It is interesting to me how every Engineering Manager seems to do something different when they are hiring engineers for their team. 👀
So what does an effective and efficient hiring process look like. What do the best companies do, and how do some places get it so wrong?

Stage One - A VC or Telephone Call for ~30-minutes

The ideal first stage is a charismatic, senior, technical person in the business who can both assess suitability of the candidate and sell the business and the opportunity to them. As an employer you want to come away from this stage knowing that this is worth the time investment of the rest of the hiring team, as well as having an applying engineer who is bought into seeing the process through. A positive assessment of the candidate doesn’t mean anything if they drop out - because the conversation was one-sided.

Stage Two - A Technical Assessment ideally in person for ~90-minutes

You might think 90-minutes is a long time. But in my experience candidates don’t mind longer interviews. What they mind is lots of repetitive interviews. Do what you need to do assess their technical suitability, but if you’re asking them to come in again for an another technical chat then you’ve not done enough here.

Stage Three - HR, Product and Culture ~30-90- minutes

Ideally conducted in person again or via VC is fine here at this stage. The idea is that you get the engineer to be assessed by the remaining key stakeholders whilst giving them an opportunity to settle any doubts, have any questions answered, and your chance to ensure they are as bought in as possible.

They should come out wanting to accept your offer, and you should be able to put an offer out after this stage - either later that day or the following morning.

Here are some key points:

Hiring has momentum -
There is a point where every candidate is happy and excited about the opportunity, that enthusiasm drops each time the process slows or feedback is delayed. An efficient hiring process enables you to secure the candidates you want, otherwise the exercise is a waste of time.
Momentum is key to that.

Technical Assessments -
Ideally after the first stage and before the second. They should be 1-2 hours long.
A technical test is the biggest factor in candidates deciding to drop out.
Why that is, is a whole new post but if you’re setting an assessment it should accomplish what you need to see, in the shortest amount of time. And your feedback should be prompt. If you ask someone to do a 2-hour assessment you need to provide feedback even if they are a no. It’s basic manners.

Everyone is concerned about their employer brand these days, and they should be. It’s the major factor in getting good engineers to apply in the first place.