Choosing between candidates
The last station. Two strong candidates and one seat, a rejection nobody explained, and a leader who wants to know why an engineering search takes twelve weeks.
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How do you decide between two engineers and defend the call?
The one guide to the decision: what separates strong engineers from average ones, what brand is worth, how to make the trade-off calls, and how to explain an engineering search upward.
More in this topic
What separates a strong engineer from an average one?
The rubric, assembled from three stations. Two resumes look the same and the evidence underneath does not.
Does a Google name on a resume matter, and does a bootcamp background matter?
Brand certifies a past filter. After year three the origin story is noise against the work record, and you can now read the work record.
Exact stack match or stronger engineer: which one wins?
The three calls that decide most shortlists, each turned into a function rather than a vibe.
Why did the hiring manager reject a candidate who "checked every box"?
The invisible reasons, all of which are things the earlier stations taught you to detect.
Why don't engineers reply to recruiters, and why is the search slow after layoffs?
The funnel, quantified and aimed upward. Numbers a leader can put in a slide.
Why does a 24-year-old engineer earn more than a 40-year-old manager, and why is this req hard?
The capstone of the course. Compensation explained by scarcity, and one paragraph that says why this specific search is hard, with evidence.