Sometimes there's that candidate with the perfect application package. It's too good to be true. At least it seems so. There may be some question marks surrounding a few details. Maybe the experience level doesn't match the reported responsibilities on a particular project. Someone two years out of school was "project manager for an 8,000 sf mixed-use new construction" project? Not impossible, but uncommon. Fair enough. We look a bit closer and see a lot of impressive work with ambiguous or vague indications of the applicants role. 

But then we move to the portfolio. It's beautifully composed. The projects are visually impressive, and there's even technical drawings and language throughout. It couldn't hurt to learn more, so we call the candidate in for an interview.

Uncovering the details

Back in 2017, tech correspondent Arjun Kharpal reported a key question that Elon Musk, at the World Government Summit in Dubai, said he asks prospective employees: "...tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them," he said. According to Kharpal, Musk added, "People that really solved the problem, they know exactly how they solved it, they know the little details."

When a Job Captain or Project Architect candidate is sitting there with a full set of drawings, it's not hard to see what they know. Hopefully, the prospect is up front and honest about their level of knowledge and role in a project, but there are still some who may want to squeeze into a position on false pretenses. Those more experienced interviewers already have a sixth sense with this kind of thing, armed with their own version of Musk's question. 

"Talk to me about how you coordinated with the structural engineer on these wall details? What challenges did you face in that collaboration?" A candidate can't fake their way through a question like this. Ultimately, we aren't trying to "catch" someone in something, but merely gathering information for a successful decision. What approaches have you found to be effective in your hiring process?