Predictive, Respectful Hiring

The standard technical interview is broken. Whiteboard algorithmic hazing (e.g., inverting binary trees) selects for candidates who spend weeks grinding LeetCode, not necessarily those who can build robust web services.

Our Recommended Process

  1. The Screen (30m): Basic technical sanity check and alignment on salary/culture.
  2. The Practical (60m): A pair-programming session on a realistic business problem using the candidate's own IDE and language of choice. No gotchas.
  3. System Design (60m): Discussing the architecture of a system the candidate has actually built in the past, probing for depth.
  4. Values/Behavioral (45m): Assessing how they handle conflict, failure, and feedback.
Do you recommend take-home tests?
Only if you strictly time-box them (max 2 hours) and ideally compensate the candidate for their time. Unpaid 8-hour take-home tests filter out diverse talent and senior engineers who have families.