A skills-oriented approach to hiring developers

We used to steer clear of traditional technical tests in our interview process. Instead, we asked candidates to walk us through one of their own projects. “Bring some code to the interview!” we said excitedly.

However, we realised this wasn’t always practical… It created some pretty awkward and less enjoyable interviews (for both parties). We just weren’t setting candidates up for success by asking this, sometimes impossible, question! Some people no longer had access to the code they eagerly wanted to share with us. Many people were restricted by NDAs and could not legally show us their work. Or, for some people, they had been recently working on projects that weren’t entirely relevant to the role they were applying for. Sometimes, people presented side projects, but they were often too simplistic for us to adequately assess their technical skills or were very misaligned with our tech stack.

So, how could we tackle these challenges? We took a step back and thought about what a “day in the life” of an Airteam developer looked like, as well as the technical skills we saw our teammates demonstrate each day. And that’s how we landed on a new approach: peer programming and tailored take-home exercises that reflect how we actually work.

‍

🧑‍💻 Peer programming exercise

For mid-level roles, we’ve introduced a live peer programming session with two of our senior developers. It’s designed to be collaborative and supportive — not a high-pressure coding quiz.

‍

Here’s what candidates can expect:

• Candidates are paired with Airteam developers and given a task that simulates a typical piece of work they might do together.
• The session is run through AWS Cloud9, a shared IDE.
• The task is usually written in TypeScript using React.
• The session runs for about 45 minutes.
• Candidates are encouraged to ask questions and talk through their thought processes as they go.

‍

Conducting our interviews using pair programming means we can really get into the nitty gritty of someone’s experience, and see people’s:

• Problem-solving ability and technical understanding.
• Coding style, conventions and refactoring techniques.
• Communication and collaboration style.
• Familiarity with version control and collaboration tools.
• Approach to how they would work in a real-world team setting.

‍

🧪 Take home test for senior developers

For senior roles, we needed something more in-depth. So, we designed a take-home challenge that takes about half a day to complete before the technical interview.

This more open-ended task gives candidates space to demonstrate architectural thinking, technical depth, and decision-making. In the follow-up technical interview, candidates are asked to explain their approach and walk us through their solution. We love deep diving into a project and we structure most of the interview around the take-home test. 

We have found that these new methods provide a unique opportunity for everyone to learn more about each other. Candidates get a better sense of how we work while showcasing their skills, and in turn, we gain valuable insights into coding abilities, problem-solving chops, and communication style. 

‍

🤝 Beyond code - our core competencies

At Airteam, being an excellent developer goes beyond just technical skills. We also evaluate what we refer to as core competencies — the skills and behaviours that contribute to success in a remote, multidisciplinary team with client-facing responsibilities. 

The core competencies we’re looking for include:

1. Communication
   Clear, thoughtful communication across written, spoken, and client-facing situations with excellent listening skills.
   
2. Problem-solving
   Resolving complicated challenges by breaking down problems and identifying a root cause with practical solutions.
   
3. Self-management
   Independently manages their own time, priorities, and resources to achieve goals.
   
4. Outcome focussed
   Focuses on results and desired outcomes and how best to achieve them.
   
5. Team spirit
   Promotes cooperation, commitment, and positivity within a team to achieve goals. Builds strong relationships and fosters positive outcomes. Helps create a work environment that embraces and appreciates diversity.
   
6. Resilience
   Maintains composure in highly stressful or challenging situations.

These are explored through behavioural-based questions during both the technical and following culture contribution interviews.

‍

The results

Our technical interview process now better reflects how we work at Airteam and the essential skills candidates need to do well here in our remote Australia-wide team.

To any prospective candidates - you’re invited to a technical interview at Airteam — now you know what to expect! We work hard to make the interviewing process positive - we hope you enjoy going through this revised process. We can’t wait to meet you and, in turn, answer some of your interview questions!

If you would like a first-hand look at the interview experience, check out our blog by our Full Stack Developer, Alfie, where he shares what it was like interviewing and onboarding at Airteam. And, of course, don’t forget to keep an eye on our careers page for new developer opportunities!