The majority of tech companies are looking to hire experienced Software Developers and Engineers. Most tech positions require at least three years of professional experience with specific programming languages, frameworks, and technologies. Senior Developers are always in demand, which makes perfect sense having in mind the complexity of some projects and the continuous necessity to proliferate development processes. However, employers’ needs and requirements make the entire market a little too dynamic.
The constant need to improve technical skills and keep up with contemporary tendencies and inclinations is real.
Hiring processes vary from company to company. Each employer has some preferences regarding the selection and interviewing, which results in differences between recruitment processes. However, some type of technical interview is unavoidable for all Development positions and roles.
Technical skills
The general definition of Technical skills states that they represent the knowledge and expertise necessary to accomplish complex actions, perform specific tasks, and processes. Technical skills are essential for several reasons. As for the candidates and employees, obtaining in-debt knowledge and mastering new skills boosts confidence immanently.
Possessing a specific set of tech skills enables Developers to perform all sorts of complex tasks and actions. The more proficiency they acquire, the easier it is for them to detect and solve problems and contribute to the development process. Their knowledge directly influences the time frame, budget, and, eventually, the clients’ or users’ satisfaction.
The most popular technical skills in 2020
All programming-related skills are classified as technical skills. Some of the programming languages are always in demand due to their vast purpose, amazing communities, and other positive aspects and features, such as powerful development tools. Java is an excellent example of a programming language that’s highly demanded for over two decades.
Some of the most frequently used Java frameworks in 2020 are Spring, Hibernate, JSF, GWT, Vaadin, Play, Grails.
Some of the most desirable technical skills in 2020 are related to:
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Machine learning
- Data Science, Analytics, Visualisation & Engineering
- Cybersecurity
- Cloud computing
Many AI Engineers use some of these programming languages nowadays:
- Python
- Java
- R
- Julia
- Prolog
All businesses strive to welcome aboard tech professionals with an impressive background and the self-improvement mindset. These aims are not a trend because those Engineers have resumes that look amazing on paper. Each teams’ success depends on their competences and professionalism.
Knowledgeable Engineers recognize knowledgeable Engineers with ease. That’s what Technical Interviews are all about.
What is a technical Interview?
Screening and interviewing are the inescapable parts of hiring. Companies use technical interviews to assess candidates’ specialties for a variety of positions in IT, engineering, and science. These interviews usually feature sets of questions specific to the role a candidate has applied for and enable Hiring Managers to obtain insight into their skills.
Types of technical interviews
Technical Interviews have several forms. Some employers prefer to conduct interviews on-site, while others are equally comfortable with organizing online screenings.
Some companies are more inclined to perform interviews that contain some questions regarding candidates’ past experiences, accompanied by sets of hypothetical problem-solving questions. Those employers and Hiring Managers assess candidates’ knowledge, skills, experience, and methodologies without giving candidates technical assignments or mini-projects.
Practical assignments can also come in various forms. These are some examples:
- A brief take-home assignment that takes about an hour or two to fulfill
- A more complex assignment that takes several days to complete
- Code challenge + a code review that comes afterward
- Whiteboard interview (which represents a highly unpopular choice among developers)
- Sharing the screen with Interviewers while solving a problem (an alternative to Whiteboard method)
Why do companies need tech interviews?
Conducting technical screenings adequately and according to the company’s needs and requirements has a tremendously favorable impact on building the team.
Interviewers are not only interested in hearing strictly about candidates’ technical knowledge and experience, regardless of their importance. How candidates approach and solve problems, how they think, and construct potential solutions are also essential pieces of information from the Interviewer’s perspective. Interpersonal and communication skills are also being checked out during the interviews.
Technical Interviewers and their expertise
Brilliant tech talents with years of professional experience behind them have no trouble with recognizing like-minded individuals with fitting background and qualities. Their technical knowledge and expertise lead to conducting thorough interviews and noticing the traits that fit a candidate right into your team.
The technical skillset an employer is looking for always depends on the position in question. The job specification indicates the skills the employer expects. Official Job Description is an excellent source of information for candidates, and it can guide them towards the questions that the Interviewers might ask them.
Interviewers will be assessing candidates’ technical abilities and industry knowledge. Still, the methodologies a candidate uses to come up with the answer matter as well. Senior Developers can quickly observe numerous details regarding candidates’ answers.
Why you should seek external Technical Interviewers
Hiring can become tricky, pricy, and tiring when it’s not done correctly. Each development team needs to grow. And hiring is the only way to accomplish that growth. Collaboration with an external recruitment team or a staffing agency comes in handy for many businesses. Recruiters quickly become brand ambassadors and spread the word about your company into the community. They source the most highly qualified candidates and gather the information. However, the part of the process that’s missing involves the purely technical aspect.
The most qualified Developers should undoubtedly interview your candidates. Although you ought to have some IT professionals on your team who are willing and knowledgeable enough to take charge of this responsibility, it’s still better if you chose to go with an external Development team or a Tech professional who’s outside your organization.
External Technical Interviewers saves time
How much time does it take to conduct one technical interview? A tech interview rarely lasts under one hour. If you schedule one technical interview daily, your most experienced Developers won’t be working on their projects for at least five hours weekly. Their time will be divided between screenings and their primary daily responsibilities. The interviews will most likely break their focus at some moments.
If the meeting itself lasts one hour, calculate how much time will your Senior Developers spend on preparation and structuring the questions. Interviews are followed by writing feedbacks as well. All these additional tasks are time-consuming and will affect the team’s performance.
Experienced external technical interviewers will take these extra duties off your team, and allow them to dedicate all of their time and energy to the ongoing project.
Hiring external Technical Interviewers is cost-effective
As a logical turn of events, time-saving results in a budget-friendly outcome. Your Senior Developers will be more productive and their efforts will lead to better results. The development will progress faster and with fewer potential complications along the way once your most qualified staff has the chance to work on it solely.
Technical Interviewers from outside your company are unbiased
Let’s face the ugly truth. Even the most experienced, tech-savvy, seasoned IT professionals can fall for biases. No one is immune to them. Hiring external help to conduct tech screening will reduce all biases – technical ones, and the unconscious ones. Collaborating with skilled technical experts who can remain utterly objective during the interviews and assessments will ease your entire hiring process and enhance the candidate experience. Their notions and feedback are bound to be unprejudiced, which leads to making rational decisions afterward – Hiring Managers won’t be struggling while concluding the outcome of the process.
