Start with the work you need covered
Write down the recurring tasks the drafter will own and the skills needed at the start. Drawing revisions, sheet setup and specialist detailing may require different evidence.
For an AutoCAD role, that brief might include updating DWG drawings from redlines, maintaining plans and details, or preparing sheets with your templates and plotting standards. State which software is primary and who will review the work.
If the role also includes Revit, identify the model and documentation tasks separately. An AutoCAD portfolio does not establish Revit production ability.
Across Clocks brings the resume, permitted work samples, interview notes and fit recommendation together in a Candidate Decision Package. You review that evidence before meeting the finalists and choosing who joins your team's workflow.
Read the resume for relevant experience
Look for the project types, production responsibilities and software experience that match your brief. Years of experience are context; they do not tell you how independently the person can work in your environment.
Ask what the candidate produced personally and what a senior colleague reviewed. You may want reliable execution from clear instructions, or someone who can identify issues and propose the next step. Make that distinction before comparing candidates.
Inspect a drawing you can discuss
Choose a sample related to your production work and view it at a readable size. On a floor-plan and partition-detail sheet, inspect how dimensions, door tags, schedules and detail references connect. On a wall or stair detail, ask how the drafter used the design information supplied by the project team.
The point is to understand the person's contribution and working method. A drawing preview cannot establish native-file organization, authorship or an independently completed technical assessment by itself.
Ask the candidate to explain:
- Which parts they drafted or revised.
- What instructions and standards they received.
- What they checked before handing the work back.
- How they handled missing or conflicting information.
Separate what you saw from what was assessed
- Evidence
- Resume
- What you can learn
- Stated experience, responsibilities and software background
- What to clarify
- Relevance to this role and the individual's contribution
- Evidence
- Work samples
- What you can learn
- Visible drawing content and presentation
- What to clarify
- Authorship, native-file practices and permitted scope
- Evidence
- Interview notes
- What you can learn
- Questions asked and explanations given
- What to clarify
- Whether a workflow was described or demonstrated in a practical task
- Evidence
- Fit summary
- What you can learn
- Recommendation against the brief
- What to clarify
- Remaining gaps, supervision needs and interview questions
An explanation of a redline workflow is useful. A completed practical exercise supplies different evidence. The notes should identify the evaluation method and what it established.
Read a recommendation alongside its limits
Our illustrative AutoCAD package includes redline workflow explanations and identifies QA/QC as an onboarding focus. The sample has modified identifying details and project/place names; it illustrates the process, not a currently available candidate or verified client outcome.
For a role requiring guided drawing updates, those notes suggest questions about revision checks and handoff. If your brief requires independent final checking, clarify that capability before deciding. The same recommendation can fit one role and leave an essential question open for another.
Use the interview to resolve the open questions
A fit summary should give you reasons for the recommendation and topics to probe. If QA/QC needs attention during onboarding, discuss the client's review process rather than assuming the candidate can release drawings independently.
Useful questions include: “How would you check this revision before returning it?” and “What would you do if the markup conflicts with another sheet?” Ask about the role's actual work and expected level of independence.
If drawing quality, file organization or review responsibility remains unclear, request a relevant explanation or role-specific assessment. Ask what was checked and by whom. A polished sample alone cannot settle those questions.
You can also clarify schedule, working-hour overlap and communication. A strong technical fit still needs a workable day-to-day arrangement.
Know which stage of recruitment you are reviewing
An early candidate preview can help confirm the search direction. It should be identified as preliminary, with assessment and availability still to be confirmed where relevant.
A finalist package follows role-specific sourcing, application review, practical assessment and structured interviews. You review the package, interview the shortlist and choose.
Keep professional direction with your team
Your team assigns work, shares files and standards, and reviews drawings. Across Clocks handles recruitment and supports setup, workflow alignment and the first 90 days. The worker contracts with Across Clocks, which charges the client and pays the worker.
Make a shortlist decision you can explain
Use this checklist before choosing who to interview:
0 of 5 items reviewed. This checklist records your review, not a candidate score.
Proceed to interview when the essential requirements have relevant evidence and you know what to probe next.
Request clarification when a must-have is uncertain. Ask for the missing contribution, assessment or working-arrangement detail.
Refine the search when there is a confirmed mismatch with a requirement that cannot be trained or accommodated. Share that reason so the next shortlist reflects it.
Bring your recurring drawing tasks and must-have requirements to a hiring conversation. Across Clocks will help define the role and the evidence needed for your decision.