Skilled trades and facilities
AI interviews for tradespeople, technicians and facilities staff
Talk through your real hands-on work with an AI interviewer, then see your results first and choose who sees them. Below: what strong answers show, the 5 practice questions, and a worked example.
- Free for experts
- About 15 minutes, whenever you like
- Type or speak. No camera needed
Retake it up to 3 times: you keep every attempt, and choose which one represents you.
Who it's for
Who it is for
Electricians, plumbers, HVAC and maintenance technicians, carpenters, mechanics, custodial and facilities staff.
Example roles
- Electrician
- Plumber
- HVAC technician
- Maintenance technician
- Facilities manager
- Carpenter
- Custodian
- Auto mechanic
Name your exact specialty when you apply, and the questions follow it. Topics the interviewer draws on in skilled trades and facilities: a breakdown or repair where the cause was hard to find, a safety step they took when it would have been faster to skip it, a job that did not go to plan and how they fixed it, explaining a problem and its cost to a customer or manager, deciding which work orders to do first, training or working with a newer coworker or apprentice, and a time they had to redo work and what they learned.
What a strong answer shows
What a strong answer shows
These are the words the scoring AI is given for skilled trades and facilities, as written in Aethel's configuration. An area whose answers show one of the warning signs scores below 60, however confident the answer sounds.
Strong work
The candidate finds the real cause before fixing, follows codes and safety steps such as lockout every time, checks the finished work, keeps clear job notes, and explains problems and costs to customers honestly.
Warning signs
The candidate swaps parts until something works without finding the cause, skips lockout, permits or other safety steps, hides a mistake, or cannot say how they checked the job was done right.
The four scored areas
Troubleshooting
Finding causes, fixing them
Counts as evidence when the candidate describes a specific repair, breakdown or job problem: what they checked, how they found the cause, what they fixed, and how they confirmed it worked.
Safety and quality of work
Codes, safety steps, tools, inspections
Counts as evidence when the candidate describes how they do the work safely and to standard: codes, permits, lockout or other safety steps, the right tools and materials, inspections, and checking the finished job.
Communication
Customers, work orders, handoffs
Counts as evidence when the candidate describes explaining work to customers, supervisors or coworkers: what is wrong, what it will take, work orders, job notes, or a handoff to the next crew. Answers that respond to the question asked, in a clear order, with a concrete example, also count, but only up to 80 on their own. Grammar, word choice and fluency are never judged.
Crew teamwork
Crews, supervisors, other trades
Counts as evidence when the candidate describes working with crews, supervisors, other trades, customers or building staff, including training an apprentice or handling a disagreement. Saying "we" is not, by itself, collaboration evidence.
An area is scored only when the AI can quote you; otherwise it shows Not enough evidence, not a low score. How AI interviews are scored
Practice
The 5 practice questions
Questions like these come up in the interview. The free practice room asks a set written for your role and level. The real interview follows up on your own answers instead.
- Question 1
Tell me about a repair or job where the problem was hard to find.
- Question 2
What did you check first, and what told you the real cause?
- Question 3
Imagine a customer wants a job done fast, but doing it safely means shutting the power off for an hour. What do you do?
- Question 4
How would you explain to a customer that the repair will cost more than they expected?
- Question 5
What would you do differently on that job, and how would you know it worked?
No account. Each answer gets a quick rule check in your browser.
Worked example
A worked answer
Made up by Aethel to show how the published rules read one answer: not a real candidate, and not scored by the AI. A real score can differ.
The practice question
What did you check first, and what told you the real cause?
