Many companies trust their gut when hiring new developers, but experience shows that instinct alone often fails. In fact, a recent Mobilunity survey found that 45% of candidates who ace the interview still underperform on the job. Hiring decisions feel right at the moment, yet time and again they end up costing productivity and money. As Mobilunity’s Staff Services Director Yulia Borysenko observes, “we should make hiring decisions based on evidence, not guesswork”. By blending data-driven practices with technical rigor and structured processes, tech teams can turn hiring from a gamble into a more reliable science.
The Pitfalls of Gut-Based Hiring
Interviewers naturally form quick impressions. Eye-tracking studies at Forbes show recruiters spend only seconds scanning resumes and decide very fast: 33% of hiring managers decide within the first 90 seconds of an interview, and 60% decide in the first 15 minutes. These snap judgments trigger confirmation bias – once we like someone, we look only for confirming evidence. As a result, nearly half of HR managers admit that unconscious bias affects who they hire. One reviewer even found that sharing a college or hobby can create an instant “mini-me” effect (affinity bias) that overshadows a candidate’s actual skills. In short, feeling that a person is a good fit can cloud objective assessment.
Yulia notes that this human tendency is natural but dangerous. When we rely on first impressions or “gut feel,” we often ignore data that contradicts our intuition. For example, a polished interview performance might mask a lack of real-world skills – a gap that only becomes visible weeks into a new hire’s tenure. The solution is to slow down and standardize. Structured interviews – using the same questions and evaluation criteria for every candidate – greatly reduce bias. In Mobilunity technical interview service, we follow a standardized, structured interview procedure so every specialist is evaluated “fairly and consistently, regardless of the interviewer’s subjective impressions”. This data-driven approach lets us spot gaps early and compare candidates on skills, not smiles.
Hiring by the Numbers
The gap between interview performance and on-the-job results is startling. Consider these recent findings:
- 45% of candidates who perform well in interviews still underperform in their actual roles.
- Only about 7% of new technical hires are fully productive from their first week.
- Roughly 25% of hires lack the needed skills outright, and another 25% still require training.
- Meanwhile, nearly 75% of employers admit they’ve hired the wrong person for a job.
- The cost of a bad hire is enormous: on average ~$17,000 in wasted salary, training, and lost productivity, with 60% of those cases due to a skills mismatch.
These numbers are sobering. Yulia points out that in a competitive tech market, companies can’t afford to guess. “We track every step of our hiring funnel and use real metrics – from offer-acceptance rates to time-to-productivity – so decisions rest on evidence.” In practice, this means using coding tests, work samples, and technical screening before investing in lengthy interviews. In Mobilunity’s experience, skill-based hiring has become the norm: about 85% of companies now use technical assessments rather than blind interviews.
Why Tech Interviews Trick Us
In IT hiring, the illusion of a “perfect fit” can come from unrelated cues. An applicant might give articulate, confident answers – swaying interviewers – but still lack the deep coding expertise needed for the project. Research on LinkedIn shows nearly 60% of hiring mistakes happen because a candidate couldn’t meet the quality bar. This often results from vague job descriptions and informal interviews. Yulia stresses that clear requirements are crucial: before interviewing, teams must define prerequisite skills and what success looks like in the role. Otherwise, candidates can “knock your interview out of the park” but still be unprepared for the actual job demands.
Structured interview techniques counter this. For example, Mobilunity’s tech recruiters use consistent technical challenges and scoring rubrics. As Cyril Samovskiy, Mobilunity’s founder, notes: “Technical hires require a dedicated approach to recruitment. Too many businesses are accepting lower standards than they deserve.”. In other words, don’t be fooled by charisma or buzzwords – insist on proof. This might mean live coding sessions, pair-programming tests, or detailed project walk-throughs. It also means having your hiring team calibrated: every interviewer must agree on what “good” looks like. (Mobilunity’s Recruitment Lead, Svitlana Skalova, often emphasizes that interviewer alignment is just as important as candidate quality.)
Another danger is the “halo effect.” If a candidate boasts from a top university or a big-name company, we instinctively assume they’ll excel everywhere. But research shows that one strong trait can falsely inflate our view of unrelated skills. For distributed dev teams especially, real-world trial is best: “We actually test their skills and simulate collaboration,” Yulia explains, “since one mistake on a large codebase can cost more than time spent on a test.”
Building a Data-Driven Hiring Process
How can startups and tech teams break the vicious cycle of mistaken hires? The key is combining data with a human touch:
- Use structured interviews and metrics. As noted above, structured interviews mitigate bias. Mobile-friendly engineering tests and AI-driven screening can pre-filter candidates so interviews focus on the right talent. Mobilunity’s data confirms this: organizations using structured interviews see fewer mis-hires. Even big firms now report that 72% have adopted structured interviews to reduce bias.
- Assess real skills, not just answers. Look for evidence. “I ask every developer to walk me through code they’ve written, or to solve a problem on the spot,” Yulia says. Practical tests, sample projects, and peer review give a clearer picture than chatting. This is supported by industry research: skill-based evaluations (tests, portfolios, coding challenges) consistently predict job performance better than unstructured interviews.
- Onboard with a plan. The interview is only one part of hiring success. New hires must be set up to win. Yulia’s team designs 90-day onboarding roadmaps with specific milestones (end of week 1, month 1, end of probation). They provision access and meet openly about expectations. As Cyril Samovskiy warns: “Even a senior developer needs structure – or they silently stall.” (He points out that failing to onboard properly is like hiring the wrong person.) By clarifying roles and next steps in advance, we prevent new hires from floundering. Robust onboarding also provides early feedback: if someone struggles, it’s caught in week two instead of month twelve.
- Invest in feedback and retention. Monitoring a hire’s progress and giving frequent feedback catches issues early. Yulia notes that 75% of technical employees say strong onboarding influences their decision to stay long-term. In other words, a hire that feels right at the start will truly be right for your team if you support them properly from day one.
Turning the Tide
In the tech industry’s fast-paced world, it’s tempting to hire quickly and trust your instincts to “just pick someone.” But the numbers tell a different story: gut-based hiring is expensive and unreliable. By contrast, a systematic approach yields consistently better results. As Yulia Borysenko concludes, “The companies that thrive treat hiring as an ongoing learning process. We continually adjust our strategy based on data, from candidate drop-off metrics to performance feedback.”
Indeed, Mobilunity’s founder Cyril Samovskiy sums it up: “Hiring the wrong person can be costly in more ways than one. The right candidate is always out there. It’s just a matter of finding them.” By combining evidence-based recruitment, thorough skill assessments, and structured onboarding, companies can ensure that “feeling right” aligns with reality. In practice, that means fewer surprises, better team performance, and ultimately, hires that truly feel right in every sense.
