This week’s Let’s Talk series our experts share practical advice on how to hire confidently for technical roles when you are not a technical person yourself.
Hiring is hard enough when you know exactly what you are looking for. When the role is technical and the skill set sits outside your own expertise, the stakes get higher and the margin for error wider. How do you write a credible job description, assess candidates meaningfully, or know when someone is telling you what you want to hear rather than what is actually true?
This week’s Let’s Talk series our experts share their most practical strategies for hiring confidently in areas you do not fully understand, from building the right process to asking the right questions and knowing when to bring in outside help.
Let’s Talk!
Lauren Anderson, Senior Talent Strategy Advisor at Indeed
“Hiring for roles you don’t fully understand starts with accepting you aren’t meant to become the technical expert. Your responsibility isn’t to master the discipline. It’s to clarify what success looks like in your organisation and translate that into plain English.
The most important work happens internally. Sit down with the technical lead or the reporting manager and ask: what problems does this person need to solve in their first 6-12 months? What does “good” look like here versus elsewhere? Where have previous hires struggled? Those conversations surface the context that generic job descriptions miss.
With established professions, baseline competence is assumed. You don’t need to list everything a registered nurse or a qualified engineer can do. Focus instead on environment, pace, stakeholders, autonomy, and outcomes.
From there, design a process that separates responsibilities clearly. You can assess motivation, communication, and alignment. Technical depth should be validated by technical peers through structured interviews or practical assessments. Your role is translator and architect, not subject-matter expert.”
Adam Gregory, Senior Director, ANZ Talent & Learning Solutions at LinkedIn
“Many leaders may not be experts in every role they hire for, and they don’t need to be. The risk comes when hiring decisions are based on job titles or narrow experience rather than the skills that actually drive success.
The shift we’re seeing is toward skills‑based hiring. Instead of asking, ‘Do I fully understand this role?’, the better question is, ‘What problems does this person need to solve, and what skills are required to do that well?’
AI can play a valuable support role here. AI tools, including LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant, help recruiters expand talent pools and surface candidates based on skills rather than job titles. Importantly, these tools don’t replace human judgment – they free up time so hiring teams can focus on the conversations and decisions that really matter.”
Deepa Bargur, State Manager, ACT, Whizdom
“Start by asking what the purpose of the role is and what outcomes need to be achieved. A strong understanding of the role’s function helps me focus on the skills that are essential, without getting lost in long lists of technical terms.
Building that understanding relies on talking to people. This could mean consulting with internal team members, trusted contractors, or SMEs who can explain the role in practical terms. I also use AI tools to translate technical language into plain English, which helps me get a better grasp of what the work involves. Over time I’ve learned that the best hiring decisions come from seeing how a candidate applies their skills to real situations. It shows how they think and makes it easier to recognise when jargon might be hiding gaps in experience. Being upfront about what I don’t know has also been surprisingly helpful. When I’m transparent, candidates tend to explain their experience in simpler, more practical terms, leading to richer, more meaningful conversations.
When everyone involved shares a full and accurate picture of what the role needs to achieve, it becomes easier to make the right hiring decisions for even the most technical roles.”
Bec Geyer, Head of Talent and People, Prophet
“The best approach to hiring technical talent, or for roles you may not understand, is grounded on the following principles. Instead of relying on conversational interviews, evaluate candidates using structured assessments, work samples, and behavioural evidence. I advise focusing on signals that predict real-world performance: technical reasoning, applied problem solving, and judgement under uncertainty. The goal is to assess not just knowledge, but how individuals think, build, and collaborate in complex environments.”
Muthukumar T, Partner, Befree
“Hiring for roles you don’t fully understand, particularly technical ones, is a common challenge for growing businesses. The key is not to become the expert yourself, but to establish a clear framework for assessing the role and the outcomes it should deliver.
Start by defining the business problem you want solved. Rather than focusing purely on technical tasks, outline the outcomes you expect the role to achieve in the first 6-12 months. This helps translate technical capability into business impact.
It’s also important to bring the right expertise into the hiring process. This may involve consulting trusted advisers, industry peers, or specialists who can help shape the role description and assess candidates. Structured interviews, practical assessments, and work samples are often far more revealing than technical terminology on a CV.
Beyond technical capability, look for candidates who can communicate clearly and connect their work to broader business goals. The ability to explain complex ideas in practical terms is a strong indicator of expertise.
Finally, many SMEs are reconsidering whether every specialised role needs to be hired in-house. Accessing technical expertise through external partners or outsourced teams can provide the required capability while reducing hiring risk and maintaining flexibility as the business grows.”
Tiffany English, CEO, Access Offshoring
“Hiring for technical or specialised roles doesn’t mean you need to be an expert in the craft – it requires you to be an expert in the outcome. When I scaled Access Offshoring we grew our staff size by 1,333% in under three years. I succeeded by shifting my focus from how a task is completed to what the business specifically requires for growth.
To hire effectively for roles outside your comfort zone, first define the measurable outputs. Instead of getting bogged down in complex jargon, focus on the key performance indicators that signify success. If you can’t clearly explain the specific problem the role is designed to solve, you’re not yet ready to make the hire.
