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Interview advice that got me offers

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Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#261

Post by BurningFrog »

steverb wrote: post #202
random5634 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do hiring (not recruiting). I generally want to understand what someone's ask is first. After that I'm usually very upfront (ie, immediate verbal feedback) on how that falls into the position vs their apparent skill set etc. If they have come in low (not uncommon for non bay area folks) I'll let them know that there are opportunities for growth beyond where they would start at. If they are someone we want we'll gen…

"If they are too high I'm usually upfront that at that rate they'd be flat compensation wise for a number of years" I've heard that once before and it always puzzled me. Basically you're telling the candidate that you want to underpay them now, so you can eventually pay them what they are worth. The math is in their favor even if they don't get a raise next year. And of course, next year they will be worth more anywa…

> Basically you're telling the candidate that you want to underpay them now, so you can eventually pay them what they are worth

Stared at this for a while, and can make no sense of it.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#262

Post by CobrastanJorji »

chrisseaton wrote: post #203
closeparen wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When a candidate bombs an interview, I don't think "wow, what a shitty engineer, how are they even employed?" I think, "wow, interviewing sucks."

Why bother interviewing if you aren’t learning anything about the person but only about how bad your interviews are?

Interviewing should normally have two results: the candidate was able to demonstrate the appropriate skills, or the candidate was not. Not being able to demonstrate the right skills in the interview does not mean that the candidate is a bad programmer or even a bad fit for the job. It just means that I was not able to verify their bona fides in that hour.

That's the difference between "that interview didn't go well" and "you are a bad programmer." One's a major blow to self confidence, and the other's a bummer. It's also a helpful mindset shift for both the interviewer and the interviewee: both of us are working together to achieve the goal of proving your capabilities. My job is to give you as many opportunities as possible to do so.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#263

Post by x87678r »

steverb wrote: post #202
random5634 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do hiring (not recruiting). I generally want to understand what someone's ask is first. After that I'm usually very upfront (ie, immediate verbal feedback) on how that falls into the position vs their apparent skill set etc. If they have come in low (not uncommon for non bay area folks) I'll let them know that there are opportunities for growth beyond where they would start at. If they are someone we want we'll gen…

"If they are too high I'm usually upfront that at that rate they'd be flat compensation wise for a number of years" I've heard that once before and it always puzzled me. Basically you're telling the candidate that you want to underpay them now, so you can eventually pay them what they are worth. The math is in their favor even if they don't get a raise next year. And of course, next year they will be worth more anywa…

> If they are too high I'm usually upfront that at that rate they'd be flat compensation wise for a number of years

I think its good to communicate that they wont be getting raises. I've taken a few jobs where I've been paid well above average, it feels great then you dont get any pay rises for a few years which makes you feel like you're aren't doing a good job.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#265

Post by jlj »

Answerawake wrote: post #244
908B64B197 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The serious ones do. There are a lot of recruiters on the market. But it's really no different than the market for lawyers; the median lawyer is a very poor man but the average lawyer is rich. If they can't put a number on the table, they are probably one of those that tries to run a volume game, which I think is a bad approach for engineering. Basically spamming and not giving any info until they get their quotas. T…

How do you end up with a network of the good ones? I have gotten my last job through a recruiter but the process sucked. He took me and my boss for a ride financially. This was in part me not getting many callbacks from any decent companies(Im in the NJ/NYC area) so I was desperate to accept and part my current manager not knowing what he should be paying for this and that type of developer. While I love my job and m…

> How do you end up with a network of the good ones?

> I have wanted to escape the dreaded cycle of dealing with these terrible recruiters

Focus on yourself. When you are in a good place yourself you will find non-terrible recruiters. And when recruiters reach out, have a copy/paste response to say thanks for reaching out. +1 bonus points if you have a friend looking for a job and you can share their LinkedIn profile in your copy/paste response.

And don't run away (escape), run towards something.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#266

Post by psanford »

rkachowski wrote: post #36
klenwell wrote: post #16

One additional tip on recruiters: have a cheat sheet ready (web page or public Google doc) that answers the basic questions they'll have for you and makes clear your expectations. Here's the info I ask them to provide: - Job Title and Salary - Job Description - Company Overview and Location - Steps in Hiring Process Whenever I'm emailed by a recruiter, I politely thank them for reaching out, paste the link to the che…

Do you find that recruiters will typically give you a salary range beyond "competitive" before you've started the interview process?

If you get recruiter emails for positions that are not interesting to you, just ask for the salary range. A lot of recruiters won't give it to you but some will.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#267

Post by closeparen »

symlinkk wrote: post #245
closeparen wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are several hills I would strongly consider dying on, but interview reform is not one of them.

So you’re not going to answer the question I guess?

You get classroom training, shadow hours, supervised hours, and certification on a particular type of interview. From that day forward any open slot on your calendar is fair game for Recruiting to schedule, up to 3 per week. You might get away with a "No" RSVP if you have a good excuse, but not in general. It's part of your job.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#268

Post by mnouquet »

vincentmarle wrote: post #9

The hardest part about interviewing is that there is no feedback loop; I once interviewed at 10 companies within 2 weeks and got rejected from all of them, but to this day I still don't know what part I need to improve upon.

While I totally agree, would you ask a failed date why you didn't qualify to get laid...

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#269

Post by x87678r »

How many interviews do people do a year? I've been in my job 5 years and the one before that 8, I've had 4 interviews in the last 10 years. I kinda feel at a big advantage for not job hopping. It seems some people interview a dozen times a year just as normal.

Should I try to get 10 interviews just for practice before interviewing companies I really like?

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#270

Post by x87678r »

xyzelement wrote: post #192
deedubaya wrote: post #189

I wonder how many, if any, great software engineers simply let their careers stall out because they don't want to deal with the ceremony around tech hiring.

Same kind of person who never finds a partner because of the "ceremony around" dating, I guess? In both situations, it's not like you're adding a commodity product to your Amazon shopping card. The matching is non-trivial and both parties have to recognize and commit to the effort-full process. To abstract your comment all the way out - how many people live well below their potential because they are too lazy or afra…

> Same kind of person who never finds a partner because of the "ceremony around" dating, I guess?

Surely its the person who gets married and doesn't have to deal with that any more. Its a good reason to stay in a company a long time, like the OP says.

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