How to hire software engineers
Hiring a software engineer at a startup fails in two repeatable ways. The search looks for a job title instead of the work, and the interviews reward people who talk well about systems they did not run. Fix those two and the rest of technical recruiting gets shorter.
Write the engineering work first
Say what they will build or run. “Own the billing API, including incidents” is a role. “Full-stack ninja” is not. The stack is a constraint only where the team cannot teach it. A strong engineer learns a framework. They cannot learn judgment about production in the first week if the role needs it on day one.
Decide seniority by scope, not by years. A senior engineer on this team sets the approach and reviews other people’s work. If you do not need that, do not hire that level because it sounds safer.
Source past the obvious title
The people you want are often not looking, and their titles will not match your req. Search for the systems they have run. A boolean string helps for a first pass. It misses founding engineers and members of technical staff. Read how to source people who are not applying, and keep the list short enough that a hiring manager will actually review it.
Screen for the work, then talk
A resume that lists the stack is not evidence. Ask for one example of something they shipped, what failed, and what they changed. That can be a written screen or a short conversation before anyone meets the whole team.
Skip puzzle interviews unless the job is puzzles. A scoped discussion of their own system tells you more, and it respects the candidate’s time. Use the same questions for every finalist so you can compare notes.
The pipeline a small team can run
One sourcing pass, one screen, one conversation with the hiring manager, then an offer if the scorecard is met. Every extra round exists to settle a disagreement, not to feel thorough. Ava can run the sourcing and the first screen for an engineering role and put the notes where the team already works.
Common questions
- What is technical recruiting?
- Technical recruiting is the work of finding and evaluating people for engineering and other specialist roles, where job titles and keyword matches are a weak signal.
- How long should engineering interviews be?
- Short enough that each round measures a different part of the scorecard. Many startups can decide after a screen and one hiring-manager conversation.
- Should I require a specific programming language?
- Require it when the person must be productive immediately in that language and nobody can pair with them. Otherwise, score the systems they have built and let them learn the syntax.