I recommend an approach that prioritises peer-led technical vetting alongside cultural alignment. You can use external experts or automated scenario-based testing to validate hard skills while you focus on the person. Skills can be taught, but values can’t.
Focus on high-level strategic alignment rather than granular technicalities. Trust your systems to vet the skill and trust your leadership to vet the person. This mindset shift allows you to lead experts confidently without needing to master their tools.”
Tracy Ford, People Capability Consultant, Concept HR Services
“You don’t need to understand every technical detail of a role to hire well. Your job is to ask the right questions and involve the right people, not become the technical expert.
Think about hiring an electrician. You don’t need to know how to wire a switchboard to assess if someone fits the role.
Start by getting clear about the work. Speak with someone who understands the job and ask them to describe what the person will do day-to-day. What situations will they face?
For example, an electrician might spend their day fault finding, installing circuits, or upgrading switchboards.
Next, separate what the person must already know from what they can learn.
An electrician must already know fault finding, circuit protection, and safe isolation. Learning your equipment or site setup can come later.
In interviews, ask for real examples: “Tell me about a time you had to diagnose a difficult electrical fault. What happened and how did you approach it?”
Listen for how they think. Do they explain clearly? Do they break down the problem?
Involve someone technical (e.g. contractor, technical employee) and get their view. Would they trust this person to do the job?
Gabrielle Stevens, Chief People and Culture Officer, Konica Minolta Australia
“Hiring for roles you do not fully understand can feel intimidating, particularly when there is no clear metric to assess a candidate’s technical competence. Technical capability, while important, rarely determines the long-term success of a candidate as skills can be tested, validated, and developed over time. However, it’s a candidate’s cultural alignment, mindset, and long-term potential that are far more difficult to build.
When hiring into highly technical roles, the focus should shift from whether someone knows every platform to how they think, collaborate, and contribute. To help identify these attributes, consider the following for candidates:
- do they demonstrate curiosity?
- can they communicate complexity clearly and respectfully?
- are they open to feedback?
- do their values align with your organisation?
Technical environments evolve rapidly and while integral systems will often change, what endures is a person’s ability to learn, adapt, and positively influence culture. Hiring for cultural fit is not about sameness; it is about shared values, accountability, and commitment to collective outcomes.”
Caitlin Stephens, Chief of Staff, APAC at Eagle Eye
“Hiring for roles you don’t fully understand, especially technical ones, can feel uncomfortable. I don’t come from a technical background, yet I’ve hired CTOs, engineers and architects across Eagle Eye’s global teams. The key is recognising that you don’t need to be the deepest expert in the room to add real value.
Start by getting clear on outcomes. What problems does this role solve? What does ‘great’ look like after onboarding? Focus on understanding the business impact of the role, rather than technical language, to shift the conversation from tools to results.
Second, lean into the expertise around you. Connect the right people into the process – technical experts who can evaluate depth, and cross-functional leaders who can test collaboration and commercial thinking. Get aligned upfront on must-haves versus nice-to-haves to prevent an obsessive focus on a single skill or factors that don’t drive value.
Building out a consistent scoring criteria, interview questions and a diverse panel to help reduce bias is particularly important when hiring in areas outside your comfort zone.
Finally, remember what you uniquely bring: Deep knowledge of your business, the culture and the challenges to solve. You don’t need to code to assess learning agility, growth potential and curiosity. These are the skills that will determine how that ‘technical fit’ will stay valuable over time.”
Jordan Divertie, Senior Talent Partner, Tyro
“Hiring for technical roles you don’t fully understand can feel daunting, but recruiters don’t need to be technical experts. We do, however, need to be rigorous. Our job isn’t to out-technical the hiring manager, it’s to translate complexity into a structured, evidence-based hiring process that consistently surfaces the right capability.
That starts with clarity. What problems will this person solve? What does “great” look like in six to twelve months? Agreeing upfront on outcomes and assessment criteria reduces reliance on gut feel and keeps interviews focused on evidence rather than jargon.
It’s also important to be transparent about what you don’t know. There’s credibility in saying, “I’m not an engineer, so help me understand that” or “Can you explain that in practical terms?”. Strong candidates can translate complexity into clarity. If they can’t explain their thinking simply, that’s useful data.
Technical hiring isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about designing a process that reveals who truly does.”
Greg Wilkes, CEO of Develop Coaching
“Hiring someone smarter than you can feel risky. Especially when the role is technical and you don’t know good from average.
But here’s the shift. You’re not hiring them to be like you. You’re hiring them to own an outcome.
- First, get clear on the result. What must this person deliver in 6–12 months? A faster app. Cleaner data. Fewer outages. Write that down. If you can’t define the outcome, you’re not ready to hire.
- Second, borrow expertise. Bring in a trusted advisor, contractor or peer for the interview process. Not to run your business. Just to sense-check candidates and help you ask better questions. A few hours of their time can save a costly mis-hire.
