Tools, Frameworks & Implementation Proficiency Topics
Practical proficiency with industry-standard tools and frameworks including project management (Jira, Azure DevOps), productivity tools (Excel, spreadsheet analysis), development tools and environments, and framework setup. Focuses on hands-on tool expertise, configuration, best practices, and optimization rather than conceptual knowledge. Complements technical categories by addressing implementation tooling.
Technology Stack and Tooling
Focuses on familiarity with common technologies and the rationale for choosing them. Includes knowledge of databases both relational and nonrelational, caching layers, message queues, containerization and orchestration, monitoring and logging tools, continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines, and cloud versus on premise tradeoffs. Candidates should understand the role each tool plays in a system, when to adopt a technology based on system requirements and constraints, and tradeoffs in terms of operational complexity, cost, performance and team capability.
Technology Evaluation and Selection
Focuses on evaluating technology options and selecting appropriate platforms or vendors. Key skills include defining business and technical requirements, creating evaluation criteria and decision matrices, running proof of concept trials, assessing total cost of ownership and vendor lock in, validating integration feasibility and operational impact, ensuring security and compliance, planning staged rollouts and migrations, and documenting governance for adoption. Interviewers may probe examples of build versus buy decisions and how pilots were used to de risk technology choices.
Technology Solution Fit Assessment
Evaluating and recommending technology solutions that appropriately address specific process problems and user needs. Candidates should demonstrate a problem first approach: identify the underlying process or user pain points, then map to enabling technologies rather than prescribing tools up front. Discuss concrete options such as automated workflow routing to reduce manual email back and forth, intelligent reminders to prevent requests from languishing in inboxes, integration platforms to connect fragmented systems, mobile access to enable approvals from anywhere, and analytics dashboards to provide visibility. Explain why a particular category of tool or specific platform fits the problem by weighing functionality, cost, implementation complexity, integration needs, security and compliance, and likely user adoption. Highlight trade offs, deployment and maintenance considerations, minimum viable implementations, and how to avoid over engineering while ensuring long term extensibility.