Describe the engineering environment
Explain the product, codebase and main responsibilities. Clarify whether the person will work mainly on the interface, services, integrations, data or several areas. State the level of independence expected and who provides technical review.
Distinguish tools that must be known immediately from tools an experienced developer could learn with support. A long list of mandatory technologies can obscure the capabilities you really need. Ask your technical team which knowledge is necessary for safe contribution in the first months and which reflects the current stack rather than an essential hiring criterion.
Use a relevant and proportionate assessment
Choose a discussion or small exercise connected to the work. Reviewing a short code example, explaining a debugging approach or discussing a past design decision may reveal more than an unrelated puzzle. Tell candidates the format, expected time and what will be assessed.
Use fictional or sanitised material and avoid asking applicants to complete useful production work without an appropriate arrangement. Have a competent technical reviewer evaluate the result. Look at reasoning, correctness, clarity and how the candidate responds to feedback, with expectations calibrated to the role’s seniority.
Assess how the person works in a team
Ask about code review, testing, documentation and working with product or operational colleagues. Explore an example where requirements changed or a technical choice had trade-offs. Seniority should be visible in judgement and responsibility, not only in the number of years listed on the CV.
Be clear about support duties, release processes and any on-call expectations. If the role requires maintaining an unfamiliar or older system, explain that honestly. A candidate who wants mainly new development may not be motivated by a maintenance-heavy position, even if their skills fit.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
A useful debugging discussion
Present a fictional feature that works for most users but fails for some. Ask what evidence the candidate would gather, how they would narrow the cause and how they would verify a fix. Strong answers should show a structured investigation and appropriate caution, rather than immediate confidence in a guessed cause.
Your practical checklist
- Define the product work and expected independence.
- Separate essential knowledge from learnable tools.
- Use a short, relevant assessment with clear expectations.
- Assess testing, review and communication habits.
Take it forward
Hire for the engineering contribution your team needs. A focused technical assessment and a clear role context are more informative than a long checklist of technologies.
