The Fonzi Blog

Insights on engineering hiring that actually matter.

From stack matching to team culture alignment. Written by people who've run the hiring process from both sides.

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More from the blog.

Beyond LeetCode: Evaluating Engineering Judgment in the Screen Stage
· Marcus Webb

Beyond LeetCode: Evaluating Engineering Judgment in the Screen Stage

LeetCode screens test whether a candidate can recall an algorithm under time pressure. That's rarely what your role needs.

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How to Write a Job Description That Actually Attracts Strong Engineers
· Priya Nair

How to Write a Job Description That Actually Attracts Strong Engineers

Most engineering job descriptions are company copy-paste with a stack list appended. The best engineers read three sentences and move on.

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When Engineer Referrals Go Wrong
· Brett Martin

When Engineer Referrals Go Wrong (And How to Fix Your Referral Process)

Engineers refer people they like, not people who will fit the role. That's a structural problem with most referral programs.

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Reducing Time-to-Hire Without Compromising on Fit
· Marcus Webb

Reducing Time-to-Hire Without Compromising on Fit

Speed and quality are not opposites in hiring. The teams that hire fastest are usually the ones with the clearest criteria from the start.

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Signal to Noise: Why Most Engineering Recruiting Data Tells You the Wrong Things
· Priya Nair

Signal to Noise: Why Most Engineering Recruiting Data Tells You the Wrong Things

Time-to-fill and offer acceptance rate are the metrics most teams track. Neither one tells you whether the hire worked.

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Culture Alignment Is Harder on Remote-First Engineering Teams
· Brett Martin

Culture Alignment Is Harder on Remote-First Engineering Teams. Here Is Why.

When your team is distributed, every culture mismatch is amplified. You can't course-correct in a hallway conversation.

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Five Questions Every Hiring Manager Should Answer Before Screening Resumes
· Priya Nair

Five Questions Every Hiring Manager Should Answer Before Screening Resumes

You can't evaluate candidates fairly until you've answered the questions they'll be evaluated against. Most hiring managers haven't.

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What Hiring Managers Actually Read on an Engineering Resume
· Brett Martin

What Hiring Managers Actually Read on an Engineering Resume (And What They Skip)

The average engineering resume gets 15 seconds. Here's what a hiring manager's eye actually lands on, and what gets ignored entirely.

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Working Style Predicts Team Fit Better Than Values Statements
· Marcus Webb

Working Style Predicts Team Fit Better Than Values Statements

Values alignment is hard to measure. Working style alignment shows up in the first sprint. We looked at which one actually predicted retention.

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The Hidden Cost of a Wrong Engineering Hire
· Priya Nair

The Hidden Cost of a Wrong Engineering Hire (It Is Not the Severance)

The direct cost of a bad engineering hire is easy to calculate. The indirect cost is 3x larger and almost never measured.

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Why Stack Matching Alone Fails Engineering Teams
· Brett Martin

Why Stack Matching Alone Fails Engineering Teams

The industry has spent 20 years refining keyword matching for engineering roles. The results are in: it doesn't work the way everyone assumed it would.

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