This is our final Talent Crunch of the year, so it feels like a good moment to step back and reflect on what’s actually worked after a year of hiring in a busy market.
With over 2,500 interviews run through Burns Sheehan this year, we’ve seen first-hand what helps teams hire well, and what quietly costs them great candidates.
Harriet Walker, Head of Talent at SuperSeed, put this into perspective on Ashby’s Offer Accepted podcast:
“When people are considering new opportunities, the process and entire interviewing experience really adds to their final decision. In 2022, 49% of candidates said they declined an offer because of a negative hiring experience. Conversely a great candidate experience can boost your offer acceptance rates by 38%.”
Below is a roundup of interview processes that stood out this year, for strong candidate feedback, smooth time to hire, and roles clients most often ask us how to assess.
We’ve also included a short year-in-review at the end, sharing some of our most-hired roles across 2025. 👀
The smoothest processes we've seen this year
➡️ Senior AI Engineer
Stage 1: 15 min culture fit call with the Talent Lead
Stage 2: 2-hour technical task
Candidates have the choice of either an ML or GenAI application task based on their background, which are aligned to two hiring tracks. Both are focused on producing reproducible code and showcasing strong engineering practices. The use of AI code tools is encouraged but must refine output.
Stage 3: Final technical discussion with the Hiring Manager
Walkthrough of the task, with follow-up questions on decisions, trade-offs, and improvements. Plus a broader discussion on recent projects to assess depth and real-world experience.
Why it worked:
✅ Having two task options aligned assessment to different skillsets, helping candidates perform at their best and ensuring a fairer evaluation for each track.
✅ Focus on reproducibility and best practices mirrored what good looks like on the job.
✅ Encouraging AI tools reflected how engineers actually work, while still testing judgment and refinement.
✅ Total time expectation from candidate: 3 hours.
Takeaway tip:
If AI is part of how your team operates, it should be part of how you assess. The signal is in how someone works with AI, not just whether they can. Canva, Monzo, and Trainline have shared their approach to bringing AI into interviews (click to read).
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➡️ Principal Engineer / Tech Lead
Stage 1: 30 min intro with the Talent Partner
For this client, this is consistently the highest-rated stage. Candidates receive clear CV feedback and tailored prep, and the Talent Partner’s genuine enthusiasm for the role and company helps build early buy-in.
Stage 2: 90 min interview with the Hiring Manager
This stage will also include a bar raiser from another department.
Stage 3: 90 min systems design exercise
What they’re assessing throughout:
Technical competence combined with organisational influence
Ownership and pride in past projects
Ability to influence at senior levels
Team leadership capability (where relevant)
Product thinking, not just technical scaling
Evidence of driving and influencing change
Proactively spotting and acting on opportunities
Why it worked:
✅ Candidates felt supported at every step because of the personal approach. ✅ Strong feedback created positive experiences even for those who didn’t progress. ✅ Clear assessment criteria kept interviewers aligned at every stage.
✅ Three stages kept momentum high.
Takeaway tip:
Interviews are two-way and every stage should leave candidates more excited to join. Even those who don’t get the role should walk away thinking, “That’s a company I’d want to work for.”
***
➡️ Start-up Founding Engineer
Stage 1: 30 min introductory call with the CTO
Stage 2: Remote technical exercise (offline)
An industry-relevant task completed in the candidate’s own time
In this case, a music tech startup asked candidates to build a simple synthesiser app.
Stage 3: 90 min live code review with the CTO
Stage 4: 30 min final meeting with the Founder
Why it worked:
✅ Flexible: A remote task makes it easier for time-poor candidates to commit.
✅ Highly relevant, so candidates understood the product and problem space early.
✅ The live review tested depth while keeping the process human and two-way.
Takeaway tip:
When hiring a founding engineer, relevance beats volume. A well-chosen task and a thoughtful review with key stakeholders tell you far more than adding extra stages.
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"Thank you so much for the feedback. My experience interviewing has been very positive, thank you and all the team for your time."
- Candidate feedback
➡️ VP of AI
Stage 1: 60 min with the Hiring Manager (CTO in this case)
Stage 2: 60 min with the Private Equity representative
Stage 3: 60 min with the CEO
The differentiator here wasn’t the format, but the prep.
The role was clearly scoped before interviews began.
Six key success traits were agreed upfront.
Every interviewer assessed against the same criteria.
Why it worked:
✅ Alignment meant faster decisions and no second-guessing. ✅ Defined success criteria helped to reduce bias. ✅ For a senior leader evaluating whether to join, a tight, well-organised process sends a strong signal about how the business operates and what they can expect from leadership.
✅ Time to fill was just 31 days.
Takeaway tip:
Put the groundwork in before you go live. For senior hires especially, a messy process is a red flag.
"It's refreshing to be in a process where everyone knows what they're doing. Very clear and concise throughout."
- Feedback from placed candidate
Our Consultants’ top tips for a great interview process
Make it about the people. The most memorable part of any process is who candidates meet. Are your interviewers impressive, respectful and prepared? That’s what people remember.
Stick to the plan. Set expectations early and avoid mid-process changes. If you need to adapt, explain the “why” to candidates in process.
Hiring is a game of ‘give’ and ‘get’. Assessing skill is only half the job, the other half is showing candidates why your company is worth joining.
Move fast, but don’t rush. Keep the process efficient without making candidates feel pressured. Fast feedback and tight interview scheduling can be the difference between securing a yes or losing a candidate elsewhere.
Lead with energy and care. That first call is make-or-break. It should be led by someone who genuinely cares and can bring the opportunity to life.
Pay people what they’re worth. Don’t try to save a small amount at offer stage. It’s the quickest way to undo a great candidate experience.
Build for different thinking styles. Where possible, share prep materials upfront, remove ambiguity, and create structure – it helps neurodiverse candidates and gives everyone a fairer experience.
Burns Sheehan Wrapped: 2025 🎆
A huge thanks to everyone we've partnered with this year. Candidates, clients and event attendees - you made it a great one.
Here’s how 2025 looked:
86 tech businesses hired for, hiring across engineering, data, AI, product and leadership.
FinTech was our busiest sector, with Real Estate and Data & AI platforms close behind.
The majority of businesses were between Seed-Series B funding stage.
Our most hired roles:
🥇 Backend Engineers 🥈 Full Stack Engineers 🥉 Data Engineers
20 events hosted, bringing together 150+ tech leaders.
Two embedded recruitment partnerships, scaling tech teams at Funding Circle & Goodfit.io
An NPS of 80 from our candidates, which we’re super proud of.
And we turned 21 as a business!
Thanks for being part of the journey. Have a proper end-of-year break and we’ll see you in 2026.
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