assistant-skills/prep-tech-screen/SKILL.md

name

description

prep-tech-screen

This skill should be used when the user says "prep for this interview," "prep a tech screen," "prepare for this technical interview," "tech screen prep," "interview prep," or provides a candidate's resume/PDF and asks to prepare interview questions for a Verkada Enterprise Solutions Engineer peer technical interview. Also trigger when the user pastes or references a candidate resume and mentions an upcoming interview, tech screen, or peer screen.

Prep Tech Screen

Prepare interview questions for a Verkada Enterprise Solutions Engineer peer technical interview. Reads the candidate's resume, cross-references with the Peer Tech Screen Guide, and produces a structured interview outline as a meeting note.

Role Context

Verkada is an IoT company making physical security for enterprises: security cameras, access control, intrusion alarms, air quality monitoring, video intercoms, cellular connectivity devices, and visitor management. Solutions Engineers need broad technical knowledge across networking, storage, cloud, IAM, and physical security. The interview is 30 minutes and conversational, not a grilling session.

Step 1: Get the Resume

The user will provide a resume. This is commonly a PDF. The model cannot read PDFs directly, so extract text first:

pdftotext "/path/to/resume.pdf" -

If the resume is already text or markdown, read it directly.

Step 2: Analyze the Candidate

From the resume, identify:

• Current and previous employer(s)
• Years of experience and career trajectory
• Certifications held (CCNP, PCNSE, CISSP, etc.)
• Technical domains listed on the resume
• Likely area of expertise (networking, storage, cloud, IAM, physical security, or other)

Read the Peer Tech Screen Guide for reference on question topics and depth levels:

skills/prep-tech-screen/references/peer-tech-screen-guide.md

Step 3: Create the Meeting Note

Create a meeting note at:

~/notes/mt/YYMMDD-candidate-name-tech-screen.md

• YYMMDD: date of the interview (two-digit year, zero-padded month and day)
• candidate-name: first and last name, lowercase, hyphen-delimited
• Example: 260423-charles-oliver-tech-screen.md

Use this structure:

# Candidate Name - Peer Tech Screen

**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Role:** Enterprise Solutions Engineer (region/info if known)
**Recruiter:** (if known)
**Candidate:** Name | Location | Phone (if available)

## Candidate Background

- **Current:** Title, Company (dates)
- **Previous:** Title, Company (dates)
- **Education:** Degree, University
- **Certifications:** List from resume

## Likely Area of Expertise

One or two sentences identifying the candidate's strongest technical domain(s) based on their resume. This is where the interviewer should go deep.

## Interview Questions

(See question structure below)

Question Structure

Organize questions into these sections, each with - [ ] checkboxes. The interviewer checks them off during the interview.

Opener (area of expertise / current role)

• Start with a technically relevant question about their current position. No generic icebreakers. The first question should connect to one of the required technical areas. Good openers: "Walk me through a typical engagement," "What does your day-to-day look like technically," "Describe the lifecycle of [project type from their resume]."

Networking (required, go deep)

• Always include the "plug into a fresh network" scenario question
• Include the Verkada-specific scenario: segmenting Verkada traffic on a physical network, or bandwidth considerations for cloud backup
• Tailor follow-ups to what's on the candidate's resume (e.g., if they list firewall experience, ask about NAT/PAT and firewall filtering in the context of the scenario)
• For candidates with strong networking backgrounds, include advanced follow-ups: DORA, DNS resolution hierarchy, TCP handshake, TLS handshake details

Identity & Access Management

• Cover auth vs authorization, IDPs, MFA, SSO, Zero Trust basics
• For candidates with IAM experience, go deeper: SAML vs SCIM, SP vs IDP-initiated, hybrid identity, NAC
• Always include a Verkada-relevant IAM question (badge integration, directory sync, etc.)

Cloud Technologies

• Cover hybrid cloud, public cloud providers, compute/storage/archive concepts
• Connect to Verkada's hybrid cloud model (cameras on-prem, management in cloud)
• If the candidate lists specific cloud platforms, tailor accordingly

Storage

• Cover HDD vs SSD, RAID, NAS, retention sizing
• For candidates with storage background: IOPS, fabric, scale-up vs scale-out, storage protocols
• Include a video storage sizing question (e.g., "How would you size storage for X cameras at Y resolution for Z days?")

Physical Security

• Cover NVR, PoE, fail secure vs fail open, H.264 vs H.265
• For candidates with physical security background: PPF, RTSP vs ONVIF, OSDP vs Wiegand, low voltage, fire alarm integration
• This is often the weakest area for candidates; cover basics unless the resume shows depth

Culture Fit / Wrap-up

• Home lab, hobbies, what drew them to Verkada

Question Selection Guidelines

• Go deep on the candidate's area of expertise. If they're a networking person, spend the most time there with advanced follow-ups. If they're IAM-heavy, drill into SAML/SCIM/hybrid identity.
• Cover basics on the other areas. Once basic knowledge is confirmed, move on. Don't spend 10 minutes on storage if the candidate clearly knows it.
• Network questions are always required, regardless of the candidate's stated expertise.
• Keep it conversational. Use scenario-based questions. Avoid rapid-fire lists.
• Be Verkada-relevant. Frame questions around Verkada's products where natural (camera bandwidth, AC integration, badge sync, hybrid cloud).
• Respect the 30-minute window. Aim for 12-18 total questions across all categories. The opener, networking, and the candidate's expertise area should take the most time.
• Generate original questions based on the specific resume. Don't just copy the guide word for word. If the resume mentions specific technologies, vendors, or project types, write questions that probe those directly.

Step 4: Link in Daily Note

After creating the meeting note, add it to the corresponding daily note (~/notes/dn_YYMMDD.md) under the ## for verkada section:

## for verkada
- [[mt/YYMMDD-candidate-name-tech-screen|Candidate Name - Peer Tech Screen]]

If the daily note doesn't exist, create it following the existing format (see dn_*.md files for reference).

Step 5: Summarize for the Interviewer

After creating the meeting note, give the interviewer a concise summary:

1. Who the candidate is (one sentence: current role, years of experience, key certs)
2. Area of expertise and how deep to go
3. Interview strategy (where to spend time, what to surface-check, where the gaps likely are)

Keep it brief. The interviewer has reviewed the resume already; they need the strategy, not a recap.

Style Notes

• Skip the fluff. No "Here's your interview prep!" preamble. Go straight to the meeting note and strategy summary.
• Don't use em-dashes in the meeting note.
• Checkboxes only on questions, not on section headings.