Rethink How You Screen Senior Developers to Produce Better Mentors
TechTarget, Tuesday, July 28th, 2026
Traditional coding tests often miss the qualities that matter most in senior developers. Explore a hiring approach focused on code review, mentoring and practical problem solving.
Traditional hiring approaches for senior developers-coding assignments and abstract problem-solving questions-fail to assess crucial mentoring skills. The author proposes evaluating candidates through code review exercises instead, which reveal how they provide feedback, approach problem-solving, and mentor colleagues.
This method suits legacy application development, lowers interview friction for desirable candidates, and provides authentic insight into how candidates interact with teammates, making it particularly valuable for expensive-to-hire positions.