Overview
This document outlines how to conduct interviews.
Resume Selection
When selecting resumes, it is important to assess holistically and pay attention to elements that indicate that a candidate will be good to interview.
What to look for in a resume:
Projects and/or experience in tools/languages used by sub-team
Passion/interest in aviation
Attention to detail and care (good formatting, etc.)
Process
Sub-team leads create a group to select resumes
Assign the “co-op hiring team” role
Create a private chat for the subteam that is only viewable by those who are part of the co-op hiring team.
Make a spreadsheet in which each member ranks each candidate on a scale of 1-5. Sum it up and interview those with the highest scors
Select a reasonable amount of people to interview - this will depend on people-power and time
Take note of poor performance in courses relevant to the subteam (ex. Poor performance in a C++ course for the embedded subteam).
This is more so true for introductory courses as we expect to be hiring <2A generally.
Set a deadline to ensure that resumes are reviewed in a timely manner
Interviewing Candidates
Interviewing candidates is something a prospective co-op manager is expected to do. Fortunately, they’re not hard to do and having experience being interviewed helps a lot.
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Questions should be used to gauge:
Interest in WARG
Passion for engineering and aviation
Experience using tools/languages used by subteam
Strength of teamwork, individual learning, etc.
Any other character traits the team lead finds important. Lots of flexibility here!
Scheduling Interviews
When scheduling interviews, do so outside of Waterloo works when permitted. Calendy appointments or a shared spreadsheet work well for this purpose (as the waterlooworks UI is not preferred).
Interviews should be no longer than 45 minutes.
Interview Conduct
Follow these guidelines when conducting interviews
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Two people should attend each interview, one taking notes (indicate who took the notes) and one asking questions.
Note that if different pairs of people are used for interviews, a rubric for interviews should be made to evaluate each candidate holistically, as it may be hard to compare candidates who different people interviewed.
Interviews incorporate a technical question to test proficiency in tools/languages used by the subteam
i.e. A coding challenge/mechanical/electrical equivalent.
At the end of the interview, do the following:
Ensure you provide an opportunity for them to ask questions
Restate that the role is unpaid
Selection:
All people who were interviewed will gather for a debrief to share notes and observations.
Ranking decisions should strive to be unanimous with the subteam lead’s final approval. The subteam lead retains final authority to rank the candidates as they see fit.
Strive to decide within a week of completing interviews.
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