hiring-interview-workflows
This skill should be used when the user asks to "write a job description", "generate interview questions", "create a scorecard", "prepare a debrief", mentions "hiring", "recruiting", "candidates", "interview loop", "job posting", or discusses any part of the engineering hiring process.
Hiring and Interview Workflows
Job Description Drafting
- Ask for: role level, team, key technologies, and must-have vs. nice-to-have skills
- Draft JD with sections:
- About the team: What the team does, its mission, and current challenges
- What you'll do: 4-6 concrete responsibilities (not vague aspirations)
- What we're looking for: Must-have and nice-to-have qualifications
- Why join us: Team culture, growth opportunities, impact
- Flag exclusionary language and suggest inclusive alternatives
- Calibrate requirements to the level — avoid senior expectations for mid-level roles
- Include compensation range placeholder and growth trajectory
Interview Question Generation
Generate behavioral and technical questions organized by competency area:
Technical Depth
- "Walk me through a system you designed that had to handle [relevant constraint]. What trade-offs did you make?"
- "Describe a production incident you led the response for. What was your process and what did you change afterward?"
- "Tell me about a time you inherited a legacy system. How did you approach improving it?"
Collaboration & Communication
- "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a technical decision. How did you handle it?"
- "Describe how you've mentored a junior engineer through a challenging project"
- "Give an example of how you've communicated a complex technical concept to a non-technical stakeholder"
Problem-Solving
- "Give an example of a time you identified a problem before it became urgent. What did you do?"
- "Describe a situation where you had to make a decision with incomplete information"
Tag each question with the competency it assesses and the signal to look for in a strong answer.
Scorecard Template
Generate interview scorecards with:
- Competency areas: technical depth, collaboration, problem-solving, culture add
- Rating scale: 1-4 with behavioral anchors for each level
- 1 = Does not meet bar — significant concerns
- 2 = Below bar — some gaps in this area
- 3 = Meets bar — demonstrated competency with solid examples
- 4 = Exceeds bar — exceptional examples, would raise the team's level
- Space for specific evidence and quotes from the interview
- Overall recommendation: Strong hire / Hire / No hire / Strong no hire
- Sections for red flags and bright spots
Debrief Facilitation
Prepare debrief structure:
- Independent assessment first: Each interviewer shares their rating and top evidence before group discussion (prevents anchoring bias)
- Competency review: Walk through each competency area, compare ratings
- Evidence check: Focus on specific examples, not impressions or gut feel
- Disagreement discussion: Explore areas where interviewers diverged
- Consensus: Reach a recommendation with documented rationale
- Decision documentation: Capture the final decision, key evidence, concerns, and any conditions
Generate a debrief summary template that captures the final decision and can be filed for future reference.