Thisarticlewas originally published onBuilt Inby David Vandegrift.
The single most important asset to any technology company isnt its inventory or even its intellectual property.
Accordingly, investing in attracting and retaining top-tier talent is a vitally important initiative for these tech companies.
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I would like to share some of what weve learned, starting with whatnotto do.
What does bad look like?
Theyve led to an entire interview prep industry training candidates to deal with them.
In reality, there is next tonoevidencethat brainteasers lead to better interview outcomes.
The problem is that the vast majority of engineers never use a whiteboardorpseudocode in their actual job.
Plus, any missing knowledge is typically easy to rectify with a quick Google search.
Unrealistic situations: Online and timed coding tests are now the norm for low-cost mass filtering of applicants.
Algorithmic coding challenges are considered a gold standard for an engineers capabilities.
The problem with these and other coding assessments is that they dont reflect what real coding work is like.
Its not unheard of for a process to include a full day (or more!)
of at-home work to get an appropriate assessment of their capabilities.
What does good look like?
An entire book could be written on hownotto conduct a technical interview process.
But thats the easy part.
The real question is: What does agoodprocess look like?
No single process will be ideal for every hiring manager in every situation.
Instead, its crucial to carry a set of good principles into any given situation.
Design a process that accommodates those assessments.
At 4Degrees, every technical process includes one live assessment and one take-home assessment.
The live assessment is kept under an hour and is framed as a collaborative exercise, like paired programming.
It assesses the candidates thinking process and ability to work with others.
The hiring manager shares the background on 4Degrees, what were looking for in the hire, and why.
They then ask for the candidates background and whattheyrelooking for in the role.
The coding is meant to be collaborative, somewhat like a paired programming exercise.
Vision/values alignment: The second interview is another hour, this time focused on the non-technical.
Specifically the vision, value and mission of the company.
The assignment is rigidly time-boxed to ensure consistency across different applicants.
Five separate touchpoints, with a total of six to nine formal interviews.
The interviews range widely across the technical and non-technical, with an emphasis on different skills in each category.
