Has anyone here pivoted from software engineer to software engineering recruiter? Curious or yours (or anyones for that matter) thoughts on this topic.
It's a move I've considered just to keep my career interesting.
Interview advice that got me offers
131–140 of 372 posts
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I've rejected people for showing negative non-technical traits I'm not an expert, but this can be a really slippery slope to implicit bias creeping in to your hiring decisions, especially if these traits are outside of your area of interview/expertise.
The "culture fit" interview which is standard in tech companies today is nothing but an avenue to introduce whatever bias the interviewer wants with no oversight, no explanation.
I can see how it can do just that, but I explain our "culture" as best I can before evaluating candidates against it.
Example: My workplace has a great deal of change, bordering on ambiguity. We need people who can deal with that and thrive in that environment. So, my interview questions aim to find out if the person is going to thrive in an environment where they might have to find their own way, or if they are the kind of person who likes to take directions and stay in a specified lane.
In this case, adaption to change is part of our culture - you're either a good fit or you aren't.
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've had this discussion during interviews as a disarming technique. Candidates will sometimes express nervousness at the beginning and say stuff like "I'm terrible at interviews" or "it's been a while since I've had to do this kind of programming," and I try to respond by making it clear that I understand that the whiteboard coding has very little in common with the actual job and that I'm not judging them, so when…
> I'm not judging them I don't understand - what is the point of you interviewing them if you aren't there to judge them? What are you doing it for then?
Trying to understand their thought process, is the candidate coachable, can the candidate accept feedback, does the candidate at least understand the underlying ideas, etc.
The more prestigious the employer then the less forgiving they are on your shortcomings.
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#134>Learn to answer the more ambiguous questions This is something I have never done before my most recent job search but it has been a huge help. Previously all my interview prep was on tech and I pretty much winged it for the behavioral stuff since interview prep guides seem to always focus on the tech side. Plus it always feels worse and more obvious when you struggle with or fail to properly answer the tech question…
I had to do a bunch of interviews recently and did something similar, multiple pages of notes with bullet points in a big font just out of view. Was very helpful for those moments where your brain just freezes up and you can't remember the perfect anecdote or systems architecture point you wanted to bring up.
I do think it would work for actual on-site interviews as well, as it's common for a candidate to bring in their own notes of questions to ask, etc.
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
This limits options that are unwilling to meet your requirements; places you would have passed on due to insufficient salaries anyway. If you're willing to take lower salaries, lower your minimal salary requirements to receive more of them. Dictating salary reqs up front does two things: 1. Reduces time wasted on folks or orgs that don't want to pay your rate. 2. Immediately moves discussion away from a dance around…
It limits your options down . If you say you're looking for $100/hour, and the recruiter was planning on giving you $150/hour…guess what offer you're going to get?
To play Devil's Advocate, and I ask as someone not in the industry (I'm in academia) - is the difference between expectations really that large?
I would imagine (perhaps unreasonably) that a relatively seasoned person on the job market would have a reasonable understanding of their market value within a few percentage points - so the recruiter might be willing to pay up to $105/hour, while you low balled it at $100/hour.
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have had opposite experiences. Many of my interviews were straight evaluations on technical ability, many of which I failed. Amazon in particular, I had told the interviewer that my day-to-day was in C#, but they continued to ask rigorous javascript questions, of which I could explain most of the answer, but failed to find the very specific javascript answer they were looking for. As a result, I was blocked by Amaz…
The most scarring interview experience I've ever had was with Amazon, when I was very young, where they exhibited a similar amount of not listening to me at all and evaluating skills that I never claimed to have. Ultimately Amazon is too big and too popular to listen or care to candidates. They're going to do whatever they're going to do, regardless of what you say, and that'll naturally filter out a ton of candidate…
>evaluating skills that I never claimed to have
Interesting thought. I had an interview experience a few months ago that went fairly poorly and it was in large part because the interviewer pressed me on topics that I forwardly stated I was not well versed on (microservices). I ejected from the interview process afterwards because of my displeasure with the interviewer. He was not someone I wanted to work with in the long term.
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm not judging them I don't understand - what is the point of you interviewing them if you aren't there to judge them? What are you doing it for then?
Trying to understand their thought process, is the candidate coachable, can the candidate accept feedback, does the candidate at least understand the underlying ideas, etc. The more prestigious the employer then the less forgiving they are on your shortcomings.
> is the candidate coachable, can the candidate accept feedback, does the candidate at least understand the underlying ideas
...isn't that judging? Making a judgement on whether a candidate is coachable is judging isn't it?
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
>presentation and communication skills These can be assessed completely without whiteboard quizzes.
If I was going to judge dev interviewees solely on presentation and communication I'd have hired FEWER people than I have using algorithm questions as well. If you're junior, and you can't tell me anything interesting about the work you've done in the past, but can at least write some code quickly to solve some sample problems, you've at least shone something. If you're pretty experienced, though... not having much y…
I think you meant “shown” (past tense of show),eg
shone: A bright light was shone on the target shown: The curtain was pulled back and the object was shown for all the visitors to see
Hope that helps.
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve taken this strategy before, but now that I’m more senior I’ve found there are lots of positions that are not even in the right ball park that I’ll only find out after wasting a bunch of time.
Exactly! That's why they should tell you what the expected compensation is upfront. Recruiters might push more junior people more easily as well.
Business relationships only work if both parties are happy; providing a number that makes you willing to work somewhere will avoid wasting time, and allow for them to adjust their expectations accordingly (i.e. fully appreciate how valuable you can be to them).
Re: Interview advice that got me offers
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're not up for four to eight hours of interviews (with a break or two, depending on how long the day is), asking the standard bank of questions, it doesn't sound like you're a good fit for a big tech company. But why did you bother applying? None of what you describe seems like it should have been a surprise.
my point was not about 4 hours, its more like , if i spend 4 hours for you, least you can do is to look interested and make me feel like they need me (just like i need them )
Demotivated interviewers reflect the stress they deal with in those companies.