Why pre-screen software developers before the technical interview
Every candidate can describe a project. What separates them is whether they maintained it afterwards, what they learned from the parts that went wrong, and how they proceed when a bug does not reproduce. A short screen asks what they would build differently now, which surfaces judgement faster than a list of frameworks ever will.
What actually matters when screening Software Developer candidates
- 01
Technical proficiency
Check fluency in their primary stack: languages, frameworks, ORM or query patterns, Git branching, CI pipelines. Ask them to walk through a class or module they wrote recently.
- 02
Systems and trade-offs
Probe how they chose between a monolith and services, caching versus indexing, or sync versus queued jobs, and what the cost of that choice turned out to be.
- 03
Evidence and rigour
Test their approach to bugs and quality: unit and integration test coverage, logs, profilers, staging reproduction, rollback of a bad release they shipped.
- 04
Collaboration and communication
Assess how they handle code review comments, write pull request descriptions, break down tickets with product, and explain technical constraints to non-engineers.
Pre-screening questions to ask Software Developer candidates
12 questions grouped by what they test. Ask the same set in every screen and score answers on a consistent scale, or send them as an async video screen and compare answers side by side.
Shipped and maintained
3 questions01Can you describe a complex project you worked on and your role in it?
Listen forA specific system with their own contribution clear, and the difficult parts described honestly.
Team achievements described as personal, or complexity described only as project size.
02Have you worked on large-scale systems, and what were your responsibilities?
Listen forScale described in real terms, with the constraints that scale imposed on the design.
Scale claimed without numbers, or no awareness of what changes at higher load.
03Have you built applications on cloud infrastructure, and at what load?
Listen forServices they ran with traffic levels, and the cost and reliability trade-offs they made.
Cloud experience limited to deploying, or cost and scaling behaviour never considered.
Practice is solid
4 questions04Describe your experience with version control and maintaining code quality.
Listen forBranching and review used consistently, with code review treated as a place to learn.
Reviews treated as a formality, or commits made directly to a main branch routinely.
05Do you have experience with test-driven development?
Listen forA pragmatic view of where tests earn their cost, with tests written for the risky parts.
Testing described as slowing delivery, or coverage targets treated as the objective.
06Can you describe your experience with agile development practices?
Listen forPractices applied usefully, with an honest view of the ceremonies that added little.
Process described as ritual, or no view on what worked and what did not.
07Which programming languages are you strongest in?
Listen forGenuine depth in one or two, with an honest ranking rather than a long list.
Many languages claimed at the same level, or depth that disappears under a follow-up question.
Debugs systematically
3 questions08How do you approach troubleshooting, and can you share a difficult example?
Listen forHypotheses tested in order with evidence gathered, and the root cause confirmed before fixing.
Debugging by changing things until it works, or fixes applied without understanding the cause.
09How do you prioritise system upgrades and technical improvements?
Listen forTechnical work justified by risk and cost, with the case made to non-technical stakeholders.
Upgrades pursued for their own sake, or maintenance never prioritised against features.
10How do you manage multiple pieces of work with minimal supervision?
Listen forWork broken down and progress made visible, with blockers raised early rather than absorbed.
Progress reported only when complete, or blockers discovered by others at a deadline.
Works with others
2 questions11Describe collaborating with both clients and internal teams on a delivery.
Listen forRequirements clarified directly with the client, and disagreements resolved rather than escalated by default.
Client contact avoided entirely, or requirements accepted without question or clarification.
12Have you worked with web technologies, and what have you built with them?
Listen forApplications built with a real understanding of browser behaviour, performance and accessibility.
Front-end work described as styling, or accessibility and performance never considered.
How to score responses
Score every candidate on the same four criteria immediately after the screen. At this stage you are shortlisting for panel interviews, not making the final call.
Technical proficiency
35%5Names specific libraries and versions, explains their own code line by line, and admits where they leaned on documentation or teammates.
Systems and trade-offs
25%5Describes real trade-offs with consequences: latency figures, database load, deploy complexity, and what they would revisit today.
Evidence and rigour
25%5Cites a concrete defect, the evidence trail that isolated it, the test added afterwards, and measured improvement post-fix.
Collaboration and communication
15%5Gives examples of review feedback they accepted or pushed back on, and shows clear written habits in tickets and PRs.
Everyone can describe a project; fewer can say what they would change now. A one-way video screen asks that.
Try it on HirevireScreening FAQ
Process basics
How long should a pre-screening round for this role take?
Fifteen minutes across eight to ten questions, answered async. Enough to establish shipped work, test their engineering practice, and hear how they debug before setting an exercise.
Should this replace a coding exercise?
No, it decides who receives one. The screen filters out candidates whose experience does not match the role, so exercises go to a shortlist worth spending review time on.
Evaluating answers
What is the strongest signal when screening this role?
What they would build differently now. Developers who maintained their own work have specific regrets and reasons. Anyone who would change nothing has not lived with what they built.
How do I judge their debugging?
Ask about a bug that did not reproduce. Real answers describe narrowing conditions and adding observability. Anyone who says they rewrote the component has avoided understanding it.
Go deeper on this role
Sanat has been hiring since 2012 and watching the recruitment industry change up close ever since, and turned that screening process into Hirevire's video screening platform. LinkedIn
