Technical Interview Best Practices: What Actually Works in 2026

The technical interview landscape is shifting. Candidates are burned out on algorithm puzzles, senior engineers find LeetCode insulting, and a growing body of research suggests that traditional coding interviews do not predict job performance. So what works?

After analyzing hiring outcomes across hundreds of engineering teams, here is what the best companies are doing differently.

Why Traditional Interviews Fail

The LeetCode Problem

Algorithmic interviews test a very specific skill: the ability to solve abstract puzzles under time pressure. This correlates weakly with actual engineering work, which involves reading existing code, collaborating with teammates, debugging production issues, and making architectural decisions.

Worse, algorithm interviews favor candidates who have time to practice. A senior engineer with a family and a demanding job has less time to grind LeetCode than a fresh graduate. You end up selecting for privilege and free time, not engineering ability.

What Research Shows

Studies from Google, Microsoft, and academic researchers consistently find that unstructured interviews are barely better than random selection. Even structured technical interviews have modest predictive validity. The best predictors of job performance are work samples, structured behavioral interviews, and job knowledge tests.

What Actually Works

System Design Discussions

Best for: Mid-level to senior engineers and architects.

Format: A 45-60 minute conversation where the candidate designs a system from scratch. You might ask them to design a URL shortener, a chat application, or something specific to your domain.

What it reveals: Architectural thinking, understanding of tradeoffs, communication skills, and breadth of technical knowledge. You can quickly tell whether someone has actually built systems or just read about them.

Tips for doing it well: Start with a simple problem and let the candidate add complexity. Ask follow-up questions that probe their understanding. Let them drive the conversation. The best candidates will ask clarifying questions before diving in.

Pair Programming Sessions

Best for: All engineering levels.

Format: Work together on a real problem for 60-90 minutes. Use your actual codebase or a realistic sample. The candidate should write code while thinking aloud, and the interviewer should act as a helpful colleague.

What it reveals: How someone actually works. Do they ask questions? Do they test their code? How do they handle getting stuck? Can they take feedback and iterate?

Tips for doing it well: Choose a problem that is interesting but not impossible. Make the candidate comfortable. Remember, this is a simulation of working together, not an exam.

Code Review Exercises

Best for: Mid to senior engineers.

Format: Give the candidate a piece of code with intentional issues (bugs, performance problems, readability concerns, missing edge cases) and ask them to review it as they would a real pull request.

What it reveals: Code quality standards, attention to detail, communication style, and depth of knowledge. Great engineers will catch subtle issues and explain them clearly.

Paid Take-Home Projects

Best for: When you need to see complete, polished work.

Format: A well-scoped project that takes four to eight hours, paid at the candidate's consulting rate. Give clear requirements and evaluation criteria.

What it reveals: Independent problem-solving, code quality, testing practices, and attention to detail without time pressure.

Tips for doing it well: Always pay for the work. Keep the scope reasonable. Provide clear evaluation criteria upfront. Review the submission before the follow-up conversation so you can ask specific questions.

Designing Your Process

The Right Interview Structure

A well-designed process for a senior engineering hire might look like this. First, a 30-minute recruiter screen to assess basic fit and interest. Second, a 45-60 minute technical phone screen with a senior engineer. Third, a virtual onsite consisting of three to four sessions over a half day. These sessions should include system design, pair programming, a behavioral interview, and a hiring manager conversation. Fourth, reference checks. Fifth, offer.

Total elapsed time: one to two weeks. Total candidate time: four to five hours.

Calibration and Continuous Improvement

The best engineering organizations treat interviewing as a skill that requires practice and calibration. They train interviewers, review decisions, and track the correlation between interview scores and on-the-job performance.

Every quarter, ask: Are the people we rated highly in interviews performing well on the job? Are we losing good candidates because of our process? Are any interviewers consistently too harsh or too lenient? Use data to improve, not just intuition.

The Bottom Line

The best technical interviews feel like work, not hazing. Evaluate candidates on the actual skills they will use, treat their time with respect, and make decisions based on signal, not theater. The companies that interview well do not just hire better. They also build a reputation that attracts better candidates in the first place.