I have not heard either "index" or "calibrate" use in this kind of way. I have spent much of my life as a software developer in North America, in an environment where technical interviews are common.
To me "index" means to sort or order by some particular characteristic, or (less relevant here) to prepare an index of a document. It also has technical meanings in computer programming.
Merriam-Webster gives as meanings for the verb "to index":
- 1 a : to provide with an index
- 1 b : to list in an index all persons and places mentioned are carefully indexed
- 2 : to serve as an index of
- 3 : to regulate (wages, prices, interest rates, etc.) by indexation
Cambridge gives:
to prepare an index for a book or collection, or arrange it in an index:
Our computer indexes several thousand new records every second.
The book contains a lot of information, but it's not very well indexed.
to change a system of numbers according to each other or a fixed standard:
Living expenses will be indexed to/in line with inflation (= to take inflation into consideration).
Lexico gives:
- 1 Record (names, subjects, etc.) in an index.
'the list indexes theses under regional headings’
- 1.1 Provide an index to.
‘data sets are indexed by subject’
- 2 Link the value of (prices, wages, or other payments) automatically to the value of a price index.
‘legislation indexing wages to prices’
- 3 no object (of a machine or part of one) rotate or otherwise move from one predetermined position to another in order to carry out a sequence of operations.
‘the pins are retracted and indexed to occupy an adjacent slotted position’
To me "calibrate" means to set a standard, or to set some measuring instrument to comply with a standard.
Merriam-Webster gives:
- 1 : to ascertain the caliber of (something)
- 2 : to determine, rectify, or mark the graduations of (something, such as a thermometer tube)
- 3 : to standardize (something, such as a measuring instrument) by determining the deviation from a standard so as to ascertain the proper correction factors
- 4 : to adjust precisely for a particular function
calibrate a thermometer
- 5 : to measure precisely
*carefully calibrate the dosage of a medicine
especially : to measure against a standard
Cambridge gives:
- to mark units of measurement on an instrument such so that it can measure accurately:
a calibrated stick for measuring the amount of oil in an engine
- to check a measuring instrument to see if it is accurate
- to make, adjust, or check the setting (= the position) of the controls used to make measurements with a tool or measuring device:
Our radar was calibrated for 100,000 yards.
Lexico gives:
- 1 Mark (a gauge or instrument) with a standard scale of readings.
‘the depth gauge is calibrated in centimeters’
- 1.1 Correlate the readings of (an instrument) with those of a standard in order to check the instrument's accuracy.
‘a separate control experiment is then carried out to calibrate the calorimeter’
- 1.2 Adjust (experimental results) to take external factors into account or to allow comparison with other data.
‘the radiocarbon results would need to be calibrated to convert them to calendar ages’
- 1.3 Carefully assess, set, or adjust (something abstract)
‘the regulators cannot properly calibrate the risks involved’
I would render the the first example in the question as something like one of:
- In a technical interview, we should assess the candidates' abilities to do X
- In a technical interview, we should rate the candidates' by their abilities to do X
- In a technical interview, we should judge the candidates' by their abilities to do X
- In a technical interview, we should grade the candidates' on their abilities to do X
I would render the third example in the question as something like one of:
- for a technical interview, we should sort on these specific abilities/competencies.
- for a technical interview, we should sort on these specific abilities/competencies.
- for a technical interview, we should select on these specific abilities/competencies.
- for a technical interview, we should choose based on these specific abilities/competencies.
