The most expensive mistake of my career wasn’t a “yes” I received; it was a “yes” I gave when I should have said no. Over the years, I have interviewed candidates for countless positions—sometimes to scale a project, other times to bring new talent into the team. Throughout this journey, I realized that as much as technical skills matter, a candidate’s fit with the team and culture is often the ultimate deciding factor.
In this post, I will share what truly matters to me when hiring, going beyond resume bullet points or coding tests, drawing from my own concrete experiences.
Technical Skills: Just a Starting Point
Of course, the core technical competencies required for a position are a must. If I am looking for a system architect, I expect the candidate to know networking principles, server management, and security layers. If I am looking for a developer, they must have experience in the languages and frameworks we use. However, this is only the first step.
In the past, I have hired candidates who stood out solely because of the shiny projects on their resumes and high scores on technical tests. The results were not always what I hoped for. Once, we hired an incredibly talented backend developer. Their code was flawless and their performance was high. However, they struggled to communicate within the team, took feedback personally, and constantly insisted on doing things their own way instead of contributing collaboratively. After a while, despite all their technical genius, they began to have a negative impact because they disrupted the team dynamic.
Cultural Fit and Problem-Solving Approach
For me, the real critical point is the candidate’s approach to problem-solving and their fit with the team. How do they handle a problem? What is their first reaction when facing a challenge? How do they communicate with their teammates? These are the most important elements that determine how successful a candidate will be in the long run.
During another hiring process, I was interviewing a DevOps engineer candidate. I asked them about the most challenging problem they had encountered in their previous projects. The candidate described an incident in great detail. However, what impressed me was not the problem itself, but their approach to solving it. They explained step-by-step how they debugged it, who they talked to, what tools they used, and most importantly, what they learned from that failure. This narrative showed that the candidate was a great fit for the role, not just technically, but also mentally.
Real-World Experiences and Trade-offs
Instead of seeing generic phrases on resumes like “fast learner” or “high analytical thinking skills,” I want to hear concrete examples from the candidate’s real-world experiences. Hearing the reasons behind a choice they made in a project, the trade-offs they faced, and the consequences of those choices shows how deeply the candidate thinks.
Once, while developing the supply chain module of an ERP system, we decided to set up a real-time reporting mechanism to increase efficiency. The alternatives included different database technologies, caching strategies, and message queues. One candidate’s approach to this was not just saying “I chose the fastest solution,” but rather: “Our budget was tight, so we kept costs low by using PostgreSQL’s read replica feature and caching with Redis. However, this brought the risk of data latency, which we accepted.” This detailed explanation indicated that the candidate understood not only the technical side but also the business aspect of the work.
Communication and Teamwork
As technology professionals, we cannot achieve great things alone. Success is usually the result of great teamwork. Therefore, a candidate’s communication skills are just as important to me as their technical skills. Can they express themselves clearly? Can they listen to others’ ideas? Are they open to constructive criticism?
In one project, there was a candidate who noticed an incorrect configuration made by another team member. Instead of bluntly saying “you did this wrong,” they gently pointed out the situation and offered their own suggestion. This not only resolved the issue but also avoided creating tension within the team. Such subtle behaviors play a key role in determining a candidate’s professionalism and their place in the team.
Conclusion: A Holistic Evaluation
The hiring process is not just about filling a position; it is about finding the right person who will add long-term value to the team and the company. While technical skills form the foundation, cultural fit, problem-solving approach, willingness to learn, and communication skills allow us to build a solid structure on top of that foundation.
Therefore, rather than the bullet points on a candidate’s resume, the personality traits, experiences, and worldview that emerge during my conversations with them are much more decisive for me. What about you? What are your must-haves when hiring a candidate?