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Technical Interviews with GitScrum
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 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