The made-up answer
This was a rooftop AC unit on a 3-story office building I maintain, where the second floor kept getting hot every afternoon. The last tech had replaced the capacitor twice. First I looked at what had already been swapped, because if the same part fails twice, it's usually not the part. Before I opened anything I locked out the disconnect and tested it dead. Then I ruled things out. A low refrigerant charge would have shown low suction pressure, but the pressures were normal in the morning. A bad thermostat wouldn't explain the capacitor failing. What told me the real cause was the condenser fan motor: it ran fine cold, but after about 40 minutes in the sun it overheated and tripped, the compressor ran hot, and that kept killing the capacitors. I put a temperature logger on it for one afternoon and watched it cut out. I replaced the motor, and the second floor held 72 degrees that week. I checked it again a month later, in the worst heat of the summer, and there were no more calls.
Marked words are the quotes the rules would look at.
How the rules read it
The situationLevel 2 of 2
A specific case with where it was and how big: one rooftop unit on a 3-story building, with a repeat failure on one floor.
The reasoningLevel 3 of 3
Two or more options compared, with why each was rejected: low charge and a bad thermostat were both ruled out before the fan motor.
The resultLevel 3 of 3
Measured and then followed up over time: 72 degrees that week, and still no calls a month later in peak heat.
Together the three ratings give 8 of 8 points, which is 95 on the fixed scale. Its longest quote has 33 words and is complete, so the quote rule does not lower it. It is evidence mainly for Troubleshooting.
What would raise it
This is 8 points, the most an area can get. A follow-up question would likely probe the safety side and the paperwork: the lockout steps on that roof, and how the job notes were written for the next tech.
The same story, told vaguely
I've fixed a lot of AC units that kept breaking down. I always check the basics first and work through it until I find the problem. Sometimes it's a part that keeps failing for another reason. Once I fix it I make sure it's running right, and the customer is usually happy.
Many repairs blended into one, with no building, no unit and no reading, so situation is 0 and the area is at most 60. "Running right" and "usually happy" are a result without a number. At most 60.
A whole result: the sample result. More examples: strong interview answers.
Company interview links
Roles companies can set up
Starter templates a company can use for an interview link, and what each one steers the interviewer toward.
Electrician
Focus: Installing and repairing wiring, following code and permits, safety on live circuits, working with other trades
Facilities manager
Focus: Building maintenance plans, vendors and contractors, safety inspections, budgets and work order priorities
HVAC technician
Focus: Diagnosing heating and cooling systems, repairs and installs, explaining costs to customers, service records
Maintenance technician
Focus: Troubleshooting equipment, preventive maintenance, safety and lockout, work orders
FAQ
Questions people ask
I am better with my hands than with words. Will that hurt my score?
Your words are not judged on polish. Only the text of your answers is scored, never your voice, accent, grammar, word choice or fluency, and you can type or speak. What matters is the detail of one real job: what you checked, what told you the cause, how you kept it safe, and how you confirmed the fix.
Should I mention safety steps like lockout even if they seem obvious?
Yes, say them. Only what you say is scored, so a step you leave out cannot count. Following codes and safety steps such as lockout every time is part of strong work in this field. Skipping lockout, permits or other safety steps is one of its warning signs, and an area that shows a warning sign scores below 60.
What if the job did not go right the first time?
That can be a good story. Say what went wrong, how you found the real cause, what you redid, and how you checked the job the second time. Hiding a mistake, or swapping parts until something works, are warning signs in this field. Finding the cause and checking the finished work are strong work.
Is this a written trade test?
No. It does not test code books or formulas. It asks how you found and fixed real problems, kept the work safe and explained it to customers and your crew. It does not check licenses.
Do I have to share confidential details?
No. The interviewer is told not to ask for names or confidential details about clients, patients, students or employers, and to let you describe situations without identifying anyone. You can leave out customer names and addresses.
What this interview cannot do
It is one conversation of about 15 minutes, so it covers only part of what you can do, and we have not tested whether results predict job performance. The AI can misread an answer, which is why every score shows its quotes and people make the decisions. It is not a certification or license check. No independent bias audit has been done. Skilled trades and facilities was not in our internal grammar test of the current scoring.
Your interview, when you are ready
Related fields
Hiring tradespeople, technicians and facilities staff?
Interview links for skilled trades and facilities and how to check a result a candidate sends you.