Interviewing & hiring engineers

Hiring is required and occasionally painful. It can also be great when you design for signal, fairness, and an actually human experience.

Here’s how I approach it.

Candidate experience matters

I want every candidate to feel respected, even if the answer is no.

As I said on the podcast:

“If you talk to me [and we don't move forward with your candidacy], you're getting a customized rejection.”

And Emma’s north star is the same:

“My favorite part is making sure that every candidate walks away having had a good experience, even if they absolutely bombed that interview.”

That bar forces discipline: clear rubrics, timely responses, and feedback that’s specific.

Skills I actually screen for

• Foundations over frameworks. If you’ve done serious work with a modern stack I won’t ding you for not knowing our exact stack. Seniority shows in pattern fluency, not package trivia.
• System design thinking. I’m listening for how you clarify scope, tradeoffs, and scale. It’s collaborative by design. There isn’t one “right” answer; there is a visible thought process.
• Communication. Explain technical ideas in a way peers and partners can use. Know when to stop talking. As Emma put it:

  “Interviewing is a skill, so practice what you can.”

• Documentation as a product. Your writing is how future teammates onboard. Treat it like part of delivery, not homework.
• Attitude and aptitude. Be honest about strengths and gaps. Confidence is welcome; ego isn’t.

On AI in interviews

We can tell. The cadence, the filler, the sudden template-speak—it shows. Emma said it plainly:

“I would so much rather hire someone who doesn't have all the answers but will own up to it than… someone who's starting off on a dishonest foot.”

If you’re stuck, say so and reason it out. Integrity is compounding signal.

We actually encourage the use of AI for Zapier's take-home test. We want to see how you use AI, when you trust it, and when you challenge it. It's better to encourage the use of AI than to create an environment where candidates feel the need to hide behind it.

Diversity, bias, and “team fit”

Diverse teams ship better products. That includes skills, backgrounds, and ways of thinking. Do the basics well:

• Use a skills matrix to identify gaps and hire to complement, not clone.
• Separate values alignment from “vibes.” “Fits in” is not a hiring criterion.
• Reduce bias with structured interviews, shared rubrics, and multiple perspectives.

What I expect from seniors

• Lead without a title: mentor, raise the bar, own outcomes.
• Translate constraints into business terms.
• Model calm under uncertainty and ask for help early.

Try this

• Tighten your loop: one rubric per stage, max three competencies per interview.
• Make it humane: send same-day status updates if possible and one concrete note of feedback after onsites. If this is out of your control, at least submit your interview feedback ASAP so recruiters aren't delayed.
• Practice the hard parts: do one or two mock system designs and record yourself. Trim rambling; sharpen clarifying questions. Ask your team for their input on the system design interviews.

What to read

📚 Radical Candor (Kim Scott) — useful patterns for giving clear, kind feedback during and after interviews.
📚 Who (Geoff Smart & Randy Street) — structured hiring playbook: scorecards, consistent interviews, and evidence-based decisions.

Listen to the full episode: Interviewing & Hiring Engineers