Introduction
Before we start discussing the technical aspects of the interview, it’s important to mention the factor that has been instrumental in building our team. Our goal is to find the people who are not only the professionals excelling in their field, but the individuals who enjoy working together. The candidates should be aligned with our commitment to unity and collaboration.
Finding the right cultural fit fosters an atmosphere that supports personal and professional growth for everyone, leading to increased productivity and results.
As for technical interviews, it’s important to remember – they are not just about verifying if a candidate can navigate technical challenges; they are about understanding how a candidate thinks, solves problems, and fits into the technical heartbeat of your company.
What Is a Technical Interview
Let’s face it – if you’re here, you already know what a Technical Interview is. Therefore, let’s move on to the next step: start with defining the purpose. It’s important to establish the objective of the interview beforehand.
Consider what is considered as a satisfactory result for you. While complete knowledge may not be expected, are there specific non-negotiable factors? How do you balance proficient responses against areas of unfamiliarity?
By clearly setting the interview’s purpose and desired outcomes, you can evaluate it more objectively afterwards.
Interview Duration
An interview’s length should not be made in a vacuum. It should align with the broader context of your recruitment strategy. For instance, if there’s only one technical interview in your process, it may warrant a longer duration. Conversely, if multiple technical interviews are part of the process, shorter individual sessions might be more appropriate. A good starting point is typically around 60 minutes, allowing ample time for a comprehensive assessment.
A key recommendation is to keep interviews between 45 and 90 minutes. Interviews shorter than 45 minutes might not provide sufficient time to delve into technical queries and other important topics. Although interviews longer than 60 minutes can lead to candidate fatigue, potentially skewing your evaluation of their capabilities, 60 minutes often proves insufficient when interviewing senior staff. Hence, we opt for 90-minute sessions for these candidates to thoroughly cover and discuss a wide range of topics.
Remember, the perception of an interview’s length can vary greatly between the interviewer and the interviewee. What might seem manageable to you for two hours could be perceived quite differently by the candidate.
Structure of Technical Interviews
The typical types of technical interviews might be:
- Coding Assessments: This combines live coding and coding challenges. It assesses problem-solving and coding skills through real-time coding challenges and tasks that candidates can complete at their own pace.
- System Design: Evaluate candidates’ abilities in architecting complex software systems by discussing specific design scenarios.
- Algorithmic Questions: Test knowledge of algorithms and data structures, focusing on code optimization and problem-solving. Present real-world scenarios or technical challenges for analysis and solution proposals.
- Reading and Explanation: Have candidates review and explain code or technical documentation, testing their understanding of technical concepts.
- Pair Programming: Collaborate on coding tasks to evaluate technical abilities, along with communication and teamwork skills.
- Behavioral Interviews: Focus on soft skills like teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability, essential for technical roles.
- Engineering Culture Assessment: Include topics and questions related to the company’s engineering culture, values, and practices to gauge the candidate’s alignment and adaptability to the organizational environment.
Choose interview types based on the role’s specific skill requirements. Using a mix of these methods provides a thorough evaluation of the candidate’s technical aptitude and fit for the position.
Schedule a call with Olena, Senior Technical Recruiter, Team Lead at Ralabs
Evaluating Candidate’s Skills
Evaluating a candidate’s technical skills is not just about asking technical questions. A useful strategy is to present them with a specific problem scenario and observe their approach to solving it.
Instead of traditional whiteboard interviews, sometimes it’s better to use projects with known flaws and ask candidates to identify and correct these issues. These projects may include anything from malfunctioning front-end applications to inefficient database schemas. The goal isn’t necessarily for the candidate to fully solve the problem, but to evaluate their problem-solving methodology and speed. This provides insight into their analytical skills.
Incorporating live coding challenges can be effective, but it’s important to choose problems that are practical rather than abstract. For example, if a candidate is familiar with Project Euler, selecting problems from there can be part of the coding interview.
Tip: The balance in evaluation is crucial. Overly complex problems do not necessarily provide a better measure of a candidate’s abilities. It’s important to set realistic expectations and challenges that align with the job role.
Potential Concerns in Technical Interviews
It’s crucial for interviewers to not only assess a candidate’s technical prowess but also to be vigilant about certain behavioral and communicative aspects that could signal potential concerns. These ‘red flags’ can often indicate whether a candidate will be a good fit for the team and the company culture. Here are some key red flags to be mindful of during technical interviews:
- Poor English Proficiency: Limited ability in English, potentially affecting effective communication in a diverse work environment.
- Inability to Explain Computer Science Fundamentals and Math: Difficulty in discussing basic computer science and mathematical principles, indicating possible gaps in foundational knowledge.
