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Contents
Fast Demand, Short Supply & Limited Time in Tech Hiring Today
According to a recent tech hiring trends report from Robert Half, 91% of tech hiring managers say they’re struggling to fill open roles.
That challenge spans more than just full-time hiring. In any case, filling seats for an ongoing delivery pipeline, staffing short-term client projects, or building a team for longer-term innovation, the problem is the same: speed, quality, and volume don’t naturally work well together.
Open roles in software engineering, DevOps, AI, and systems architecture aren’t staying open because there’s no interest. They stay open because there’s no time.
Quality technical expertise is heavily in demand, often fielding multiple offers, and rarely available for long. Most recruiting teams don’t have the bandwidth to screen thoroughly, follow up fast, or move with the consistency required to land the right candidates.
In technical markets, every delay increases the risk of losing top candidates to faster-moving teams.
Why Screening Slows Everything Down
Common challenges recruiters face when recruiting for software engineers:
- Manual pre-screens eat up recruiter time.
- Candidates drop off before the technical screen interview.
- Inconsistent evaluation criteria.
- Too much admin with little insight.
The struggle isn’t in the ability of a recruiter to conduct a technical screening interview, it’s that they rarely get the chance to do it properly.
Most high volume processes force employers to make earlier judgement calls. Doing this without adequate time, information, or context to do it well is what a lot of teams have to work with.
So you either guess, or you skim. You might even forward the maybes and hope they stick.
Even when you do run a proper screen, you’re often doing it in isolation. The notes aren’t consistent. The questions vary recruiter to recruiter. Half the time, the engineer who should weigh in doesn’t see the candidate until final round.
Lack of structure, especially in a high volume hiring strategy, makes it feel impossible to handle the urgency these types of roles demand.
What Changes With an Automated Candidate Screening System
HeyMilo gives your team the ability to build two-way conversational, structured, role-specific screening assessments that start automatically when a candidate applies.
Resume assessments screen for early fit and qualified candidates are engaged through text, email, or WhatsApp. Candidates are then invited to complete an interactive AI interview through phone, web audio, or web video — whichever fits the role and context best.
Because everything is standardized and customizable to the job level, your team collects better data, faster on technical talent.
You don’t need to wait for a final round to know if someone can do the job.
According to an a16z 2025 AI Voice Agent report, “AI is often better able to assess technical or position-specific answers than a general recruiter.” That means your team gains access to more accurate signal earlier in the process, even if they’re not technical experts.
They’re giving candidates more chances to succeed, seeing real answers, and experience that reflects what your team actually cares about in a fraction of time.
What About All Those Technical Tests?
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An abundance of staffing agencies screening technical talent often include long assessments in their processes, take-home projects, or logic-heavy tests.
According to Loxo’s Tech Hiring Guide, 86% of companies say it’s challenging to hire technical talent. This is a reflection of the shortcomings that come from many of the tech hiring processes today.
For developers, certain take home tests can be a huge red flag. The tasks involved can often feel like a poor use of time to them. They rarely reflect real work and don’t give them a chance to explain how they think, what they’ve done, or where they shine. For recruiters, it’s not much better. Most technical assessments return a score without much context.
AI agents for recruiting like HeyMilo helps replace unclear tests with structured interviews that actually reflect the role, as candidates answer questions tied to real responsibilities.
Final Thoughts
Hiring software engineers will never be easy. But it doesn’t have to be messy or slow.
With HeyMilo, you can screen faster without cutting corners, engage more candidates without increasing your workload, and move with the confidence that your process is as sharp as the talent you're trying to hire.
If your team is hiring at volume or under pressure, now’s the time to build a screening system that keeps up.
Request a demo to see how HeyMilo’s AI screening technology can reduce your time-to-fill and help you land the right tech candidates before someone else does.
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