Asking the Right Questions and Knowing What to Look For

Hiring engineers isn’t just about finding people who can write good code. It’s about finding people who can think, communicate, and collaborate effectively. Over the years, I’ve gathered some experience in recruiting engineers (and other roles) and I’ll share my thoughts here.

The Ability to Articulate Their Thoughts Clearly

If a candidate struggles to explain their thought process in an interview, chances are high that communication will be a challenge on the job as well. A great engineer isn’t just someone who can solve problems, they can explain how they solve them.

When interviewing: I ask candidates to walk me through their reasoning on a problem, not just give me the answer. I want to hear how they break down complexity and communicate their thinking in a structured way.

The Ability to Mirror and Anticipate Your Thinking

Some of the best engineers I’ve hired had an uncanny ability to mirror my concerns and anticipate follow-up questions before I even asked them. This isn’t about them being a “yes person”, it’s about demonstrating empathy, adaptability, and a shared understanding. Engineers who can put themselves in someone else’s shoes, whether it’s a product manager, a designer, or the customer, tend to build better products and collaborate more effectively on (and outside) your team.

When interviewing: I like to present a hypothetical product or feature idea and ask the candidate what questions they would ask before starting to build it. A strong candidate will want to understand the user, the problem, and the context before jumping into implementation.

Ownership Mentality

One of the most valuable traits in an engineer is a sense of ownership. Do they see a project through to the end? Do they take responsibility when something goes wrong? The best engineers don’t just deliver tasks, they care about the outcomes and take pride in their contributions.

When interviewing: I like to ask candidates to talk about a past project they worked on that they’re especially proud of or happy with. Next, I ask the same question but with a project that they weren’t happy with. How people talk about successes and failures tells you a lot about how they take ownership of their work.

A Rich Interest in Something Outside of Work

Technical skills matter, but I also look for engineers with deep interests outside of coding. Whether it’s family, sports, music, art, or some niche hobby, a strong personal passion tells me they have a sense of balance and perspective and that helps bring fresh perspectives and creativity to problem-solving. And people who are engaged in the world beyond their work often make for better teammates and more well-rounded thinkers.

Technical skills are a prerequisite, of course!

I’ve intentionally left out the technical interview questions here. I’m no longer writing production-grade code, and consequently I’m in not in a good position to ask the technically challenging questions. For that part, I’ll always bring my most skilled engineers. Not only are they much better at determining a candidate’s technical skills, they need themselves to be able to read and relate to the person as much as anyone.

Get buy-in

And that leaves me with my final point: Make sure you get buy-in from the people who will work closest together with the new hire. While this can sometimes be difficult to arrange, it’s important that your empoloyees feel included in this process. Don’t just “dump” a stranger in the team and expect everyone to rejoice. If a personal meeting isn’t possible beforehand, make sure to at least prepare the team by presenting the data you have, like CV, evaluation, background, etc.