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Scoring Rubric - General Criteria

This rubric applies to all topics. Each topic may also have specific criteria.

Score 0-1: No Experience

  • Have not used this technology
  • Could not explain what it does to a non-technical person
  • Would need a full tutorial to get started

Score 2-3: Awareness

  • Understand the basic purpose and when it's used
  • Have followed tutorials or done basic labs
  • Need documentation for every task
  • Could not troubleshoot a problem independently
  • "I've done the tutorial but couldn't do it from scratch"

Score 4-5: Competent

  • Can perform standard tasks without step-by-step instructions
  • Understand core concepts well enough to explain them
  • Can troubleshoot common problems using documentation
  • Know the most important commands/patterns
  • "I can get the job done, but I sometimes need to look things up"

Score 6-7: Proficient

  • Can work efficiently without frequent doc lookups
  • Understand why things work, not just how
  • Can troubleshoot unfamiliar problems using first principles
  • Know common pitfalls and best practices
  • Can teach others the fundamentals
  • "I'm comfortable and productive. I can help teammates."

Score 8: Advanced

  • Deep understanding of internals and edge cases
  • Can design solutions for complex requirements
  • Know the failure modes and how to prevent/recover from them
  • Can evaluate trade-offs between different approaches
  • "I've been bitten by the weird edge cases and know how to avoid them"

Score 9: Expert

  • Could write or significantly contribute to the tool/system
  • Understand the design decisions and their trade-offs
  • Can diagnose extremely obscure issues
  • Known go-to person for this technology
  • "I've read the source code and understand the architecture deeply"

How to Be Honest

  • Don't rate on potential: rate on what you can do RIGHT NOW without preparation
  • The "explain it" test: if you can't explain the concept to someone else clearly, you're probably a level lower than you think
  • The "debug it" test: if you can't troubleshoot a problem in this area without googling every step, you're at most a 4
  • The "design it" test: if you can't design a solution from requirements (not just implement a tutorial), you're at most a 6