"I supervise a team of people with highly technical skills. But I'm not a techie myself, and so I feel uncomfortable interviewing people for open positions. How can I effectively interview people whose technical skills far exceed my own?"

Your problem is not unusual. Managers frequently have to hire individuals with specialized skills. Here are a few suggestions: First, do these technical skills have to be assessed in the interview? Perhaps there is a standardized test or a work sample that could be used to evaluate technical expertise, freeing your interview time to address other issues. Second, this might be a good opportunity to involve other people in the interviewing process. You don't have skills in the applicant's technical area, but are there members of your team who do? You could invite these individuals to participate in a panel interview. They can ask the technical questions, and you can ask the non-technical questions, but you can observe the applicants' ability to handle both types of questions. If you don't want to conduct a panel interview, you can still involve the other members of your team by asking them to suggest relevant questions to ask (and getting their feedback on the quality of applicant answers). Finally, don't hesitate to acknowledge your lack of technical expertise in the interview. Remember, the person you hire has to be able to communicate effectively with you—and that includes being able to communicate technical information in a straightforward way without unnecessary jargon. By letting the applicant know up front that you are unfamiliar with the specifics of the technical area, you give the applicant an opportunity to demonstrate his or her communication skills.