Competency based question about "technical insight" need help !!!

sensibly_insane

Hi all,

I have a job application form to fill for a software engineer role. There is a question to describe an occasion when I demonstrated technical insight. I have done on many projects during my degree, I can mention many occasions when I solved some problem due to certain technical skill which others didn't have in my group. But, I am not sure is it what the emplyer wants me to write or something.

I will really appreciate if somebody could comment on that?

Liz_the_Whizz

Hi S_I,

Though not a technical person myself, I work with engineers and scientists, and shortlist for technical posts.

My expectation here would be along the lines you suggest. Insight is the key - it's about more than just having the technical knowledge, it's about how you perceive a problem in reaching a creative and innovative solution. That sixth sense will give you the edge.

HTH

[Deleted User]

Ok.. i have to use 'technical insight' quite a bit when troubleshooting our system. Sometimes odd and mysterious things can happen (e.g. database tables not being written to for no apparent reason with no error)... but because of my experience and 'feel' for the global architecture, i can troubleshoot them rather quickly. In those cases, it's usually a funny Oracle problem.. which I can tell, even though i have little actual knowledge about Oracle.

'Technical insight' is experience + technical knowledge

poker_face

sensibly_insane wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a job application form to fill for a software engineer role. There is a question to describe an occasion when I demonstrated technical insight. I have done on many projects during my degree, I can mention many occasions when I solved some problem due to certain technical skill which others didn't have in my group. But, I am not sure is it what the emplyer wants me to write or something.

I will really appreciate if somebody could comment on that?

These sort of questions are all about confidence really. So if you have lots of relevant experiences that relate to the question, I'd pick one that your proud and confident about as they might ask you about it in an interview

cazziebo

Just as a framework for your answer remember the STAR technique

Describe the Situation
Explain the Task
Tell what Action you took
Describe the result

As Liz and Ringo say - it's insight - not skill, so pick an example where you've had to combine skill, experience and intuition to arrive at the solution.
When you are describing the situation you are giving the context for the problem, so an opportunity here to give an overview of the issue and the team working on it if appropriate. The Task would be more technically specific in this case. Action is what YOU did - and be sure to stress your input rather than use words like "we". The result should stress the positive impact on the business, and any personal, team or organisational learning that came out of it.

Good luck!

sensibly_insane

thanks everybody for your comments. After preparing a number of personal stories for this kind of questions, I am started to have a feeling as though I am like a super man in disguise . I really wonder what the companies get out of this type of interviews while they know everybody is concocting stories.

worcester1

sensibly_insane wrote: »

thanks everybody for your comments. After preparing a number of personal stories for this kind of questions, I am started to have a feeling as though I am like a super man in disguise . I really wonder what the companies get out of this type of interviews while they know everybody is concocting stories.

Hi,

Well they are designed to make you feel like superman saving the day but remember to bring your team/manager into the equation to show that you also need good people around you to do a good job.

Each CBQ is usually scored out of 5 and you must score atleast 3 - this will decide on whether you get a 2nd interview or not

Cassiebo is spot on how to tackle CBQ.Good luck

sensibly_insane

worcester1 wrote: »

Hi,

Well they are designed to make you feel like superman saving the day but remember to bring your team/manager into the equation to show that you also need good people around you to do a good job.

Each CBQ is usually scored out of 5 and you must score atleast 3 - this will decide on whether you get a 2nd interview or not

Cassiebo is spot on how to tackle CBQ.Good luck

Thanks worcester for your good wishes.

Best Regards