Technical explanation to HR

manpreet Best Answer 3 years ago

As part of some phone interviews I recently had, I was asked by someone from HR to run through my CV and the technical skills I use day-to-day.

I began by simply describing the tools/software I use, and was asked to "go into more technical detail" When I did, I found that what I was saying went well and truly over their heads (and ended up being counter-productive).

If a recruiter/prospective employer who has no knowledge of your technical skills asks for more technical detail, what is the best way of approaching this?

manpreet 3 years ago

As we all know, HR personnel are rarely well versed in the technology we use, but there may always be exceptions. Who, of course, sometimes only think they are experts :-) So in such a situation, probably the best would be to ask them up front to clarify what kind and depth of technical details they are interested in. In my experience, very often they are only filtering your input for buzzwords, so make sure to focus on the relevant ones.

Another method would be to pause and ask regularly after each "part" of your speech (like the description of a project you worked on, or a tool you used) whether they have any questions or comments. This allows them to ask for more details or to let you know to retreat from too deep levels of technology.