Process/AgileGeneralTable-stakes
Technical Debt
Also written as Tech Debt
Shortcuts or quick fixes taken to ship faster, which create extra work later. Like financial debt, it accrues 'interest' the longer it's unaddressed.
Think of it like
Like a payday loan — it solves today's cash shortfall fast, but you owe extra later, and it costs more the longer it goes unpaid.
Junior or senior?
Junior candidates call any old code 'tech debt.' Senior candidates can name a specific tradeoff they made deliberately and how they later paid it down (or chose not to).
Ask them
“Tell me about a piece of tech debt you took on knowingly. What was the payoff and how did you eventually deal with it?”