The interview process every startup needs in 2025
Interview-to-offer conversion rates are low, around 7% for technical and 9% for business roles. That means you need to talk to a lot of people to find “the one,” so having a consistent framework is key.
Data from Ashby.
We’re fortunate to work with some amazing founders. While they bring incredible vision and leadership, hiring and talent acquisition aren’t always their core focus. understandably so. That’s where we come in. When it comes to finding top talent, you need the right process in place to give every candidate a fair shot and weed out the ones who are just talented at interviewing.
A solid process will save you time, reduce risk, and help you avoid costly hiring mistakes. Here’s a process we use regularly. It works across lots of different role types and can be adjusted to help you make the best hire.
One quick note: even the best interview process only works if you’re filling the top of the funnel with great candidates. And you’ve got to stay consistent. It’s easy to get excited when a candidate nails the first round, but don’t let that overshadow the full evaluation, keep digging to make sure it’s the right fit. Stick to the process. It’s the only way to compare apples to apples.
Step 1. Recruiter screen
This step saves a ton of time for hiring teams and founders. There are a few obvious things you just can’t see on a resume like verbal communication, cultural fit, and attitude.
It’s wild: across the thousands of recruiter screens we’ve done, over 50% of candidates haven’t researched the company they applied to, properly read the job description, and more than 25% didn’t even check the office location. With one-click applying in full force, this step is a critical filter. Otherwise, you're just spinning your wheels.
We focus on a few core areas:
Does the experience match what’s on their resume and your role?
Have they done the right research?
Do they have the right attitude?
Will they be a cultural fit?
A great recruiter can do this in 20 to 30 minutes and send you detailed feedback before you even meet the candidate. You can also give the recruiter specific questions to ask during this call.
One heads-up: we’re seeing a spike in fake applicants, especially for remote technical roles. People are literally interviewing on behalf of others. Keep your ear to the ground for this. It’s a good idea to do video interviews when you can, just to get a better feel for the person. Make sure you can clearly see their face on camera, and take a quick look to see if their resume lines up with their LinkedIn profile.
Step 2. Hiring manager interview
Interviewing is a 50/50 game. You’re interviewing them just as much as they’re interviewing you and so we’ve designed this process to mirror that ethos. Meeting the person they’ll report to sets the tone.
We suggest a 45-minute interview:
30 minutes for you to interview them
15 minutes for them to interview you
Use the first 5 to 10 minutes to help them relax. Ask easy questions and get to know them a bit. Founders who spend a couple of minutes pitching the company here tend to have better outcomes. Some even aim to make every candidate want the job, even if they’re not a match. That mindset is a win for your employer brand.
After that, focus on three areas:
Attitude – Are they curious, proactive, and genuinely excited about your business?
Core Skill Set – Go deeper than “tell me about yourself.” Ask role-specific questions that show depth.
Strategy and Execution – Most startups can’t afford pure strategists. You need doers. Dig into how they’ve worked in past environments to make sure it matches your environment.
Letting them interview you for 15 minutes is also a great test of curiosity. Startups don’t have huge playbooks or endless time for onboarding. You want someone who’s going to ask smart, targeted questions and the kinds of questions they ask can also tell you a lot about whether they’re a good culture fit. If they're only asking about benefits or salary in round one, it’s probably not a match.
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Step 3. Case study, presentation, or technical test
This step helps you figure out if the candidate can actually do the job. Tailor it to the role. Skills assessments are on the rise. Nearly half of employers plan to use them, and over a third plan to use psychometric testing to evaluate cultural fit and cognitive ability. - WEF Future of Jobs report.
Technical Test
Paired programming is our go-to. It doesn’t just test for the right answer. It gives you insight into how someone thinks, collaborates, and works through problems in real time. Some of the best engineering leaders we work with care far more about the journey than the result.
Algorithm-based take-home tests, on the other hand, are usually better suited to fresh grads. They don’t always reflect how experienced engineers solve problems in real environments, especially when collaboration and context matter.
And to be honest, there’s another reason we love paired programming. Like mentioned above, we are seeing a rise in fake candidates/ candidates interviewing for other people so this format helps you avoid wasting time on someone who isn’t who they say they are.
Presentation
If you’re hiring for sales or a customer-facing role, a presentation round is a must. It reduces risk and gives you a real look at how they prepare and present.
We usually split this round into three parts:
Prep – Give them some direction like access to your help center a few days in advance.
The Interview – They deliver a 15-minute pitch like they’re introducing your startup to a potential client, showing how it solves business problems.
Q&A – You ask questions about their prep and experience. They ask about your company, sales process, common objections, and so on.
Case Study
This is about how they think and execute. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Focus on a few key tasks and give a time limit, like "this should take no more than an hour."
For more junior roles, make it specific to your company. For senior roles like marketing or design, you might want them to walk through past projects or show their portfolio. It works just as well and can be more insightful. If you can use their existing projects for this you could also interview faster and therefore hire faster too.
Optional step 4. final founder or exec chat
By now, you’ve done the recruiter screen, assessed culture and basics, and validated their skills. This step is about confirmation.
If the founding team hasn’t been involved yet, now’s a great time to get their buy-in. Founders are usually looking big picture, watching for alignment and any last red flags.
This step is also helpful if you’re down to two strong candidates and need to make the final call. Keep it to 30 minutes and make sure the candidate has time to ask questions. Share your vision and see if they’re ready to go all in.
Why it all matters
Having a solid interview process saves your company time and money. When you skip parts of the process, things slip through the cracks. But when every candidate goes through the same structured process, you and your board or investors can feel confident in the hire.
People are a massive investment. The right people take your company to the next level. So a small investment of time upfront makes a big difference in the long run.
Here are a few current market insights, with data points provided by Ashby:
Offer acceptance rates sit around 73% for technical roles and 84% for business roles, meaning nearly 1 in 4 candidates are walking away from offers. A great process can boost those odds.
Interview-to-offer conversion rates are low, around 7% for technical and 9% for business roles. That means you need to talk to a lot of people to find “the one,” so having a consistent framework is key.
Teams are interviewing 40% more candidates per hire than in 2021. There are more profiles on the market than ever, and while that sounds like a good thing, it actually makes it harder to zero in on who’s the best fit. A sharp, structured process helps you cut through the noise and find the right people faster.
At HighlightTA, our founders alone bring over 30 years of combined experience helping companies scale. If you're ready to build a better hiring process and avoid common pitfalls, let’s chat. Drop us a message.