How to Effectively Screen and Interview Software Engineers

How to Effectively Screen and Interview Software Engineers.jpg

How to Effectively Screen and Interview Software Engineers.jpg

The screening and interviewing process for expert nearshore engineers can make the difference between hiring an outstanding team, and a team that is “just okay.” As a company, you need to know what you are doing and what you are looking for during the screening and interview processes in order to get the best software engineers for the job. The best method for hiring software engineers is not always intuitive, and in such a competitive environment you need to stand out from the crowd when hiring. Nowadays, investors looking at startups will evaluate the team involved just as much as the product. Here we look at some steps to effectively hiring software developers for your business.

Be Clear With your Criteria and What You’re Offering

You will get the best responses to your job advertisement and the best answers to your screening questions if you are clear about what the job entails and what you expect. It can also help you as a company to make your choice of candidates to go to the next round. While it may be appealing to choose the candidate with outstanding experience or unusually high skills in one area, you need to select the best applicant for your specific needs and requirements.

Know What to Look for in a C.V.

It’s important to keep in mind your primary criteria when looking at CVs as the first point of contact with a candidate. Ensure their focus areas and skills align with your needs, and that they match up in the 3 areas of evaluation.

best way to interview software developers .jpg3 Areas of Evaluation

There are 3 main areas you should evaluate your candidates in – technical ability, teamwork and results achieved. These are the three areas you should be scanning over in your mind as you look at CV’s progress to phone screening, and finally go to the face to face interview. You’re going to want to balance all these areas to choose the best candidate. Perfect technical skills won’t help if they can’t work with your team. Likewise, quality of analysis and investigations is not going to count unless it translates into real results.

Get the Phone Screen Right

Getting the phone screen wrong wastes enormous amounts of time and money. You want to ensure you’ve asked the right questions to bring the best candidate in for face-to-face screening, and not missed any potentially skilled developers.

Unfamiliarity is Okay; Ignorance is Not

You want to ascertain that your dedicated software developers have a general knowledge of a variety of systems when you do the phone screen. Formulate a series of questions that will evaluate technical skill, as well as revealing other attributes, like the ability to work in a team. It’s okay if you have to give minor prompts in some areas, or their knowledge is a little rusty in unfamiliar areas. What you are looking for is total ignorance in an area. This is a warning sign as developers should have at least some knowledge even outside their area of focus.

Drive the Discussion

As the interviewer, you need to drive the discussion. Time is precious, so you don’t need your candidate to give every detail about their previous/current work or skills. Set out questions that are important and relevant to your business beforehand to drive the discussion.

Related Content: 7 Critical Software Engineering Interview Questions You Need To Ask

The Face to Face Interview

The face to face interview after the phone screen is a chance to assess your candidate in person. You may choose to set more difficult questions for the interviewee, to give you a chance to see their problem-solving process. This interview is also the chance to break the ice and assess the cultural fit for your company while giving the candidate an opportunity to ask you questions.

With these steps, you can make interviewing and screening easier. If this is your first time, or you don’t have the time and resources to interview yourself, Bydrec can expertly select and screen the best software developers for you, and have interviews set up within two weeks.

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Topics: Tips on Hiring and Outsourcing Your Team

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