Technical Interviewer's Checklist

I’ve interviewed hundreds of engineering candidates across multiple companies. With that experience, I’ve created a checklist to help ensure my technical interviews are effective and empathetic. Read on for the list!

Before the interview

• Read their resume and any prep materials you have (cover letter, notes from previous interviews, etc).
• If it’s a videocall, make sure your mic and webcam work - and turn your camera on!
• Respect the candidate by showing up on time.

Intros

• Introduce yourself and smile when you do!
• Ease the candidate in by having them talk about an interesting project they’ve worked on.
  • It’ll help candidates calm their nerves by thinking about something they’re already comfortable with.
  • Always respond positively to what they say!
• Set ground rules before diving into the question: Do you need working code? Can they Google things? What languages can they use? What are you looking to get out of the question?
• Your interview question should have a clear CTA. After posing your question, candidates should know exactly what their next steps are.

The technical question

• Remember what it’s like to be on the other side. Interviews are always stressful and scary: be empathetic and do whatever you can to reduce that stress!
• Guide candidates through the question. If they’re stuck, help them out. You’ll get better signal by seeing them approach the whole problem.
  • In particular - help candidates with standard library calls. Having the standard library memorized or not isn’t good signal.
• Take notes: it’s hard to remember what happened in an interview after the fact.
• Try to end on a positive note: if we end in the middle of a section, I like to connect where they are with where I wanted them to go.
• As you close the question, tie it back back to a real-world problem.

Closing out

• Leave 5-10 minutes for them to ask you questions - and make sure to end on time.
• Have answers to common questions prepared. Some common questions:
  • Why did you join Company X?
  • What’s an interesting problem you’ve worked on at Company X?
  • What’s something you don’t like about Company X?
• Thank them for their time.
• Submit your interview feedback ASAP.