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

  1. Ask for: role level, team, key technologies, and must-have vs. nice-to-have skills
  2. 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
  3. Flag exclusionary language and suggest inclusive alternatives
  4. Calibrate requirements to the level — avoid senior expectations for mid-level roles
  5. 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:

  1. Independent assessment first: Each interviewer shares their rating and top evidence before group discussion (prevents anchoring bias)
  2. Competency review: Walk through each competency area, compare ratings
  3. Evidence check: Focus on specific examples, not impressions or gut feel
  4. Disagreement discussion: Explore areas where interviewers diverged
  5. Consensus: Reach a recommendation with documented rationale
  6. 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.