Report overview

Software engineers are key to business growth. Yet, interviewing and hiring processes tax engineering productivity, underachieve on hiring targets, and frequently produce new hires that fail to meet technical expectations. This often occurs when organizations lack the time and expertise to conduct the interviews needed to achieve hiring goals, creating an Interview Gap.

An Interview Gap occurs when organizations lack the time and expertise to conduct the interviews needed to achieve hiring goals.

In January and May of 2020, Karat and Harris Insights surveyed more than 300 engineering leaders about their hiring strategies before and during COVID-19. This report presents the findings and explores three key areas:

Engineers are more valuable than ever, but traditional hiring processes often fail to achieve hiring goals or accurately predict onsite and on-the-job performance.

The COVID-19 downturn has increased supply of candidates, which makes it harder to find the right talent.

61% of engineering leaders now agree that “interviews are a financial drain on my company” compared to 52% in January. This number is even higher for digital companies, who agree at 72%. Furthermore, this especially on the minds of C-level leaders, 79% of whom agreed.

The most successful organizations are closing the Interview Gap by improving interview capacity, consistency, and measurement.