- Lack of Proactivity and Enthusiasm: Showing limited initiative or interest during the interview process.
- Not Being a Team Player: Indications of an inability to collaborate effectively with others.
- Difficulty with Abstract Concepts: Struggling to grasp or explain abstract concepts, an important skill in technology roles.
- Unwillingness to Improve Knowledge: A noticeable lack of interest in ongoing learning and professional development, such as gaining new certifications or training.
- Disinterest in Knowledge Sharing and Mentoring: Reluctance to participate in collaborative knowledge exchange and mentoring activities.
- Non-Usage of AI Amplifiers and Copilots: Avoidance of using advanced tools like chat gpt, bard, perplexity and coding assistants like Github Copilot, AWS CodeWhisperer<1-2 more>, which could suggest resistance to technological advancements.
- Poor Communication Skills: General challenges in clear and effective communication, which is vital in teamwork and project management. These challenges include the ability to make notes, document things, share information, and keep people posted and updated.
- Lack of Understanding of Concepts of Kaizen: Limited comprehension of continuous improvement principles, indicating potential challenges in adapting to evolving processes and methodologies.
What’s Next?
We’ve mentioned before – follow-up is important. Our approach during this phase is heavily focused on a candidate-oriented strategy, which has proven effective in streamlining the interview process.
We start with clearly informing candidates about the subsequent stages of the process. While many candidates will likely inquire about this, it’s important to proactively address it even if they don’t.
Explain to them what to anticipate in the coming phases, such as the types of interviews they will encounter next. Additionally, provide an estimated timeline for when they can expect to hear back. It’s vital to review and relay your feedback promptly to facilitate the scheduling of the next steps.
The specific practices that has worked the best for us include:
- Efficient Processing and Feedback: We prioritize quick processing of candidates and provide timely feedback. This approach keeps candidates informed about their status and next steps.
- Feedback from Candidates: We request feedback from each candidate on their interview experience. This input is crucial for us to evaluate and enhance our interview process.
- Personalized Improvement Suggestions: Candidates receive tailored feedback for improvement. This practice is part of our commitment to contribute to their professional development.
- Standardized Interview Procedures: We adhere to internal standards and a documented approach for conducting interviews, ensuring consistency and fairness.
- Metrics and KPIs for Interviews: We employ internal engineering and recruitment metrics and KPIs to measure and manage interviews effectively.
- Opportunities for Future Engagement: One of our primary goals is to be an exemplary company for interviewers. Even if a candidate does not pass the interview, they can still return to us for future opportunities, or recommend us to their friends or family.
For more detailed information about the steps, refer to Guideline for Selecting the Right Candidates and Keeping Them Satisfied During the Interview Process (link here).
Results in KPIs and Metrics
Our recruitment strategy is anchored in data-driven approaches, as reflected in our recent KPIs and Metrics. Tracking these metrics is crucial for us to understand the dynamics of our recruitment efforts and to make informed decisions for future strategies.
Acceptance Rate
- Overview: We track the number of offers sent against the number accepted to gauge the effectiveness of our candidate selection and offer process.
- Results: From July through December, the acceptance rate stood at approximately 86.67%. This figure provides insight into the reception of our offers by candidates.
Candidates Who Successfully Passed the Technical Interview
- Goal: Our target is at least 10 candidates per month.
- Analysis: For the last six months, the numbers ranged from 7 to 19 candidates per month, indicating variability in the monthly outcomes. This metric helps us gauge the effectiveness of our interview process.
Time to Hire in Days
- Target: Our objective is to keep this duration within 15 days.
- Insight: While we’ve mostly stayed near this target, with a low of 12.5 days in July and a high of 19.5 days in September, these figures underscore our focus on balancing thoroughness with efficiency in our hiring process.
Total Opened Positions Per Month
- Observation: Tracking open positions helps us understand our growth and resource needs.
- Trend: A steady increase in open positions, from 6 in July to 9 in December, mirrors our organizational growth and expanding talent requirements, reflecting a healthy and growing company.
Summary and a few useful links
To conclude the series, successful recruitment at Ralabs is achieved by prioritizing culture fit, engaging respectfully with candidates, and utilizing data-driven approaches for hiring decisions. It’s important to go beyond simply selecting candidates and instead focus on creating a positive experience for all applicants, which helps enhance the organization’s reputation as a preferred employer. Either way, conducting a successful technical interview session is still a tough job, and you’ll get better as you go.
Now that you know all our “secrets”, as a goodbye, we’ll be leaving a few useful links – some of our recruiters’ favorite reads:
