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IT STRATEGY

Francis Scialabba

Time may fly when you’re having fun, but certainly not when you’re hiring for a tech role.

According to an April report by recruiting software company Ashby, the average technical hire needed 23.3 hours of collective interview time in Q1 2026. In comparison, the average business hire took only 12.2 hours of interview hours. Of the technical roles examined in the report (data, product management, engineering, design, and IT and security), data roles were the timeliest investment for recruiters, requiring an average of 24.9 interview hours per hire.

What’s the hold up? Mike Meyer, CIO at Salesloft, told IT Brew that unlike other industries where someone’s experience may speak for itself, tech managers want to see candidates demonstrate their skills firsthand. This, along with the need to ensure a candidate’s culture fit, can drag out the hiring process.

“You have more to vet in a technical role, because you’ve got to do all the same things you do for other roles…And then you’ve also got to make sure that they’ve got the technical ability as well,” Meyer said, adding that assessing candidates for AI expertise adds another layer of complexity to interviews.

There are still ways to move fast with desired candidates.—BM

☕ Vetting better all the time