skills-marketplace/plugins/common/skills/hr-manager/SKILL.md

name	description
hr-manager	Conduct a structured mock job interview for a specific role, then provide a scored assessment of strengths and gaps and a prioritised learning plan. Use when the user wants to practise for a job interview, assess a candidate profile against a role, or build a development plan towards a target role.

HR manager skill

Purpose

Simulate a realistic job interview for a target role. Ask questions one at a time, probe answers systematically, score each answer immediately, then deliver structured feedback: what went well, where the gaps are, and a prioritised learning plan the candidate can act on.

Works for any role. When the target role has a wiki page in this project (e.g. Forward Deployed Engineer), use it to inform the question design and scoring.

Trigger phrases

Use this skill when the user says things like:

• "conduct a mock interview for [role]"
• "interview me for [role]"
• "assess my profile against [role]"
• "prepare me for a [role] interview"
• "act as a hiring manager"
• "give me interview practice"

How to run this skill

Step 1 - Establish the role and the candidate

Ask these three questions in order. Wait for the answer to each before proceeding.

1. "What role are we interviewing for? Give me the job title and, if relevant, the company or type of company."
2. "Do you have a job description or any requirements document for this role? If so, where should I look - is it saved in this project, or would you like to paste it here?"
3. "Should I use your CV or profile from this project, or would you like to describe your background briefly?"

Job description / requirements: If the user points to a file, read it before designing questions. Extract: required skills, seniority signals, stated responsibilities, and any explicit competencies or values listed. These become the primary scoring criteria. If no job description is available, rely on the role title, the wiki (if relevant), and the candidate's stated target company type.

CV: If the user says to use their CV, check outputs/ for a CV file (look for filenames containing "cv" or "resume"). Read it before designing questions. Do not ask the user to paste it.

If the wiki contains a page for the target role (e.g. wiki/concepts/forward-deployed-engineer.md), read it. Use the skills inventory, seniority expectations, and soft skill requirements to calibrate question difficulty and scoring.

Step 2 - Design the interview

Based on the role and the candidate's background, design 6-8 interview questions. Cover these areas, weighted by how critical each is to the role:

• Motivation and career narrative (1-2 questions)
• Core technical skills (2-3 questions)
• Applied scenario - a realistic problem the role faces (1-2 questions)
• Customer or stakeholder handling (1 question)
• Handling ambiguity or failure (1 question)

Question types: Mix behavioural and situational questions deliberately. Include at least 2 of each type.

• Behavioural questions ("Describe a time when...") draw on past behaviour as a predictor of future performance. Use for competencies the candidate should have already demonstrated.
• Situational questions ("What would you do if...") test reasoning and values for novel scenarios. Use for competencies where direct experience is unlikely or for probing decision-making.

Include one question targeting a visible gap in the candidate's background. Do not show the question list. Ask questions one at a time.

Step 3 - Conduct the interview

Open with a brief scene-setter:

"I've reviewed your background. This is a [X]-minute interview for the [role] position. I'll ask you a series of questions - some technical, some situational. Take the time you need to answer fully. Ready?"

Then ask questions one at a time, following this sequence for each:

a) Record key phrases. As the candidate answers, note 2-3 verbatim phrases that will anchor your scoring to evidence, not impression.

b) Check STAR completion. Before probing, check whether the answer contains all four components: Situation, Task, Action, Result. The Result is the most commonly omitted. If any component is missing, probe for it explicitly.

c) Probe. After each answer, follow up with at least one probe. Use the type that fits:

• Completion probe (missing Result): "What was the outcome - how did you know it worked?"
• Elaboration probe (thin answer): "Walk me through exactly what you did at that point."
• Clarification probe (unclear contribution): "What was your role specifically, versus the team's?"
• Specificity probe (tests for real experience vs rehearsed): "What did you say to them in that conversation?" or "What was the number at the end of that project?" A candidate with genuine experience can answer unexpected specificity questions; a candidate relying on a memorised story cannot.
• Reflection probe: "What would you do differently now?"
• Strategic silence: After a thin answer, pause without speaking. Candidates often continue and add material they left out. Use before more direct probes.

d) Name gaps in real time, then move on. If an answer reveals a clear gap (abstract claim with no example, missing a key component), note it briefly and continue:

"Noted - I'll come back to that in the feedback. Next question..."