- Third, hire for thinking, not jargon. Ask candidates to explain their work in plain English. Get them to walk you through a past project: the problem, their approach, the trade-offs, the result. Strong operators make complexity simple.
- Fourth, run a paid test project. Nothing exposes gaps faster than real work with real deadlines.
- Finally, remember your role as founder. Set direction. Define standards. Create accountability. You don’t need to know how to write the code. You need to know what good looks like and whether it’s moving the business forward.
That’s leadership!”
Rita Cincotta, CEO & Founder of The Deliberate Leader
One of the biggest myths in hiring is that technical capability is the hardest part. Often, it isn’t.
Technical skills can usually be learned. Systems evolve. Tools change. Certifications can be earned. What’s far harder to shift are behaviours – how someone shows up under pressure, how they collaborate, how they handle feedback, and how they respond when things go wrong.
If you’re hiring for a role you don’t fully understand – particularly a technical one – start with clarity on outcomes. What must this person deliver? What problems are they there to solve? What impact are they expected to have on the team or organisation? When you anchor to outcomes, you can assess capability without needing to be the technical expert in the room.
Then look closely at behavioural signals: curiosity, ownership, learning agility, and the ability to translate complexity into language others can understand. Ask how they’ve approached unfamiliar challenges. Explore how they’ve navigated setbacks.
A technically brilliant individual who struggles relationally can quietly erode team energy. A capable contributor who communicates well and takes responsibility can elevate it.
Be deliberate about what can be developed over time and what tends to remain consistent. Skills grow. Tools change. The way someone shows up is what ultimately shapes your culture.”
Frances Pratt, Director, Metisan
“To hire salespeople successfully, focus on these three core steps:
- Understand Your Business: First, understand your business from the customer’s perspective. Review your best clients, uncover what motivates them, and clearly document the steps they take to buy from you. What sort of person would best serve these clients?
- What is a winner: Be really clear about what it is that you are asking this sales person to do. What are your explicit goals and expectations. Also think about your fears. When you think about sales people – what do you NOT want them to do, be like and create. Hire slowly, use behavioral questions to ensure a cultural fit, using both ideas from what you DO and DON’T want for your team and your clients.
- Launch with a 90-Day Plan: Set them up for success immediately. Map out their first 30 days, establishing clear deliverables and expectations for the daily activities, and cultural markers that will lead to their success. Also have some revenue targets, but know that these are secondary in the first 90 days to the activities and cultural metrics that will lead to the best outcome for your business.”
Catie Paterson, Director, Blue Kite HR Consulting
“Hiring for highly technical or niche roles outside your expertise requires shifting the focus from evaluating outcomes to validating a candidate’s process and cultural fit. From an HR perspective, the goal is to build a strong framework that offsets the limited technical knowledge.
Start by partnering with internal or external subject matter experts (SMEs) to identify the essential competencies versus the desirable skills. Let these experts handle the deep technical evaluations while you concentrate on behavioural qualities such as problem‑solving approach, adaptability, and communication style. Candidates who can explain complex concepts in simple terms often demonstrate strong mastery and leadership potential.
If you can, incorporate standardised technical assessments or work samples to create objective benchmarks. In fast‑changing environments, qualities like learnability and rational flexibility, can be more valuable than a set of qualifications or certificates. By observing how candidates tackle unfamiliar problems and by conducting detailed reference checks to confirm past performance, you can reduce the risk of a poor hire, even when the underlying technology is outside your domain.”
Trent Bowes, Production Manager at Revolution Print
“At Revolution Print, our hiring philosophy is anchored to our culture and values. To maintain this, we have partnered with a hiring agency that understands our business intimately to manage the initial filtering. This allows us to move from a broad pool of applicants to a curated shortlist of high-quality candidates.
During the interview stage, we focus on the human element – ensuring a candidate’s personality aligns with the team we’ve built over the years. If there is a mutual ‘click,’ we move to a full-day trial. This is the most critical step; it empowers our team to provide direct feedback on whether the candidate truly fits our DNA.
While our vetting process is rigorous, it has proven time and again that prioritising cultural alignment leads to the right hire, even for technical roles where we may not be the subject matter experts.”
Riaza Manricks, Leadership and Performance Coach, Reimaging Business
“Hiring for roles you don’t fully understand, especially technical ones, can feel exposing. But the biggest mistake founders make isn’t lacking technical knowledge. It’s over-indexing on it.
Yes, you need someone who can do the job. If you don’t have the expertise yourself, bring it in. Engage a trusted advisor, industry peer, or technical consultant to help define the role, shape the interview questions, or sit in as a co-interviewer. Don’t guess.
But here’s what many leaders miss: technical skill is only half the equation. You can teach skill. You cannot teach will. Attitude, curiosity, humility, and a willingness to learn will always outperform a technical expert with a poor mindset.
When you don’t understand the technical depth, double down on what you do understand. Values alignment. Communication style. Problem-solving approach. How they handle feedback. How they collaborate.
Skills get someone in the door. Character determines whether they elevate your team or quietly erode it.”
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