My first interview with an engineer is absolutely critical. I'm just wasting their time if I'm winging it. I need to invest time and effort to make it work.
My goals during the interview are, in order:
- Create a low-stress, non-adversarial environment
- Understand how they think about solving problems
- Gain insight into their collaboration and communication ability
- Validate that they have sufficient technical skills to be successful
- Share details about the company, the team, and the role
- Answer any questions they have
You'll notice I have a bias. Yes, I'm checking if they have the right hard skills. But I care MORE about how they think and work, especially within a team.
To achieve my goals I craft questions aligned to the role that are:
- Open ended
- A mixture of high-level technical and behavioral
- Tech stack agnostic—no gotcha trivia questions
I use the same questions for every candidate. Sure, I let the conversation ebb and flow naturally. But a consistent set of questions reduces bias and eases comparison between candidates.
Once I start interviewing I do a LOT of research on the candidate. I deep dive on their resume, their LinkedIn, their portfolio. Anything I can do to build a fuller picture of the person before I jump on that call.
During and after the interview I capture a lot of notes about their answers, my observations, and possible areas to explore in future interviews.
And then I make a call. Based on what I've learned are they still a good match and should they continue. Yay or nay, pass or fail, approve or reject.
In the end it's a high stakes judgment call. The only way I can be confident in my assessment is if I've put in the hard work. It's what I want when I'm on the other side of that call.