Customer support
A first interview for technical support should find out three things: how a candidate narrows a problem down to its cause, whether they can explain it to someone who isn’t technical, and what information they pass on when they can’t fix it. Ask them to talk through real problems they’ve handled. The way they find causes shows up in the story.
The AI asks follow-up questions to get past the first answer and hear how the candidate actually found the cause.
What to look for
The questions
Ask them in order. Listen for real details: what happened, what the candidate did, and how it ended.
Strong answer
Walks through a sequence: what they ruled out, what they tested, what the evidence showed, and what the cause turned out to be.
Weak answer
Jumps to the fix with no explanation of how they found it, or describes trying things until something worked.
Strong answer
Asks what exactly is slow, since when, on which device and network, and whether others are affected, before suggesting anything.
Weak answer
Tells them to restart or clear their cache without asking a single question.
Strong answer
Uses a simple comparison, keeps it to a few sentences, and ends with what the user should do.
Weak answer
Uses more jargon to explain the jargon, or can’t explain it at all.
Strong answer
Lists the steps to make the problem happen again, what should have happened versus what did, device and software details, logs or screenshots, and how it affected customers.
Weak answer
“I sent it to the dev team” with no detail on what they handed over.
Strong answer
Gives the user the workaround, then writes it down and flags it so someone looks for the real cause.
Weak answer
Closes the ticket and moves on.
Strong answer
Doesn’t argue. Runs or suggests a test that shows the answer either way, and stays open to being wrong.
Weak answer
Tells the customer it’s their problem and ends the conversation.
Strong answer
Spots the pattern, warns the right team that something bigger may be broken, links the tickets together, and keeps customers updated.
Weak answer
Works each ticket separately without telling anyone.
Strong answer
Describes a concrete approach: using it as a customer would, reading past tickets and help articles, sitting in with colleagues, and noting what the help articles are missing.
Weak answer
“I learn fast”, with nothing to back it up.
Before the interview
Short form questions the candidate answers before the interview. You read the answers next to the interview. They aren’t scored.
Listen for
Avoid
Use this in LessRounds
Paste the questions into a scripted interview, where the AI reads each question word for word. Add the skills from the scorecard, then share one link. Every technical support specialist candidate gets the same questions. You get a score for each skill, with the candidate’s own words that explain it.
Ask candidates to walk you through a real problem they solved, then ask why at each step. Someone with a real method can explain each decision. Someone guessing can’t.
Yes. Both need patience and clear explanation, but technical support puts much more weight on finding causes and on the quality of what gets passed to engineers. See the customer service representative questions for the other side.
Start with 100 free credits, enough for about 20 interviews. No credit card or sales call needed.