Use this skill when designing coding challenges, structuring system design interviews, building interview rubrics, calibrating evaluation criteria, or creating hiring loops. Triggers on interview question design, coding assessment creation, system design prompt writing, rubric building, interviewer training, candidate evaluation, and any task requiring structured technical assessment.
When this skill is activated, always start your first response with the 🧢 emoji.
Technical interviewing is both a skill and a system. The goal is not to find the "smartest" candidate - it is to predict on-the-job performance with high signal and low noise while treating every candidate with respect. A well-designed interview loop uses structured questions, clear rubrics, and calibrated interviewers to make consistent, defensible hiring decisions. This skill covers the full lifecycle: designing coding challenges, structuring system design rounds, building rubrics, calibrating panels, and reducing bias.
Trigger this skill when the user:
Do NOT trigger this skill for:
Structure over gut feel - Every question must have a rubric before it is used. "I'll know a good answer when I see it" is not a rubric. Define what strong, acceptable, and weak look like in advance. Structured interviews are 2x more predictive than unstructured ones.
Signal-to-noise ratio - Each question should test exactly one or two competencies. If a coding question tests algorithms, data structures, API design, and communication simultaneously, you cannot isolate what the candidate is actually good or bad at. Separate the signals.
Calibrate constantly - The same "strong" performance should get the same score regardless of which interviewer runs the session. Run calibration exercises quarterly using recorded or written mock answers.
Respect the candidate's time - Take-homes should take 2-4 hours max (state this explicitly). Onsite loops should not exceed 4-5 hours. Every minute of the candidate's time should produce meaningful signal.
Reduce bias systematically - Use identical questions per role, score before discussing with other interviewers, avoid anchoring on resume prestige, and ensure your rubric tests skills not proxies (e.g. "uses our preferred framework" is a proxy, not a skill).
Every technical hiring loop follows a narrowing funnel. Each stage should have a clear purpose and avoid re-testing what was already assessed:
| Stage | Purpose | Duration | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resume screen | Baseline qualifications | 2-5 min | Experience match |
| Phone screen | Communication + baseline coding | 30-45 min | Can they code at all? |
| Technical deep-dive | Core competency for the role | 45-60 min | Domain strength |
| System design | Architecture thinking (senior+) | 45-60 min | Scope, trade-offs |
| Culture/values | Team fit, collaboration style | 30-45 min | Working style |
Every rubric has four components:
Start with the role requirements, not a clever problem. Work backward:
Template:
PROBLEM: <Title>
LEVEL: Junior / Mid / Senior
TIME: <X> minutes
COMPETENCIES TESTED: <1-2 specific skills>
PROMPT:
<Clear problem statement with examples>
BASE CASE (must complete):
<Minimum viable solution criteria>
STANDARD (expected for hire):
<Additional requirements showing solid understanding>
EXTENSION (differentiates strong hire):
<Follow-up that tests depth or edge case thinking>
RUBRIC:
Strong Hire: Completes standard + extension, clean code, discusses trade-offs
Hire: Completes standard, reasonable code quality, handles prompts on edge cases
No Hire: Completes base only, significant code quality issues
Strong No Hire: Cannot complete base case, fundamental misunderstandings
Good system design questions are open-ended with clear scaling dimensions:
Follow-up dimensions to prepare:
For each competency being assessed:
COMPETENCY: <Name>
WEIGHT: <High / Medium / Low>
STRONG HIRE (4):
- <Specific observable behavior>
- <Specific observable behavior>
HIRE (3):
- <Specific observable behavior>
- <Specific observable behavior>
NO HIRE (2):
- <Specific observable behavior>
STRONG NO HIRE (1):
- <Specific observable behavior>
Always use behavioral anchors (what you observed), not trait labels ("smart", "passionate"). "Identified the race condition without prompting and proposed a lock-based solution" is a behavioral anchor. "Seemed smart" is not.
Map each stage to a unique competency. Never duplicate signals:
ROLE: <Title, Level>
TOTAL STAGES: <N>
Stage 1 - Phone Screen (45 min)
Interviewer type: Any engineer
Format: Practical coding
Tests: Baseline coding ability, communication
Question: <Specific question or question bank ID>
Stage 2 - Technical Deep-Dive (60 min)
Interviewer type: Domain expert
Format: Domain-specific coding
Tests: <Role-specific competency>
Question: <Specific question>
Stage 3 - System Design (60 min) [Senior+ only]
Interviewer type: Senior+ engineer
Format: Whiteboard / virtual whiteboard
Tests: Architecture thinking, trade-off reasoning
Question: <Specific question>
Stage 4 - Culture & Collaboration (45 min)
Interviewer type: Cross-functional partner
Format: Behavioral + scenario-based
Tests: Communication, conflict resolution, ownership
Calibration aligns interviewers on what each rubric level means:
Target: interviewers should agree within 1 point on a 4-point scale at least 80% of the time.
Take-homes must balance signal quality with respect for candidate time:
| Mistake | Why it's wrong | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| No rubric before interviews | Every interviewer uses different criteria; inconsistent decisions | Write and distribute rubric before any candidate is interviewed |
| Asking trivia questions | Tests memorization, not ability; alienates strong candidates | Ask problems that require reasoning, not recall |
| "Culture fit" as veto | Becomes a proxy for demographic similarity | Define specific values and behaviors you are testing for |
| Same question for all levels | Junior and senior roles need different signal | Adjust complexity and expected depth per level |
| Discussing candidates before scoring | First opinion anchors everyone else | Score independently, then debrief |
| Marathon interviews (6+ hours) | Candidate fatigue degrades signal; disrespects their time | Cap at 4-5 hours including breaks |
| Only testing algorithms | Most roles never use graph traversal; poor signal for day-to-day work | Match question type to actual job tasks |
| No interviewer training | Untrained interviewers ask leading questions, give inconsistent hints | Run shadow sessions and calibration quarterly |
For detailed guidance on specific topics, read the relevant file from
the references/ folder:
references/system-design-questions.md - Library of system design questions
organized by level with expected discussion points and rubric anchorsreferences/coding-challenge-patterns.md - Coding challenge templates organized
by competency signal (API design, data modeling, debugging, concurrency)references/rubric-calibration.md - Step-by-step calibration session guide with
sample scoring exercises and facilitator scriptWhen this skill is activated, check if the following companion skills are installed. For any that are missing, mention them to the user and offer to install before proceeding with the task. Example: "I notice you don't have [skill] installed yet - it pairs well with this skill. Want me to install it?"
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