Hiring great engineers is not just about evaluating technical skills. It’s about finding passionate individuals who align with your mission. It’s about building a team that can turn your vision into reality.
To make this happen, a solid interview process is your best tool. Becoming a skilled interviewer requires a diverse set of abilities. You break the ice. You listen. You judge. You tell jokes. You build rapport. You sell. Then you schedule the next interview—all within 30 minutes. You won’t master this overnight, but with time and practice, you can.
Remember: interviewing is a two-way street. You evaluate the candidate, while they evaluate you and your company. Approach with empathy. Be authentic. Show genuine interest in their story. You’ll make better hires. You’ll attract top talent.
How I took over engineering hiring
My journey from engineer to hiring manager wasn’t planned. It just happened.
I worked at a Japanese startup for six years. After our Series A, we needed senior engineers, fast. I stepped up to the challenge. That first year, I handled everything: phone screens, compensation packages, visa applications. I even became obsessed with flowchart diagrams to document our process.
The real breakthrough came unexpectedly. I did a “Developer Story” interview for TokyoDev about my startup experience. The result? That single article ended up accounting for 70-80% of our applicants who cited it as their primary reason for applying.
The secret wasn’t complicated. It was honesty. No corporate speak, just genuine passion. I shared our story truthfully, based on my values. This approach became my guiding principle, my “True North.” It wasn’t just a role to me. It was my duty to find the right people for our company.
Eventually, one of the engineers I recruited took over half the hiring workload. Later, they replaced me entirely. The process continued to work well. This proved it wasn’t about me. The method itself was effective.
How to hire good engineers
I’ve since moved on to start a new company, but I’m proud of the hiring process we built. Here’s what I learned.
Our approach was thorough. We reviewed 1,500 applicants. I personally looked at 40% of them. This wasn’t just skimming resumes. I read their messages carefully. I checked their GitHub code. I built a complete picture before deciding to move forward. By the time I left, we had hired about 15 engineers through this process.
What follows is both my personal story and a set of guidelines. If you’re serious about hiring good engineers, use this as one of your resources. It’s a starting point, not the final word.
The one value to serve them all
The single most important thing in hiring: the immense responsibility you bear. As an interviewer, you hold a candidate’s entire future in your hands. Your values should be rooted in this truth.
This is why engineers should do the hiring. Few recruiters have interviewed for an engineering job. They can’t understand how challenging it can be.
Bad value, good value
Every company is unique. Your values should be too. Once established, these values become your gold standard for hiring and firing. I won’t tell you what values to hold. But I’ll show you what makes a value good or bad.
Your values need trade-offs. If you agree with the reverse of a value, you don’t have a value. You haven’t made trade-offs.
Bad Value: “Leadership: the courage to shape a better future.” What’s the opposite? “Follow and obey: it’ll pay your rent next month. We just care about the next earnings call.” No startup would openly embrace that. The trade-off isn’t clear, making it a weak value.
Good Value: “Move fast and break things.” The opposite is, “Prioritize stability over speed.” Both can make sense depending on the company and circumstances. This value forces real decisions.
The bad value above is an inspirational poster. The good value is Facebook’s—they had it written on half the walls. This value is one of the things that made Facebook so successful.
This value shocked people. Outsiders didn’t understand “break things.” It didn’t mean break production. It meant breaking conventions that hindered “moving fast.” This approach helped Facebook win mobile. It made them leaders in open-source LLMs. They still “manage out” engineers who don’t embody this value.
It’s okay to adjust values. Do it deliberately. Even values are conventions. Break them if they don’t make sense. By default, things get worse at companies. They degrade to the mean. This slow decline can kill a company, especially an early-stage startup with limited time and resources. Toss out values that don’t work. Craft better ones. Do it before it’s too late.
Learn from your mistakes
When I started, I made mistakes, many of them. One stands out.
I failed to align salary expectations early. This wasted time. It created poor experiences for candidates. They’d go through interviews only to be surprised by the salary range at the end.
I fixed this by discussing seniority and salary ranges during the initial phone screen. Some candidates didn’t proceed, but it only took 20-30 minutes. Far better than discovering mismatches after grueling technical rounds.
This taught me to embrace mistakes, but not passively. I learned to prevent similar issues systematically. After months of refinement, we developed a solid process.
Your approach will be different. It should be. Team size, culture, and other factors all play a role. Find what works for your company. But let me share my guidelines for the most crucial step in the process.
The casual interview is (sometimes) all you need
The first real-time interaction matters most. Whether it’s by phone, a video call, or in person, this is your chance to impress and to understand the candidate deeply.
Give it 30–40 minutes—sometimes more, if the conversation flows. Always ask if they’re okay going over time. This is your shot at making a lasting impression, and at grasping their core motivations.
Forget standard interview scripts. Don’t ask, “What does the UNIX tail command do with the -f flag?” That’s what a recruiter asked during an initial phone screen in 2011. The mistake wasn’t the phone interview itself, but having a non-technical recruiter ask trivial syntax questions instead of assessing overall experience and cultural fit.
You’re not Google. Don’t copy their process blindly. Your size is an advantage. You can do things that don’t scale. Have unique conversations with each candidate. You’ll get better signals about their potential and fit.
Think of Asimov’s writing philosophy: “Ideally, in reading such writing, you are not even aware that you are reading.” Apply this to interviews. Make candidates forget they’re being interviewed. Be professional, but only just, and not an ounce more.
The power of asking why
Start by introducing yourself. Share your company’s mission. Outline the interview’s structure. Then transition to real conversation.
Begin with an open-ended question. “What are you most proud of building?” Then listen. Pay attention to everything: their tone, their thought process, their expressions, their body language.
Candidates get nervous. Reassure them. Share a time when you were in their shoes and things worked out.
When they mention something significant, ask “Why?” It’s a powerful tool. Anyone can list accomplishments. “Why?” encourages deeper sharing. It reveals who they are and why they chose this career.
I’ve been asking “Why?” for years. Let me share my favorite response.
A software archeologist: my favorite interview
I was interviewing a junior engineer. He had diverse technical experience. We discussed his motivation for engineering and his past jobs. As we dug deeper, he shared a unique perspective.
He called himself a “software archaeologist.” He was driven to understand the historical reasons behind systems. This knowledge, he said, was like ancient artifacts, forgotten over time. By uncovering why something was built a certain way, he felt like an explorer. He was revealing lost secrets. This understanding improved his ability to extend or modify systems.
This conversation stuck with me. It showed an engineer who was passionate about his work, and a deep thinker. Someone who understood his motivations and actions. That’s invaluable in software engineering, especially for junior candidates. It demonstrates high potential for growth.
This illustrates the power of “Why?” Active listening and genuine curiosity lead to true understanding. It’s not just a meeting of resumes. It’s a meeting of minds. Dig deeper into their answers. You’ll gain a comprehensive view of who they are and what drives them.
Develop your interviewing skills, now and forever
So, why not give these ideas a shot? The next time you’re preparing for an interview, set aside the resume and focus on having a real, human conversation. You won’t become good at that overnight, but you can with time and deliberate practice.
Your hiring process is a reflection of your company’s values. Make it thoughtful. Make it human. Make it count.
To learn more, start with Paul’s article about the overall flow. Next, check out Luke Wilson’s tactical advice. It’s full of actionable tips. I can vouch for Luke’s methods—I was using many of them before I even read his article.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Paul McMahon, Scott Rothrock, and above all, Rebecca Callahan for reviewing this article.
