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HashiCorpHashiCorp

PR Code Review as Interview Round

Developer Relations

What it tests

Code review skills, community interaction, technical communication

Format

  1. 1Give candidate a real (anonymized) community PR from your open-source project
  2. 2Ask them to review it as if they were the maintainer: correctness, conventions, feedback tone, approve/reject decision
  3. 3Discuss their review in a live conversation

What to look for

  • Technical accuracy of the review
  • Tone and empathy (how they give feedback to community contributors)
  • Understanding of OSS dynamics (contribution barriers, maintainer burden)
  • Do they balance technical quality with contributor encouragement?

Adaptation guide

Works for any company with an open-source component. Even closed-source companies can use internal PRs (anonymized).

Full description

Format:

  1. Give candidate a real (anonymized) community PR from your open-source project
  2. Ask them to review it as if they were the maintainer:
    • Is the code correct?
    • Does it follow project conventions?
    • How would they communicate feedback to the contributor?
    • Would they approve, request changes, or reject?
  3. Discuss their review in a live conversation

Time: 30 minutes prep + 30 minutes discussion

What to look for:

  • Technical accuracy of the review
  • Tone and empathy (how they give feedback to community contributors)
  • Understanding of OSS dynamics (contribution barriers, maintainer burden)
  • Do they balance technical quality with contributor encouragement?

Adaptation: Works for any company with an open-source component. Even closed-source companies can use internal PRs (anonymized).