Engineering hiring loop — required steps

Marco Silva [Dec 31, 3:00 PM] For 2026 we're standardizing the eng loop:

1. Recruiter screen (30 min) — Priya
2. Hiring manager intro (45 min)
3. Take-home (4 hr cap, paid $200 for senior+ roles)
4. Onsite — 4 sessions, 1 day:
   • Coding pair (90 min)
   • System design (60 min, senior+ only)
   • Cross-functional / behavioral (45 min)
   • Founder chat (30 min, leveling)
5. Debrief same day, decision within 48 hours.

Marco Silva Hard rule: no candidate skips take-home. No exceptions even for ex-FAANG referrals. We've been burned twice.

Jenny Liu [Dec 31, 4:55 PM] Loop length needs to be < 14 days from screen to offer. Lost two candidates last year because we dragged.

Priya Shah [Dec 31, 5:30 PM] Documented in Notion → Hiring → Eng Loop 2026. Will share scorecard template tomorrow.