Technical Interviews with GitScrum | Hiring Workflow
Track candidates through interview stages with structured scorecards and evaluation criteria. GitScrum hiring boards coordinate interviewers and decisions.
8 min read
Hiring well is critical for team success. GitScrum helps teams organize the interview process, track candidates, and ensure consistent evaluation.
Hiring Workflow
Interview Pipeline
HIRING BOARD STRUCTURE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ HIRING: Senior Backend Engineer │
│ │
│ APPLIED SCREEN TECHNICAL FINAL OFFER HIRED │
│ ──────── ──────── ───────── ───── ───── ───── │
│ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ │
│ │Jane D│ │Bob S │ │Alex T│ │Sam K │ │
│ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ │
│ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ │
│ │Tom R │ │Lisa M│ │Kim P │ │
│ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ │
│ ┌──────┐ │
│ │Pat L │ │
│ └──────┘ │
│ │
│ STAGES: │
│ Applied: Resume review pending │
│ Screen: Phone/video screening scheduled │
│ Technical: Coding + system design interviews │
│ Final: Team fit + final decision │
│ Offer: Offer extended, awaiting response │
│ Hired: Accepted, onboarding scheduled │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Candidate Tracking
CANDIDATE TASK TEMPLATE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ CANDIDATE CARD: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ HIRE-023: Alex Thompson - Senior Backend ││
│ │ ││
│ │ CURRENT STAGE: Technical ││
│ │ SOURCE: LinkedIn ││
│ │ APPLIED: 2024-01-10 ││
│ │ ││
│ │ CONTACT: ││
│ │ Email: alex@email.com ││
│ │ Resume: [link] ││
│ │ LinkedIn: [link] ││
│ │ ││
│ │ SCHEDULE: ││
│ │ ☑ Phone screen: Jan 12 (Recruiter) ││
│ │ ☑ Coding: Jan 15 (Jordan) ││
│ │ ☐ System design: Jan 17 (Taylor) ││
│ │ ☐ Final: TBD ││
│ │ ││
│ │ FEEDBACK: ││
│ │ Phone screen: Strong communication, 8 years exp ││
│ │ Coding: Passed, clean code, good problem-solving ││
│ │ ││
│ │ NOTES: ││
│ │ Currently employed, 2 week notice needed ││
│ │ Salary expectation: $150-160K ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ PROGRESSION: │
│ Move card when stage completed │
│ Add feedback after each interview │
│ Include interviewer scorecards │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Interview Process
Structured Evaluation
INTERVIEW SCORECARD:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ CODING INTERVIEW EVALUATION │
│ │
│ Candidate: Alex Thompson │
│ Interviewer: Jordan │
│ Date: 2024-01-15 │
│ │
│ TECHNICAL SKILLS (1-5): │
│ ──────────────────────── │
│ Problem solving: [4] Broke down well, good approach │
│ Code quality: [4] Clean, readable, tested │
│ Language proficiency: [3] Solid, some syntax lookups │
│ Data structures: [4] Chose appropriate structures │
│ Algorithm efficiency: [3] Working solution, not optimal │
│ │
│ COMMUNICATION: │
│ ───────────────── │
│ Explaining thought: [5] Clear, talked through approach │
│ Asking questions: [4] Clarified requirements │
│ Receiving feedback: [4] Incorporated suggestions │
│ │
│ OVERALL: │
│ ────────── │
│ Recommendation: 👍 Strong hire │
│ │
│ Notes: │
│ Struggled with edge case initially but figured it out. │
│ Would be effective on our backend team. │
│ │
│ Concerns: │
│ Less experience with distributed systems. │
│ Consider system design interview carefully. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Evaluation Criteria
CONSISTENT CRITERIA:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ DEFINE BEFORE INTERVIEWING: │
│ │
│ MUST-HAVES (Required): │
│ ☐ 5+ years backend development │
│ ☐ Strong in Python or similar │
│ ☐ Database design experience │
│ ☐ API development experience │
│ ☐ Can communicate technical concepts │
│ │
│ NICE-TO-HAVES (Preferred): │
│ ☐ Distributed systems experience │
│ ☐ Our specific tech stack │
│ ☐ Leadership/mentoring experience │
│ ☐ Open source contributions │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ RATING SCALE: │
