Hireduce — First 10 Minutes Technical Screen Checklist
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For non-technical recruiters screening software, PPC/media buying, or SEO talent.
Use as a pre-screen module. This does not replace a specialist interview.

BEFORE THE CALL
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[ ] Hiring manager gave 3 must-true skills + 1 deal-breaker
[ ] For each must-true skill: 1 opener + 1 follow-up written
[ ] “Strong answer” defined in plain language (what must be included)
[ ] Scorecard columns ready: Evidence / Not observed / Risk

MINUTES 0–2 — RAPPORT + BASELINE
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[ ] Introduce role + purpose of the screen
[ ] Say: short thinking pauses are welcome; accuracy > speed
[ ] Ask one baseline ownership question
    Example: “What is the last project you personally owned end-to-end?”
[ ] Note concreteness (artifacts, constraints, personal action) — not vibe

MINUTES 3–6 — TECHNICAL DRILL (ONE SKILL)
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[ ] Pick the highest-risk must-true skill only
[ ] Ask one concrete work question (not “tell me about yourself”)

Software examples:
  - Production bug: first signal → ruled out → fix
  - API/data model: tradeoff accepted
  - Performance: what you measured before changing code

PPC / media buying examples:
  - CPA spike: first checks → what you changed
  - Kill vs scale decision rule
  - Creative/audience test: hypothesis + stop rule

SEO examples:
  - Ranking drop: algorithm vs technical vs content
  - Winning page: what changed + how measured
  - Priority call: technical SEO vs content under constraint

MINUTES 7–9 — FOLLOW-UP ON WEAK SPOTS
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[ ] Protect silence (count to 5 before rescuing)
[ ] Ask ONE depth follow-up:
    Fluent/generic  → “What failed in the first version?”
    Short/quiet     → “What was your personal contribution?”
    All “we”        → “What did you specifically decide?”
    Tool-name drop  → “Why that tool over the alternative?”
    No metrics      → “How did you know it worked?”

MINUTE 10 — CLOSE + RED FLAGS
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[ ] Confirm next steps only if evidence justifies continuing
[ ] One logistics/risk question (notice period, competing offer, blockers)
[ ] Scorecard filled: Evidence / Not observed / Risk
[ ] Do NOT advance on fluency alone
[ ] Do NOT reject on quiet alone

HANDOFF BLURB (2 MINUTES FOR HIRING MANAGER)
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Asked: ________________________________
Showed: _______________________________
Untested: _____________________________
Risk: _________________________________

More: https://www.hireduce.cloud/blog/first-10-minutes-screen-tech-talent