Interview Templates

We run three interview stages per role: a short screening, a deeper main interview, and an optional practical-test interview where the candidate walks through their submitted work. Each stage has a written template — the same template across candidates for the same role, so we can compare honestly.

Scoring uses the same 1–5 rubric as hr/candidate-tests, with the same pass criteria: average ≥ 4.0, no category below 3.0, all key risk areas ≥ 4.0. Stages that don't pass don't continue.

Stage 1 — Screening interview (15–20 min)

Conducted by the Project Manager (Mikkel Nygaard) or the hiring manager. Video call, no panel.

Goal. Confirm the basics — interest in this role specifically, availability, work authorisation, salary expectation in our range, no red flags around honesty or communication.

Template.

1. (2 min) Welcome, brief introduction to Media Tech and Castline. Frame the conversation: short, mutual screening.
2. (3 min) Candidate's two-minute version of why they're interested in this role specifically.
3. (5 min) Two structured questions matched to the role profile — see role-specific section below.
4. (3 min) Practicalities: location, availability, salary expectation, notice period.
5. (3 min) Candidate's questions.
6. (close) What happens next; expected timeline.

Scoring categories. Communication clarity (key risk), motivation fit, basic role fit.

Pass criteria. Same as candidate test: avg ≥ 4.0, no category < 3.0, communication clarity ≥ 4.0.

Stage 2 — Main interview (45–75 min)

Conducted by the hiring manager plus one team member from an adjacent role. Two interviewers, not more.

Goal. Depth on the role's must-have skills, working-style fit, and decision-making under realistic constraints.

Template.

1. (5 min) Welcome, set expectation: this is depth, not breadth — we'll go deep on a few things.
2. (20–30 min) Two scenario-based questions specific to the role. Each scenario describes a realistic Castline situation; the candidate walks us through how they would approach it. We probe with follow-ups.
3. (10–15 min) Past-work conversation. The candidate picks one project they're proud of; we ask the same five questions every time — what was the goal, what trade-offs did you make, what would you do differently, what did you learn, who else was involved.
4. (5–10 min) Working-style: how you operate under deadlines, how you give and receive feedback, how you handle disagreement with a teammate.
5. (10 min) Candidate's questions. (Generous time; the quality of the questions tells us a lot.)

Scoring categories. Role-specific technical depth (key risk — varies by role), problem decomposition, working-style fit, communication of judgement, candidate's questions.

Stage 3 — Practical test interview (optional, 30–45 min)

Runs when the candidate has submitted a practical test (hr/candidate-tests). Conducted by the same panel as Stage 2.

Goal. Verify the work submitted is the candidate's own thinking, and probe judgement that doesn't come through in the written submission.

Template.

1. (10 min) Candidate presents their submission unprompted — three slides max if they want, or just talk through it. We listen.
2. (15–25 min) Structured probing: "Why this database schema and not that one?" "How would this scale to 10x users?" "Where would you put the seam if we needed to extract this into a separate service?" We are not looking for the answer we'd have given; we are looking for the quality of reasoning when challenged.
3. (5–10 min) One curveball: a constraint that was not in the test prompt is added. How does the candidate's design adapt?

Scoring categories. Justifies decisions clearly (key risk), adapts to new constraints (key risk), produced the work themselves, depth beyond the surface of the submission.

Role-specific screening questions

Backend. "Describe a time you found a slow query in production. How did you isolate it? What did you change?" / "When have you said no to a feature request? What were the consequences?"

Frontend. "What's the difference between an accessibility 'feature' and an accessibility 'requirement'?" / "Describe a mobile app you respect; tell me what specifically makes it good."

Full-Stack. Both above, abbreviated.

QA Tester. "Tell me about a bug you found that the developer initially didn't believe was a bug." / "How do you keep concentration on the tenth pass through a regression suite?"

Designer. "Show me one of your designs you'd change today. What would you change?" / "How do you balance brand consistency against per-screen optimisation?"

PM / PO. "Describe a project that was off-track. What did you do?" / "When did you push back on a customer or stakeholder? How did it land?"

Decision after stage 2 or 3

The two interviewers debrief immediately, score independently, then reconcile. If scores diverge by more than 1 point on any category, they walk through their reasoning together before settling. The hiring manager makes the call; the second interviewer has a veto on cultural-fit concerns specifically.

Owned by

People Operations, with each hiring manager as co-owner for their role's templates.