During a recent round of hiring Counter Associate Consultants for a new project with Manchester Airport Group, we conducted both a technical and behavioural interview, much like any other tech firm in the industry. But there were some major differences, and most strikingly we didn’t require the candidates to write even one line of code. Let me explain why…
Tech Tests for Testing Techs
We’re all aware of the array of technical tests out there, from live coding challenges to take-home assignments. These tests often assess a candidate’s ability to solve algorithmic puzzles or implement coding patterns under artificial constraints. While they might showcase technical prowess, they rarely reflect the realities of day-to-day software development: collaboration, problem-solving with incomplete information, and adapting to feedback. Traditional technical interviews are great at identifying who can pass the test – not always who can thrive in a team or solve real-world challenges.
Surely then, the preference would be for a ‘take-home’ task, where candidates build something to a specification, like a working API or a simple front end. While these tasks may better reflect the job, they’re harder to assess objectively and often favour those with more free time, disadvantaging candidates with full-time jobs, children, or other commitments.
Counter Intuitive Thinking
At Counter we have worked with developers of all levels of skill and ability and we find that while anything can be built on and improved, it is technical prowess that is easier to actively increase in capability, especially for developers at the beginning of their careers. We also have the added benefit of working closely with the well renowned Northcoders bootcamp which has a proven track record for training excellence in the programming field, and therefore we can be confident that those applying for a position will be of a certain calibre. In addition, we consider each client engagement separately, and make sure we have a firm idea of how the team we are building will work best to achieve the goals set by the client, whilst also aligning with the culture. So instead of looking for a single type of developer, we focus on building a squad with both technical excellence and diversity of perspective and experience that will be high performing as a whole, as well as being able to lift each other up and increase everyone’s abilities together. This end picture requires a different approach to both the interview process and candidate selection.
A Positive Interview For All
For our recent round of hiring, we wanted to identify those skills that are perhaps harder to surface during traditional tech interviews. We did this by designing a process where the candidate is not isolated from information and context, but rather given an overview of the project they are working on in advance. Furthermore we didn’t ask them to write a single line of code – instead the interviewer (in this case myself) ‘drives’ and talks them through the tasks, both asking for the candidate’s input whilst providing real time feedback and suggesting alternative approaches. This is deliberate – we wanted to see both the candidates’ opinions and techniques when coding, but also their ability to evaluate and accept differing views or ideas.
Collaboration is key to successful development – there are often many meetings and discussions on approach before any typing is to be done, so it’s key to see how the prospective consultants work together with others. Communication is important in any team environment, and essential when developing new software. That’s not to say that a rockstar developer who finds it difficult to express themselves wouldn’t be welcome in our teams, or that a more introverted character can’t get on well within a team environment – but instead that a team as a whole needs a balance of characters, perspectives and opinions. In order to find that balance we need to know more than how quickly they can solve an algorithmic problem.
Interviewing The Person, Not Their Skillset
We felt it was important to have the person who conducted the technical interview involved in the behavioural section. This helps to draw a holistic understanding of the person you are interviewing, especially considering the potential stressors of the technical part. We provided the questions we intended to ask in advance, and framed them as a conversation with no right or wrong answers. After each answer we responded by expanding on our understanding of the response in order to offer other perspectives, or attempt to elicit further discussion. Our aim was not to catch anyone out but to get a sense of how they would fit into the team dynamic, and the client’s environment. This is ultra important for Counter because our unique model means the client would ideally be taking the opportunity to employ the consultants as full time employees in the future. Often an interview process for a tech job will have multiple stages, and the candidate will meet varied members of the team while the focus is on a particular aspect of the role. While that may have its advantages, we have the talent and availability within our organisation to allow the same team members to oversee the whole process, and therefore we find it preferable to do so.
Having applied this method to creating our most recent squad, we have found it allows us to build up a coherent, interesting and diverse team of associate consultants, all of which bring their own unique characteristics to the same role. As a result, we are confident that it will be translated into a successful project delivery. Just as importantly, we found that our feedback from the interview process, both for the successful applicants and those who didn’t ultimately make it into a role, was extremely positive. Signposting the process from the start, and removing the stress of having to ‘perform’ the act of coding relaxed the interviewees and in turn allowed us to see much more of how they would work day to day. Plus, the collaboration elements helped us build up much more of a picture as to how they would fit into the team as a whole.
An Offer of Acceptance
Will this method and approach revolutionise the tech interview industry? Probably not. But it allowed Counter to deliver a positive, progressive and enjoyable interview process and ultimately led to the creation of a team full of enthusiastic and amicable developers, who can also deliver the project the way the client expects. And after all, wasn’t the real interview the friends we made along the way?
