Remote interviews require a different approach compared to in-person ones, as you must evaluate candidates based on limited information and without the benefit of face-to-face interactions. As a CTO, you need to know the right questions to ask in order to make an informed decision about whether a remote candidate is a good fit for your team.
What's on a CTO's interview?
In general, this round would discuss multiple factors from technical skills to cultural fit. From the CTO's angle, the technical capabilities or skillsets interview takes a vital role to ensure that they have the necessary skills to perform their job effectively. The skillset questions help the CTO determine the candidate's proficiency in programming languages, frameworks, and software architecture and design. The questions related to problem-solving skills and algorithms provide insight into the candidate's ability to tackle complex challenges and come up with effective solutions.
In a remote work setting, technical skills are particularly important because remote developers must be able to work independently and troubleshoot technical issues on their own.
An effective CTO's interview
In the world of tech hiring, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) session is a crucial step in the interview process. However, it is important to remember that candidates have already gone through an initial screening process before they reach this point. This means that while it's important to assess their technical skills, it's equally important to focus on other factors that can help you make a more informed hiring decision.
Here are some tips for conducting an effective CTO session:
Gauge their thought process
During the CTO session, you can ask candidates questions that help you understand their thought process. For example, you could give them a hypothetical problem to solve and ask them to walk you through their approach. By doing this, you can gain insight into how they think, how they approach problems, and how they communicate their ideas.
Assess their problem-solving skills
Problem-solving skills are crucial for any tech role, and the CTO session is a great opportunity to assess these skills. You can ask candidates to solve real-world problems that your company has faced in the past or is currently facing. This can help you gauge their ability to identify problems, come up with solutions, and implement them effectively.
Evaluate their algorithmic mindset
An algorithmic mindset is an essential quality for any tech professional. It refers to the ability to break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts and solve them systematically. During the CTO session, you can ask candidates to explain their approach to a complex problem and how they would break it down into smaller parts. This can help you assess their algorithmic thinking skills and determine whether they are a good fit for the role.
It's important to keep in mind that while technical skills are important, they are not the only factor to consider when hiring for a tech role. By focusing on a candidate's thought process, problem-solving skills, and algorithmic mindset during the CTO session, you can gain a more holistic understanding of their abilities and make a more informed hiring decision.
In summary, the CTO session is a crucial step in the tech hiring process, but it's important to remember that candidates have already gone through an initial screening process. Use this opportunity to assess their thought process, problem-solving skills, and algorithmic mindset to make the most informed hiring decision possible.
List of interview questions
You may start with some warm-up questions
Then, you can go into detail with questions related to situational processes or problem-solving cases. Here are examples:
Interview questions could also be tailored by each job position, for example, frontend developer or mobile developer.
Example of interviewing questions for Frontend Developer
You can get the full template of questions here, which includes full questions tailored to each job title. The template also includes guideline for interviewing steps, timeline and other groups of questions from cultural fit to work style and experience.
Feel free to download!
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