Free cookie consent management tool by TermsFeed
Resources
|
Insights

Assessing Technical Credibility in FM Candidates

By
Peter Forshaw
Managing Director
Last reviewed
20 Oct 2026
Assessing Technical Credibility in FM Candidates
In brief

Test technical credibility by asking for specifics: real incidents, named systems, the sequence of decisions and the evidence behind them. Probe CV claims in layers, use scenarios and a plant walk, involve a technical reviewer, and check the story with references and documents. Confidence is not competence.

Assessing Technical Credibility in FM Candidates cover

This guide gives FM, estates and workplace leaders a practical method for judging whether a candidate really has the technical depth a role demands. It is designed for panels that include non-specialists as well as engineers.

It covers defining the depth required, probing CV claims, using real incident questions, testing compliance understanding, plant walks and document exercises, scenario scoring, spotting vocabulary without substance, and checking the story through references.

What the guide covers

  • Defining the technical depth each role needs
  • Turning CV claims into evidence questions
  • Incident and ladder questioning
  • Testing compliance understanding fairly
  • Plant walks, document exercises and scenarios
  • Telling depth from vocabulary
  • Using technical reviewers and references

Related guides

Free Maxwell Stephens guides on the same subject:

Who this resource is for

FM, estates and workplace leaders, and the HR colleagues who sit on their interview panels.

Talk to Maxwell Stephens

Maxwell Stephens is a specialist Facilities Management recruitment consultancy. If you are planning an FM, estates or workplace appointment, contact us for a confidential conversation, or read our case studies to see how comparable searches were run.