MOPs, SOPs and EOPs: what candidates should have written or followed
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A candidate who says they worked from procedures may have read them, written them, or only signed the attendance sheet. This guide helps you tell which.
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What does this hire really come down to?
A method of procedure covers one planned task, such as transferring a load to the alternate feed so a breaker can be serviced. A standard operating procedure covers a routine that repeats, such as a round of the plant. An emergency operating procedure covers a failure already in progress.
Each document asks something different of its author, so ask which kind the candidate wrote.
What do we check before you see anyone?
- Ask for the last method they wrote from scratch: the isolation points, the rollback step, who held authority to stop, and what happened when reality differed from the page.
- Ask what they changed in an emergency procedure after an incident or drill. Someone who only followed it rarely knows why a step sits where it does.
Where do we find these candidates?
We look across live operations teams, commissioning firms and electrical contractors, because each group writes these documents for a different reader and at a different pace.
Which hiring mistakes should you avoid?
- Treating a page of numbered steps as proof of authorship. Many candidates can describe a method they executed but could not have drafted one, and the seat you are filling decides whether that matters.
How the search runs
Decide author or follower
Write down whether this seat drafts documents for others or executes them correctly under pressure. Interviews then test one skill properly.
Walk one document line by line
Have the candidate narrate a real method from memory, including approvals, and watch where detail thins.
Probe the deviation
Ask what they did when a step could not be performed as written, and who they told.
What each document should contain
A usable method names the equipment by its label, states the starting condition, lists each action with a checkpoint, identifies who approves, and ends with a verified return to normal. If a candidate describes one without mentioning a rollback, they either leave it out or have never needed it.
A standard procedure is judged by whether a new technician could follow it on a night shift without phoning a supervisor. An emergency procedure is judged by whether the first three actions fit on one screen and were rehearsed.
Questions that separate writers from followers
Which task did you refuse to start because the document was wrong, and what did you do next? Who reviewed your last method, and what did they strike out? Describe a step that looked redundant and turned out to matter.
Ask how they kept documents current after equipment changed. A candidate who has maintained a library can describe the review cycle, the owner of each file, and how a stale copy gets pulled from the floor.
Reading a sample
If a candidate offers a document as evidence, check that it names real equipment, carries a revision history, and shows signatures from someone other than the author. A clean sample with no corrections suggests it was never used.
Questions
How soon can you show me candidates for a role that writes procedures?
We can usually tell you early whether the writing market for your site is thin or open, and we will not promise a date before we have heard your scope. Writers are a smaller group than executors, so we confirm that distinction with you first.
What if my best candidate gets a counteroffer?
Ask in the interview what would make them stay put, and note whether the answer is about money or about the work. People who are staying for the procedures and responsibility they own are harder to move than people who want a raise.
Will candidates relocate for a seat that follows site procedures?
Procedure-heavy seats tend to be tied to one facility, so relocation is a real question. We raise it with each candidate before introducing them, and you hear their position plainly.
Does travel change who can follow a method of procedure?
Yes, because a traveler meets a new site's documents on arrival. Ask how they handled the first week on a facility whose conventions differed from the last one.
How do I test fit if the candidate's old sites ran differently?
Give them a short method from your own site and ask what they would question before starting. Good candidates ask about isolation and rollback before they ask about tools.
How do fees work if I hire someone I met through this search?
Terms sit on the engagement page. If you already know someone who writes procedures well, tell us before we start so that person is handled openly.