│ │
│ 1: Does not meet expectations │
│ 2: Partially meets expectations │
│ 3: Meets expectations │
│ 4: Exceeds expectations │
│ 5: Significantly exceeds expectations │
│ │
│ DECISION FRAMEWORK: │
│ Strong hire: Average 4+, no 1s or 2s │
│ Hire: Average 3.5+, no 1s │
│ No hire: Average < 3 or any 1s on must-haves │
│ │
│ USE SAME CRITERIA FOR ALL CANDIDATES │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Interview Coordination
Scheduling
INTERVIEW SCHEDULING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ INTERVIEW SCHEDULING TASK: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ HIRE-INT: Schedule Alex Thompson interviews ││
│ │ ││
│ │ INTERVIEWS NEEDED: ││
│ │ ☐ Coding (60 min) - Jordan or Sam ││
│ │ ☐ System design (60 min) - Taylor ││
│ │ ☐ Behavioral (45 min) - Hiring manager ││
│ │ ││
│ │ CANDIDATE AVAILABILITY: ││
│ │ Preferred: Weekdays 10am-4pm ││
│ │ Not available: Jan 16 ││
│ │ ││
│ │ SCHEDULED: ││
│ │ Jan 15, 2pm: Coding with Jordan ││
│ │ Jan 17, 11am: System design with Taylor ││
│ │ Jan 17, 1pm: Behavioral with Alex (HM) ││
│ │ ││
│ │ PREP SENT: ││
│ │ ☑ Interview instructions emailed ││
│ │ ☑ Calendar invites sent ││
│ │ ☑ Interviewer packets prepared ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ INTERVIEWER PREP INCLUDES: │
│ • Candidate resume │
│ • Role requirements │
│ • Questions to ask │
│ • Scorecard template │
│ • Previous feedback (if not first round) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Debrief Meeting
HIRING DECISION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ DEBRIEF STRUCTURE: │
│ │
│ 1. Each interviewer shares independently │
│ (Before hearing others' opinions) │
│ │
│ 2. Start with recommendation │
│ Strong hire / Hire / No hire │
│ │
│ 3. Share specific evidence │
│ What they observed, not assumptions │
│ │
│ 4. Discuss concerns openly │
│ Address disagreements │
│ │
│ 5. Make decision │
│ Consensus or hiring manager decides │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ DEBRIEF NOTES: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ HIRE-023: Alex Thompson Debrief ││
│ │ ││
│ │ INTERVIEWER RECOMMENDATIONS: ││
│ │ Jordan (coding): Strong hire ││
│ │ Taylor (system design): Hire ││
│ │ Alex (behavioral): Strong hire ││
│ │ ││
│ │ STRENGTHS: ││
│ │ • Excellent problem-solving ││
│ │ • Strong communication ││
│ │ • Team player, good culture fit ││
│ │ ││
│ │ CONCERNS: ││
│ │ • Less distributed systems experience ││
│ │ → Mitigated: willing to learn, strong foundation ││
│ │ ││
│ │ DECISION: Extend offer ││
│ │ Comp: $155K + standard benefits ││
│ │ Start date: Feb 1 (after notice period) ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Capacity for Hiring
Planning Interview Time
HIRING CAPACITY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ INTERVIEW TIME ALLOCATION: │
│ │
│ Per candidate (full loop): │
│ • Recruiter screen: 30 min │
│ • Technical phone: 60 min │
│ • Coding interview: 60 min × 2 interviewers = 120 min │
│ • System design: 60 min × 2 interviewers = 120 min │
│ • Behavioral: 45 min │
│ • Debrief: 30 min × 4 people = 120 min │
│ │
│ Total team time per candidate: ~8-10 hours │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ SPRINT CAPACITY ADJUSTMENT: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ Sprint 12 Capacity ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Jordan: 10 days ││
│ │ - 2 interviews (3 hours) = 9.6 days ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Taylor: 10 days ││
│ │ - 3 interviews (4.5 hours) = 9.4 days ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Account for hiring in capacity planning ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ HIRING IS IMPORTANT WORK: │
│ • Don't squeeze interviews into "free time" │
│ • Reduce sprint commitment when interviewing heavy │
│ • Rotate interviewers to spread load │
│ • Bad hire is more expensive than missed sprint goal │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