The technical stage of the recruitment process can often feel overwhelming and stressful for many candidates. Navigating through this crucial part of the interview can seem like stepping into a high-stakes game, where the pressure to impress and demonstrate the skills is at its peak.

But what if you could gain an insider's perspective on what really goes on during these interviews?

I spoke with our Senior AEM Developer, Adam Bieńkowski, who has been leading the technical verification of our candidates since 2021. One in every four engineers that we currently work with has been interviewed by Adam at some point.

Drawing from this extensive experience, Adam explained what we seek to learn during the technical interview; what candidates can expect, and what qualities we, as an organization, value in potential hires.

Additionally, he shared some tips that will help you succeed in your next technical interview.

Adam: I'm always glad to have the chance to be part of the recruitment process. It's an interesting experience, for sure. Getting to see things from the ‘other side’ and all that. Talking to different people and seeing their different takes on things has been pretty eye-opening. And yeah, there was definitely some stress at the start (I mean, recruiters get stressed too, right?), but I got the hang of it pretty quickly.

My main focus is checking the candidates' tech tasks and conducting the technical interviews. All communication and organization beforehand is handled by our recruitment team, and i like it being this way (laughs).

Adam: I'd say it's more of an indirect impact, than a direct one. You see, developers are constantly learning new stuff, which in a way makes it harder for them to keep up and remember everything. So, sometimes, the basics get sidelined because they're not as trendy anymore. We, however, care about those fundamental concepts that programmers need. Plus, since we mainly work with AEM, a lot of the people we're recruiting aren't familiar with it or its tech stack yet, so that plays into it too.

Adam: Dynamic Solutions has always been all about high technical standards and a strong commitment to quality. We're looking for candidates who value that too, and can deliver great solutions.

Essentially, we're after solid programmers – people with the right knowledge and experience for their level, or even those with less experience but loads of potential.

Communication style is important too, though I'd say not as crucial as the technical stuff. Personally, I appreciate it when a tech discussion flows smoothly. You know, when the candidate cuts to the chase with their answers, keeping it concise and on point. Even a simple "I don't know" is valid sometimes. Some candidates try to wing it with every question, even when they're clueless. It just drags the conversation out without really helping much.

Adam: Yes - usually it is not extensive and does not require that much work, so it's worth putting in the effort to polish it up to make sure the code looks good and works smoothly.

The candidates receive the task the form of an individual repository on GitHub. We assume that their solution should take an evening or two, but from what I know, there isn't a strict deadline, and the candidates can commit their solutions even after a few days.

At that point, they should inform the leading recruiter, and either I or another developer will review it for quality and correctness. Only successfully passing this stage enables them to proceed to the technical interview.

Adam: First of all, I'd say it's always worth preparing for the interview, and brushing up on some basic concepts from both Java and programming in general. If we're comparing two candidates with similar skills and one's prepared while the other's like, "I don't remember" - well, the prepared one's got the edge.

It's especially important because during the conversation, you can't rely on the internet and must solely depend on your own skills. Although I've caught people trying to "quietly" google the answer, and it's always a letdown.

Adam: You may feel like you are in a whirlwind of questions, I mean we've got quite a few lined up! (laughing face) Depending on the case, the whole interview can take up to 90 minutes. We cover a bunch of topics from different areas, like I mentioned before – all to find those top-notch developers.

It won't be a walk in the park, but don't focus too much on being perfect. If a candidate struggles with a question, we get to see their problem-solving process, and that's also a valuable intel for us.

However, as I said at the beginning - don’t try to make up answers for every question you don't know. It's OK to say "I have no idea". If you genuinely don't know something, that's the right answer.

If the entire interview is not conducted in English, we try to have at least a bit of conversation in English to assess that skill as well. At the end, the candidate has the opportunity to ask questions, if they have any. We're always happy to answer them.

It’s important to add that we don't give our feedback to candidates immediately at the end of the conversation.

There are often two technical recruiters, and first, we need to discuss with each other to exchange our opinions and observations. We then pass our assessment of the candidate further, and then the leading recruiter will contact the candidate.

Adam: It definitely has some impact. It's almost 2 hours out of an 8-hour workday, and those two hours require full focus and a complete shift in context. Sometimes interviews can be taxing, but sometimes I learn something new and noteworthy from the candidates too.

I remember once a candidate based their answer on a data type I hadn't heard of before. I was convinced they were making it up and giving the wrong answer, but as it turned out, it was my lack of knowledge... So, the candidate showed themselves in a good light, and I learned something new.