[bavcyc]

FWIW: I started interviewing people in college for non-technical position although a very stressful job (favorite interview question: 'We think this job requires a sense of humor, tell us a joke'). Off and on over the years I've interviewed others for different positions. Regarding technical vs non-technical, both are the same for me; if the person is good it will show in both areas while if they stink then it will show in one area or the other.

Behavioral interviewing as mentioned in a previous post is Situation-Action-Result = SAR. Haldane I believe was the originator (Career Satisfaction and Job Success) although it might be someone else. Easy type of question to 'game' as you can construct answers to the typical questions. "Describe a situation where you made a mistake and how you fixed it."

IMHO much better to ask open ended questions. "You come across a car wreck with a person trapped inside the vehicle, what do you do?" "A 34 kV breaker continues to trip, what do you do?" "You are asked to code a function to compute compound interest, describe your actions and the code?" The idea is to find out how the person thinks; not whether the answer is right or wrong.

I'm good at interviewing people but it has taken lots of practice. One job had me as the plant tour and lunch interviewer; I could tell about the interviewee's technical skill just by the the questions they asked during the tour and at lunch. You do not have to focus on specific technical questions to find out if the person is knowledgeable. If they will fit into the group and have good learning habits then they will learn what it takes to be successful at the company. Technology changes but the ability to think and learn does not.

Ask yourself: If I had a problem, would this individual be someone that I could ask to help me solve it?