How Do You Screen Candidates for Python Developer Roles?
The 3-Step Strategy to Streamline Your Hiring Process
When hiring for Python developer roles, you’d probably prefer to meet every applicant face-to-face. But that simply isn’t possible. In-person interviews typically last between an hour to an hour and a half. If you were to interview, say, 20 candidates, and each interview was conducted by a panel of three, you would need to budget for 90 man hours. That’s 90 hours of lost productivity. 90 hours of when your managers are away from their teams.
You need a strategy to hire tech roles effectively. The key to reducing the time your key employees spend interviewing candidates for Python developer jobs is to screen them effectively. This will reduce the number of interviews you must conduct, and ensure that interviewees have the right technical caliber before they walk into the interview room.
Here are three screening steps that will help you focus on the best candidates to take forward.
The Resume Screen
The first step in the process of screening for your Python developer job is to review the candidate’s resume. You should examine the candidate’s qualifications and experience to ensure that it matches the requirements of the role.
Consider the Python frameworks the candidate has been exposed to, the build tools they have used, and the analytical techniques with which they are experienced.
The resume should also give a flavor of the depth and breadth of their experience. You’ll want to see if they have experience with automation, debugging, and what languages they can use effectively. In addition, you’ll want to know how broad their business experience is, and in what types of business they have been most successful.
The Virtual/Phone Screen
From your resume reviews, you will immediately have removed non-suitable candidates from your pile of potential hires. The next step is to conduct a mini interview by phone or video link. Design questions that test the candidate’s Python skills and experience, to ensure that they are as described on their resume. During a virtual interview, you can test deeper than a resume describes.
Target your questions so they test for the rigors of the role available, and devise questions that also test experience, knowledge, problem-solving ability, and behavioral biases.
A good tactic to use during virtual interviews is to begin each line of questioning with a general question, before drilling down to higher levels of technical expertise.
The answers you receive will provide the basis on which you decide which candidates to take to the next stage of the screening process. A further advantage of this type of virtual interview is that they can be automated and recorded. Thus, managers or interviewers are not tied up, and interview reviews can be closed when candidates have failed to provide evidence of their technical suitability for the role.
The Online Coding Test
This step can be substituted or employed before the virtual interview, or even before the resume review. Present a test that verifies the candidate’s ability in:
- Programming
- Frameworks and libraries
- Work with your company’s code base
Design the test so that is as close to your working environment as possible. For example, don’t prohibit use of external resource, but record what resource is used. Include a code review to gain an idea of their experience, approach to debugging, and commitment to quality.
After all three steps have been completed, you should find that you have a far more manageable list of candidates, each of whom possesses the technical qualities, experience, and qualifications that are needed to fill the role and be a valuable addition to your team.
Screening to Answer “Would I Employ This Candidate as a Python Developer?”
The ultimate objective of screening is to whittle a large pile of candidates down to a few who you would, on the information that you have been provided and the skills that you have tested for, be happy to employ.
These can then be invited to interview, and the interview process will take on a more meaningful direction – ensuring that the candidate has the soft skills needed and will fit in with your organization’s culture.
Make screening part of your hiring process. Keep your candidates in touch with their progression, and start to develop a relationship with them from day one. This will help to build trust, so when they come to interview, they are more relaxed and reveal their real personalities.
Of course, you could always get in touch with us here at TotalTek, and learn how we only send pre-vetted candidates for clients seeking to fill their Python developer and other tech roles.