---
id: B-005
type: barrier
title: "Technical Screen / Live Assessment"
lang: en
registry: 2026.08.2
canonical: https://hoba.work/barriers/B-005
json: https://hoba.work/api/v1/barriers/B-005.json
---

# Technical Screen / Live Assessment

Synchronous technical evaluation assessing core technical competencies, problem-solving speed, and system architecture fundamentals.

> **On the canonical path** — [Assessed on the work, against a rubric that is shared](https://hoba.work/process#WF-003-work-sample)
>
> One timeboxed exercise that resembles the job. The candidate is given the criteria before starting, the timebox is enforced against the evaluator as well, and the same rubric scores everyone.
>
> This entry is one of the ways that commitment stops being kept.

## At a glance

- Stage: Technical
- Step in the funnel: #7
- Evidence: established

## Passing condition

Candidate achieves passing score on technical evaluation rubric from the assessing engineer.

## What it looks like

Composite excerpts, written to be typical rather than copied. No particular message, company or person is quoted here.

**The rubric the engineer scored against** — *reconstruction*

```
  Correctness: 4/5 · Complexity reasoning: 3/5 · Communication: 4/5 · Testing instinct: 3/5
> Threshold to advance: 14/20. Total: 14.
  Recommendation: advance, weak yes.
```

*What to notice* The gate is a sum against a line. A weak yes and a strong no differ by two points in one column, and the candidate never sees the columns.

## From each side

The same entry from inside each position that meets it: what reaches them, what it means from there, and what happens next given what they control.

### Candidate

- **What reaches them:** An exercise, a conversation about it, and an outcome. Not the columns, not their weights, not the line the total is compared with.
- **What it means from there:** The hour resolves into a single number that is never shown, so a miss by one point and a clear fail arrive in the same wording.
- **What happens next:** Reconstructs the session from memory and guesses which part of it cost the points, with nothing in the outcome to check the guess against.

### Hiring manager

- **What reaches them:** Four column scores, a total, and the assessing engineer's recommendation. Not what the same candidate showed in rounds they did not attend.
- **What it means from there:** A total on the line is an advance with doubt attached. A bad hire is visible for a year and carries a name; a missed hire carries none.
- **What happens next:** Holds the threshold where it is and passes the doubt into the next round rather than settling it here.

### Recruiter

- **What reaches them:** The recommendation and, at most, the total. The columns and what was said in the room are not part of what is handed over.
- **What it means from there:** The outcome is settled, and the reason for it stays with the panel.
- **What happens next:** Writes the message from the recommendation, which is the level of detail available to write from.

## Related entries

- precedes — [B-006](https://hoba.work/barriers/B-006) — Take-Home / Work Sample Evaluation
- precedes — [B-007](https://hoba.work/barriers/B-007) — Hiring Manager In-Depth Review

---

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