Introduction

Successfully finding the ideal candidate requires a thorough approach with comprehensive preparation at all stages of the hiring process. This blog post is meant to help mainly technical leads that are conducting technical interviews, regardless of the experience. In order for you to be confident and well-prepared for this duty, I have put together a list of helpful tips and best practices for conducting technical interviews, from my own experience. This guide will hopefully help you whether you want to improve your interviewing abilities or pick up some new ones. So let's get started!

Before the interview 👀

The technical interview process is more than just showing up for a meeting. Proper preparation is key to ensuring a successful outcome.

1. Study the position requirements: Before you start the interview process, it's essential to understand the role you're hiring for. This will help you tailor your questions and interview approach to the specific needs of the position, and ultimately help you find a right match for the position.

2. Prepare your questions: While it's not necessary to have a strict script, having a list of important topics to cover and time slots for them, will help you stay on track during the interview. Make sure your questions are relevant to the role and avoid asking general questions. Be clear and concise, but be prepared to rephrase if needed. Avoid asking any personal questions (marital status, religion, their pet's name, etc), and focus only on work-related technical knowledge and experience, keep it professional!

3. Study the candidate's CV: Reviewing the candidate's resume before the interview is essential. Without this context, you may ask the wrong questions or form the wrong impression of the candidate. Candidates expect that you have taken the time to review their CV and may not repeat information that is already listed.

4. Test your equipment (for remote interviews): In a remote environment, it is crucial to have a stable Internet connection, functional camera and audio. In order to avoid any technical troubles and losing time on fixing them during the interview, always make sure you test your equipment and connectivity.

During the interview 💻

Here are some key tips to keep in mind during the interview:

1. Turn on your camera and ask the candidate to do the same(for remote interviews): This adds a personal touch to the interview and allows you to observe body language and expressions, helping you to form a more complete picture of the candidate. It will also discourage the candidate from cheating by searching answers on Google or similar. Make sure you are presentable, and dressed appropriately.

2. Be friendly and approachable: Maintaining a friendly demeanour throughout the interview can help put the candidate at ease, and a smile goes a long way in creating a positive atmosphere. Remember, you are representing the entire company in the interview, not just yourself!

3. Take notes: Taking notes during the interview will ensure that you have a clear record of what was discussed, which will be helpful in making a fair decision based on facts, and will help you to recall details when you need to provide feedback to the company and the candidate.

4. Be helpful but not too much: If a candidate didn’t understand the question, try to rephrase and give them a hint, but don’t answer your own question. Explain that it is ok if they don't have the answer, and just move on. Don’t waste too much time on one question where a candidate is stuck. In case a candidate answers something completely wrong, don’t waste time correcting them, accept their answer and move on.

5. Look for specific examples and contributions: Try to get a candidate to talk about real life experiences, concrete examples of their achievements and focus on what they contributed, not what others in the team did to solve a certain problem.

6. Focus on the candidate's strengths and not weaknesses: Keep the mentality that you are trying to find a reason why you want to hire somebody, and not why you don’t want to hire somebody.

7. Pay attention to soft skills: You are hiring a human being, not a robot. Ask yourself - does this person fit into the team I am hiring for? Consider the candidate's communication and collaboration skills, and whether they will be a good fit for the team.

8. Don’t lose control over conversation: If the candidate tries to steer the conversation away from the topic at hand, politely steer them back to the question you asked.

9. Don’t lose control over time: Make sure you have enough time to cover all the topics you want to discuss, while also leaving time for the candidate to ask any questions they may have. On the other hand, if you realise that a candidate failed the interview early in the meeting - it is completely fine to cut the meeting shorter. There is no need to waste candidate’s or your time.

10. Inform a candidate about next steps: Explain what is the next step in the interview process and provide a timeline when they can expect the feedback for the technical interview.

After the interview 📝

Depending on your company, this process can be different, but generally what you should do is to prepare feedback for the candidate, objectively assessing all their skills. Take all your notes, try to evaluate the candidate's skills, and give an overall impression if this candidate is a good fit for the position or not. Make sure that the feedback is objective and not biased. Be prompt in providing feedback to relevant stakeholders, and make sure to avoid prolonging the process unnecessarily.

Bizarre situations 😐

It's essential to recognise that not all candidates will exhibit ideal behaviour during an interview. While honesty and respect are desired qualities, it's not uncommon for things to go off track. Here are a few examples of such scenarios:

1. Offended Candidate: A candidate may become defensive or offended when asked certain questions.

2. Hostile Candidate: It's not unheard of for a candidate to lose patience and lash out with insults or raised voice when asked about a subject they are insecure about.

3. Frozen Candidate: Sometimes, a candidate may freeze and be unable to continue with the interview.

4. Abrupt End to the Interview: It's also possible that a candidate abruptly end the interview without any explanation.

5. Cheating Candidate: It's not uncommon for candidates to attempt to cheat during remote interviews by searching for answers online.

In either of these situations, it's crucial to remain professional and keep your cool. Remember, as an interviewer, you're also evaluating the candidate's soft skills, such as their ability to handle difficult situations. If things get out of hand, it may be best to end the interview. To minimise the likelihood of these scenarios, it's important to create a positive and comfortable atmosphere from the beginning of the interview.

In a remote setting, as mentioned above, it's best to conduct the interview via video call. This makes it easier to observe the candidate's behaviour, body language and determine if, for example, they are cheating. Look out for sudden shifts in eye movement and keyboard clicks, which may indicate that the candidate is searching for answers.

I am sure there are a lot more unpleasant situations that can happen, but the above ones are the most common from my experience.

Conclusion

I hope that this guide will be useful to everyone conducting technical interviews, whether you're an expert or just starting out. If you have any experiences or insights to share, I would like to hear them. Feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts below.

Cheers! 🍷

If you have learned something new, feel free to support my work by buying me a coffee ☕