What was the problem?

The company’s Android hiring process lacked structure and relied on generic interview questions that didn’t effectively assess what mattered most: an engineer’s ability to grow independently and sustain impact over time in a resource-constrained environment.

What did I do?

I redesigned the Android hiring plan by taking the existing interview stages and evolving the questions to better assess long-term potential, self-motivation, and the kind of ownership needed to succeed without extensive hand-holding.

How did I do it?

  1. I analyzed what made Android engineers successful in the company, particularly traits like self-direction and ability to learn independently.
  2. I reviewed the existing interview stages and identified where questions were generic or didn’t probe the right dimensions.
  3. I rewrote interview questions to focus on examples of self-driven learning, how candidates approached challenges without clear guidance, and their ability to sustain effort over time.
  4. I tested the new approach with a few candidates and refined questions based on how well they predicted success.

What did I achieve?

I created a hiring plan that better identified candidates with the resilience and self-motivation needed to thrive in a lean environment, improving the quality of Android engineer hires and reducing mismatches between candidate expectations and the reality of working with limited support structures.