How to hire a software developer.
Hiring a developer as a non-technical founder is the classic "hiring outside your expertise" problem: every CV lists the same frameworks, every candidate says they shipped things, and you cannot read the code that would settle it.
The good news: you do not need to evaluate code to screen well. You need to verify ownership and outcomes — questions about what actually happened on a project separate builders from bystanders faster than a syntax quiz, and they work in plain English.
What to test — and what proof looks like
Decide these before you read a single application. Each requirement below pairs with the evidence that would actually convince you — screening becomes checking claims against a list instead of comparing vibes.
- Has shipped and operated something real. A product, service, or feature they can name that ran in production with real users — plus what broke after launch and how they found out.
- Owns problems end-to-end. A story where they scoped, built, and debugged something themselves — not "the team migrated", but which part was theirs.
- Works the way your stage needs. Early-stage needs generalists who choose boring technology and ship weekly; check their claims for scrappy delivery, not big-company process.
- Communicates trade-offs in plain language. They can explain a technical decision to you — a non-expert — including what it cost. If you cannot follow the answer, that is data.
Interview questions that test claims
Generic questions get rehearsed answers. These are anchored in the claims candidates in this role typically make — easy to answer if the claim is true, awkward if it isn't. (The method is covered in our interview questions guide.)
- Pick the project on your CV you owned most. What was the hardest bug in it, and how did you track it down?
- You list a migration/rewrite — what was the rollback plan if it failed halfway?
- What is something you built that you would build differently now, and why?
- Walk me through a time you shipped something faster by cutting scope. What got cut?
Red flags
- Every project is "we" — no part of any system was specifically theirs.
- Cannot explain a technical choice without jargon, even when asked to simplify.
- No curiosity about your product or users — strong developers screen you back.
Running this at 200-applicant scale
This process works manually for a dozen applicants. At real posting volume, the testing is the bottleneck — which is the part BestHire automates. Publish your role through a JD built as a filter, and every fit applicant takes a 5-minute AI interview probing the claims on their own CV. You get a ranked shortlist where every verdict cites the CV line and the interview quote — you read the evidence and decide. See how it works.
More guides: Marketer · Designer · Sales rep · Customer support · Virtual assistant