THEN there's the issue of clear communication. Here's an example of a fellow coworker suffering from "Scatterbrain Syndrome:


I think the checklist is what confused me originally. The only time it tells you that you can ignore a constraint is at the 5' off the lot line is on the side lot, but if you read the 3rd step it tells you to keep the house at the 20' or 10' offset at the front, so that would eliminate a number ofhouses. At least I still have the original drawing and it won't be a lot of work to fix it.

?????? I actually WORK with this person on the same project and I have no idea what is being said. I didn't have a say when this person was hired but I have seen her resume since then and, if I had seen it before she was hired, I would have stepped forward.

[Robert.Williams82344]

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one and here is why:
1. Good english has nothing to do with lines, arcs, n circles.
2. The hardest workers do not care about writing, they carry the piles of bricks from
one end of a lot to the other.
3. Engineers are not particularly english majors.
I'm really going to have to disagree with you there. YOUR resume is YOUR image. It is what you present yourself with before anyone even knows you exist. I'll be honest, I was a B student in college, but my resume is IMMACULATE.

1. No, good English doesn't have anything to do with lines, arcs, or circles, but it does have alot to do with how you look at yourself. If you can't spend the time to look over your own resume, then how much time are you going to spend looking over your drawings? I want someone that can pay attention to detail. One small mistake can cost our company tens of thousands of dollars in fees, or even more in court costs later on.

2. Being a hard worker is good, but it doesn't do a bit of good when the proofing agencies are returning plans because someone doesn't understand the difference between a 0" CF and a 6" CF, or because some idiot builds a retaining walls through Storm Drain Easements. I don't know how many employees we've had to fire because of lame mistakes similar to that. But it could have been prevented if the interviewer had been a little more discretionary.

3. Everyone, I don't care who you are, has to take college English. It is a requirement, always has been, always will be. If you can't pay attention in a BASIC college English course, then to me you are not worth hiring. I'm NOT talking about people taking ESL courses, or people that speak broken English, we are here to help them learn and we should teach them as much as possible.

[Robert.Williams82344]

While you're right that "Good english has nothing to do with lines, arcs, n circles", good English DOES have everything to do with communicating with the client. If I was the client receiving emails like "Your going to have to check this" or "This layout is better then the last one I sent" or even "Here are the drawing's you requested", I wouldn't have a lot of respect for that person.ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

Can I get an "AMEN BROTHA's and SISTA's"....lol

[robert.1.hall72202]

Well I will say I am a bit biased when I make my comments.

I have had the chance to hire 2 people one of which was fairly educated but lacked work ethic. That individual, even though being well groomed in the English language is long gone.

The second individual is not really superfantastic with spelling, but somewhat pays attention to details while being a very hard worker (not slacking off too much).
I basically have a non degree individual who had 4 previous jobs where general drafting duties under engineering supervision were performed. This individual knows how to understand the customers needs and jump right into drawings with no complaints.
At some point, I would suggest a grammar class, but for the work at hand, the individual is doing just fine. I would put drafting skills above all else, and when in doubt, there is always a drawing checker. For this individual I have simply created blocks of all our standard notes so that room for error may be eliminated.

[Robert.Williams82344]

I have had the chance to hire 2 people one of which was fairly educated but lacked work ethic. That individual, even though being well groomed in the English language is long gone.

I understand what you mean there. We had a guy working here that fit that description to a "T". He was a total suck-up to the boss (which is the only reason he worked here for so long). His drafting ethics had much to be desired though. The guy couldn't connect two lines together, but because he TOLD the boss what he wanted to hear, he was a promoted to Project Manager. He was FINALLY fired almost a year ago, and we are STILL fixing problems on jobs of his. There was an entire month where contractors were calling on almost a daily basis, telling us that things just weren't working in the field.

But then we hired a girl that was really good with people (face-to-face), but her grammar was just atrocious. I once read a letter she wrote to a client of ours, whose name is Brian, and she kept calling him Brain. I'm sure the guy was fuming, but he never said anything to her. It is really the little things in communication that matter. People might not say anything about the bad grammar, I know I usually don't, but the truly educated people notice it, and from then on, they won't look at that person the same, nor will they look at you (as the hiring agent) the same for hiring someone like that. Although they don't say anything to you, they do talk to their buddies about it.

But, I guess it really boils down to your individual experience. I've had bad experiences with employees that can't spell and have bad grammar. Overall, their performance tends to be average, and they usually have very little motive to advance.

[Andy.88917]

My first phase of an interview was the question/answer session. The second phase was to see how well they could operate AutoCAD.

I use to have a little one bedroom house that I drew. I then erased everything in the drawing without purging. I left the wall styles, door styles, window styles, dimension styles, text styles, blocks and layers. Then I set the applicant in front of the drawing with a hard copy of the finished product and gave them 30 minutes to see how much they could do. It was a drawing I could do in 10-15 minutes. I never had an applicant finish it, and let them know that wasn't expected. It gave me an idea of how fast they were, how well they could follow directions (see if their walls matched the dimensions given) and see how self sufficient they were by how well they figured out the blocks, styles, layers, etc.

[Robert.Williams82344]

Andy,
Perfect idea! That right there will assess every aspect of an interviewee. It will not only give you "an idea of how fast they were, how well they could follow directions (see if their walls matched the dimensions given) and see how self sufficient they were by how well they figured out the blocks, styles, layers, etc.", it will also show you how well they pay attention to detail, how accurate they are, how much they see what you see, and if they can interpret what the client (you in this case) wants.

Thanks for the input Andy.

[jekstein]

as this was kind of sprung on me.. i do not have time to create a test. Does anyone have a written test they can send me? i know when i was interviewed they made me take a test but i can not find it now i think the previous CAD Manager took it with him. Also if anyone has an actual AutoCAD drafting test geared toward electrical drafting and not architectural id love to have that too.

thanks for all the help so far.

my email is jekstein@sounddesignint.com if you have any of the above please email me with them.

[Phil Ferguson]

I have never had to take a test as a prospective employee before. I'm not entirely sure it is necessary. One of the things that I have done in interviews is to share a few aspects of the company and the type of work that we do with the person that I'm interviewing. Once I have done this, I open things up for questions from the person I'm interviewing and then let the conversation go from there. I can tell a lot about this person just from the questions that they are asking me...

[Robert.Williams82344]

I wouldn't really consider it a necessity to test everyone, but when a person is hiring someone based on their AutoCAD skills, I think it is a really good idea to know just how proficient that person is in AutoCAD. When you're hiring someone that has been in the industry for a few years, obviously there is no need to test them on their skills.


I can tell a lot about this person just from the questions that they are asking me...
You might be a little better at "reading" a person than most. I'm a poker player and I've learned alot about people and their habitual characteristics. Many times what you stated is true, but there is always that person you're going to run into that could BS his way into the Pentagon if he really wanted to.

For the finalists that pass the first couple stages of the interview process, I say that a short test on AutoCAD is exactly what you need to separate the BS'ers from the real players.