Hiring engineers in 2025 is more complex than ever. Technical resumes may look identical, but performance on the job often depends on one crucial factor: real, hands-on experience.
Whether you’re hiring for manufacturing, R&D, construction, or software engineering, your success hinges on selecting candidates who can apply their skills, not just talk about them.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to spot hands-on experience during interviews – with proven methods, evaluation tools, and red flag signals.
Bonus: Watch our Co-Founder Luca Planert share his real-world approach to spotting hands-on experience in this short video.
9 Ways to Spot Real Hands-On Engineering Experience in Interviews
Go Beyond the Resume: Why Hands-On Experience Matters
Use Situational Interview Questions. But Dig Deeper
Look for Sensory Details and Constraints
Ask for a Real-Time Problem Breakdown
Use a Scorecard for Consistency
Watch for Red Flags
Leverage Technical Assignments (But Make Them Realistic)
Align the Interview with Your Work Environment
Ask for a Technical Reference Call
Let’s now analyse in detail each of these steps.
1. Go Beyond the Resume: Why Hands-On Experience Matters
Most engineering resumes list impressive tools, frameworks, and technologies. But many candidates have only touched these in theory and not in real-world projects.
Hands-on engineers:
Have debugged in real production environments.
Know how tools behave under pressure.
Have worked with limited budgets, timelines, and stakeholders.
Why it matters:
In field engineering, manufacturing, and industrial settings, theoretical knowledge alone doesn’t solve problems. Practical expertise equals faster ramp-up time, fewer mistakes, and better collaboration on the floor.
2. Use Situational Interview Questions. But Dig Deeper
You may already be asking behavioral or situational questions. That’s a good start. But most hiring managers stop at surface-level answers.
✅ Pro Tip: Use the STAR+ Method
STAR = Situation, Task, Action, Result
+ = Ask “What exactly did YOU do?” and “How did you know it worked?”
Example:
Question:
“Tell me about a time you optimized a system or process on the job.”
Follow-up prompts:
“What tools did you use exactly?”
“What was the before/after impact?”
“If I spoke to your former team, how would they describe your role?”
This forces candidates to reflect on their direct involvement and not just what the team did.
3. Look for Sensory Details and Constraints
People with real hands-on experience tend to remember small but specific details:
“It was a tight space, so we had to adjust the welding torch angle.”
“We used a workaround because the software kept crashing on the older OS version.”
“We didn’t have access to live data, so I had to simulate the output.”
These details indicate practical knowledge you can’t fake.
4. Ask for a Real-Time Problem Breakdown
Instead of whiteboarding theoretical problems, ask the candidate to walk you through a real past issue they faced.
Sample Question:
“Think back to a time something went wrong in production. Walk me through how you identified the root cause and fixed it.”
What to listen for:
A clear process or troubleshooting structure
Use of diagnostic tools or testing methods
Reflection on how they’d do it differently now
You’re evaluating their engineering mindset, not just the outcome.
5. Use a Scorecard for Consistency
Most hiring managers rely on gut feeling when it comes to “who has experience.” That’s risky.
Instead, use a structured interview scorecard with the following categories:
After each interview, complete this together with your co-interviewer.
6. Watch for Red Flags
Not every great-sounding answer reflects real-world experience. Look out for these warning signs:
🚩 Answers stay theoretical with no specific examples
🚩 Overuse of “we” without ownership
🚩 Inability to describe tools/processes in depth
🚩 Vague metrics (e.g., “I improved something a lot”)
🚩 Blame on “others” when things went wrong
A hands-on engineer owns their part and can explain how they got to the result.
7. Leverage Technical Assignments (But Make Them Realistic)
If time allows, assign a practical task but skip the time-consuming, take-home tests unless you’re hiring for entry-level.
Better alternatives:
Ask the candidate to explain a circuit design or system architecture.
Give them a bug report and ask how they’d debug it.
Show them a machine blueprint or product flow and ask for feedback.
The goal is live insight into how they think, not just whether they can Google the answer.
8. Align the Interview with Your Work Environment
Every company defines “hands-on” differently. An engineer in a SaaS company vs. one in a factory vs. one in field service will have vastly different daily tools.
Ask yourself:
Do we need someone who has worked in messy environments?
Is our tech stack cutting-edge, or legacy?
Will this person work more alone or in teams?
Then tailor your interview accordingly.
9. Ask for a Technical Reference Call
If you’re still unsure, talk to someone who’s worked with them in a technical setting.
Ask:
“What kind of tasks did they take ownership of?”
“Would you say they’re hands-on, or more conceptual?”
“How did they respond when something went wrong?”
Final Thoughts: Interviewing Engineers is a Skill, Too
Most hiring managers never get formal training on how to spot real hands-on engineers. That’s why many great candidates get overlooked or poor-fit ones get hired.
At CareerBee, we help companies improve their entire recruiting process. From crafting better job ads to pre-screening and interviewing the right talent for your team.
Need help hiring real engineers who can deliver results?
👉 Let’s talk. Book a free strategy call with our team by sending us a quick email to [email protected].