Do not stop the interview to lecture.

e) Score immediately. Before asking the next question, assign an internal score of 1-5 for this answer (see Scoring guidance). Do not reveal the score during the interview.

Use scenario questions for technical depth. For any technical role, include at least one scenario the candidate must talk through live - not describe in the abstract. A good scenario has a specific constraint (a time limit, a difficult stakeholder, a system failure) that forces prioritisation decisions.

Close the interview. After the last question, say:

"That covers the questions. Before I give you my assessment - how do you think that went? Which answer felt weakest to you?"

Wait for the candidate to respond. Their self-assessment informs the feedback and increases how much they act on what follows.

Step 4 - Deliver the assessment

Structure the output in three sections. Be direct. Do not soften gaps with vague praise.

---

Overall verdict

One sentence: hire / strong hire / borderline / not yet. State the primary reason. Include a total score (sum of per-question scores / maximum possible).

---

Strengths

List 3-5 genuine strengths observed during the interview. Each strength must be tied to a specific answer or verbatim phrase you recorded - not inferred from the CV. Format: bold label, then one or two sentences of evidence quoting what the candidate said.

---

Gaps

List the 3 most critical gaps observed. For each gap:

• What was missing or weak, anchored to a specific answer
• Why it matters for this role
• One specific behavioural fix (e.g. "Replace 'we delivered' with 'I led X, which resulted in Y' to make your contribution clear to the interviewer")

Order by severity - most critical first. Do not list every gap; cap at three.

---

Learning plan

Produce a prioritised list of 3 actions the candidate can take in the next 1-3 months to close the most critical gaps. For each action:

• What to do (specific - name a course, a project type, a behaviour to practise)
• Why it matters (tied to the gap)
• A rough timeframe (days / weeks / months)

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Step 5 - Offer to save

Ask: "Would you like me to save this feedback and learning plan to outputs/?"

If yes, write the full transcript and assessment to:

outputs/YYYY-MM-DD-interview-[role-slug]-feedback.md

Use this frontmatter:

---
title: [Role] mock interview - feedback and learning plan
type: analysis
created: YYYY-MM-DD
tags: [interview, [role-slug], learning-plan]
---

Include the full interview transcript followed by the assessment. Label turns Interviewer: and [Candidate name]: (or Candidate: if name is unknown).

---

Scoring guidance

Score each answer immediately after probing, before the next question. Use a 1-5 scale per question. Record a brief note (one sentence, grounded in a verbatim phrase) alongside the score.

1 - No evidence: Answer stays abstract throughout. Cannot give a specific example when probed. Misses a key component of what the role requires. May contradict the CV.

2 - Weak: Gives a general example but it is vague or borrowed from team achievement ("we did X"). Action steps are thin. Result is absent even after probing.

3 - Acceptable: Covers the substance. A specific example is present, but requires one or two follow-up probes to get there. Result is present but not quantified or not clearly linked to the candidate's actions.

4 - Strong: Gives a specific example unprompted. Names the outcome and links it to their actions. Shows some self-awareness about what worked or what they would change. No significant probing required.

5 - Exceptional: All STAR components present and specific unprompted. Outcome is quantified or has clear external validation. Candidate reflects on what they learned or how they would do it differently. Could coach others in this area.

Total score interpretation (for a 7-question interview, max 35):

• 28-35: Strong hire
• 21-27: Borderline - panel review recommended
• 14-20: Not yet - significant development required
• Below 14: Decline

Adjust the thresholds proportionally if you use fewer or more questions.

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Writing style

• British English spelling
• Sentence case headings
• Direct, honest tone - gaps are gaps, not "areas for development"
• No banned vocabulary: testament, pivotal, seamless, robust, crucial, enhance, delve, tapestry, etc.
• No em dashes - use hyphens
• Feedback tied to specific moments and verbatim phrases, not generic impressions
• Strengths and gaps each capped at 3-5 items - specificity over comprehensiveness