Tech hiring has been in a constant state of change over the past few years, with the job market shifting wildly from tech talent shortages and massive pay increases to layoffs across many of the major tech companies. As 2025 begins, however, it appears that the market has moved to a more steady, consistent state.
Despite the turbulence inside tech, one thing that has remained the same is the difficulty in finding the right people to fill tech roles that need to be filled. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), tech jobs are predicted to rise by 15% from 2021 to 2031, with skills in emerging technologies such as AI, cybersecurity, and cloud computing experiencing the greatest growth rates.
With the predicted growth in demand, making the right hires is essential. For forward-thinking organizations, it isn’t enough that a new employee can do the job they are hired for; they should be capable of rising to a host of challenges that will inevitably happen in the fast-paced world of tech.
While hiring the right people can help grow your company both today and in the future, the wrong hire will cost you resources and time. Replacing an employee can cost anything between half and double the post's salary. Savvy hiring doesn’t just put you in a great position from a technical perspective; it can reduce staff turnover, save money, boost organizational culture, and support organizational performance.
With so much pressure to make a wise hire, the interview process is more important than ever. Here are the best questions to ask in an interview and why you should ask them.
Question 1: Can you describe a challenging technical problem you faced and how you solved it?
Problem-solving is a vital attribute for a tech hire. The tech workers you hire must be resourceful and resilient almost daily. To thrive in the tech industry, individuals need to be able to think under pressure and reflect on their actions as they progress to gain insight into their developments.
Good answers to this question might vary but look for answers that reflect experience appropriate to the role's level of responsibility and scale. For entry-level tech jobs, the answers may be small and even refer to home or college projects, but for management-level tech jobs, look for a larger scale and greater accountability.
Apply for the Latest Tech Jobs Across North America
Question 2: What approaches do you take to stay updated with emerging technologies and trends?
The tech industry is the fastest growing in the world, and individuals and organizations that stay still are often left behind. This question is designed to gauge a candidate’s curiosity and commitment to continuous learning and development.
Ideal answers will demonstrate a candidate's ability to find a range of reputable resources such as accreditations and certificates, podcasts, blogs, conferences and journals. Other green flags include participation in tech forums and communities (like Motion Recruitment's community and event platform, Tech in Motion) and running side projects demonstrating ongoing development outside the work environment.
Question 3: Tell us about a project where you collaborated with a non-technical team. How did you ensure effective communication?
The perception of tech talent working in silo has become a relic of years past. Outside of programming and data skills, tech hires need to be able to communicate across boundaries as cross-functional teams become more common.
This question is designed to determine the candidate’s ability to take a complex concept and make it simple so that non-tech team members can understand it clearly. The question can be extended with an activity to explain a complex concept to the interview panel as though you knew nothing about the subject.
A great answer might include the use of a specific example that clearly demonstrates cross-functional collaboration and the ability to simplify complex processes. Look for an evaluation of how the example progressed and how the candidate demonstrated empathy and excellent listening skills.
Question 4: Please outline your experience with (skill/ tool/technology) in real-world applications.
While future capability and core skills are vital for any role, knowing if the candidate can actually do the job that they're interviewing for on day one is also important. Highlight the core requirements of the role and drill down into practical expertise and application, as well as whether those core capabilities fit in with your current skills gap. Make sure that this question is tailored to the role and your immediate needs.
Key areas to look out for are depth of experience with key tools and technologies and specific examples demonstrating successful implementation or impactful data-driven activity. Strong candidates might extend the answer to provide an evaluation of the tool or methodology’s strengths and limitations, along with potential workarounds.
Question 5: How might you go about balancing technical debt with new feature development?
One of the biggest challenges for tech talent is managing technical debt. Answers to this question will provide insight into the candidate’s ability to think strategically and understanding of long-term project management.
Competitive candidates will recognize the importance of monitoring and addressing this issue. A great answer to this question will give examples of practical strategies that will let them prioritize appropriately and align with the organization’s goals and resources.
Beyond Questions: Innovative Recruitment
Interviews are often considered to be the most effective recruitment method after initial shortlisting. However, even if you know the best questions to ask in an interview, they are not failsafe as a standalone recruitment method.
When interviewing for tech jobs, bear in mind that some people may be great at their job and highly skilled, but they may not be so great at telling you about it. Consider complementing your questions with other recruitment strategies so that you get the bigger picture. Portfolio reviews, tasks, and technical assessments can all be effective in helping you to gain insight into core skills.
Getting the right hire isn’t just about the interview process; it’s about getting the best candidates to apply in the first place. In a noisy environment, it can be challenging to reach diverse talent.
Motion Recruitment can help you attract applications from diverse talent across geographies and get the right people in the right jobs for the long term. For more information about sector trends, download our Tech Salary Guide.
Conclusion
While interviews are a valuable tool for helping hirers find the right people for their organizations, it is important to choose your questions wisely and purposefully and have a clear idea of what good might look like.
Remember that exceptional candidates might not flourish in traditional interview scenarios, while less qualified individuals may excel. Hiring managers can mitigate this by including practical assessments and group activities to gain a clearer understanding of candidates’ communication, team building, and practical skills.
By using the correct combination of questions and alternative assessment methods alongside a strong recruitment strategy, you can make sure that you optimize your recruitment activities and get – and keep - the best people for your organization.
