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Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

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Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#41

Post by throwaway2990 »

woleium wrote: post #16
kayodelycaon wrote: post #8

I’ve had this experience. I passed all of the interviews only to be failed by a senior manager that had some kind of expectation I couldn’t figure out. About 6 seconds into a phone call, I’d failed for not matching whatever expectation he had for how a phone call should go. As far as I can tell, he expected me to do everything his way without being asked. That was truly bizarre. I think I dodged a bullet there.

> I think I dodged a bullet there. Bingo! Remember that the interview process is bidirectional, you are also interviewing them to see if you want to work there or not :))

If there is high demand and not enough to fill the roles or you’re able to go almost anywhere… then sure it’s bidirectional.

But the majority of people it’s one sided. They don’t have the option to challenge the interviewer. They need the job, the income, and cannot risk getting rejected by appearing picky.

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#42

Post by devsegal »

willcipriano wrote: post #37
CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed long ago that many people have their own interviewing “secrets”. Remember that story about how Henry Ford would fail applicants if they put salt on their meal without trying it first? A lot of people take stories/ideas like that to heart. The person interviewing you was probably offended you called him by his first name or something. “A good applicant won’t do that”.

It's always some nonsense like: "He used his left foot to enter the room. A good candidate will use his right as they will put their best foot forward."

thanks for the chuckle

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#43

Post by panxyh »

willcipriano wrote: post #37
CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed long ago that many people have their own interviewing “secrets”. Remember that story about how Henry Ford would fail applicants if they put salt on their meal without trying it first? A lot of people take stories/ideas like that to heart. The person interviewing you was probably offended you called him by his first name or something. “A good applicant won’t do that”.

It's always some nonsense like: "He used his left foot to enter the room. A good candidate will use his right as they will put their best foot forward."

The salt thing isn’t in the same league of nonsense as the foot thing. It does tell something about the person.

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#45

Post by throwaway2990 »

phkahler wrote: post #24

I agree with most of it but not this: "Interviewees are often told to use “I” to get credit for work done, but “we” is probably a more realistic depiction of how work gets done." I've had too many candidates talk about "we" and the general project, or what the team they were on did. But when I try to get at what they specifically did I get nothing. Sure we need team players, but not just cheerleaders. Take credit for…

> I've had too many candidates talk about "we" and the general project, or what the team they were on did. But when I try to get at what they specifically did I get nothing. Sure we need team players, but not just cheerleaders. Take credit for your work!

I had this conversation with a co worker when he was made redundant. I reviewed his CV and he didn’t put any of the stuff he had worked on.

He said he didn’t add it because it wasn’t something he did by himself. It was a team effort. So I asked. Did you do X on project? “Yes”. Did you do Y on project? “Yes”.

It sounds like you contributed to those projects. If you get asked during an interview, you can absolutely take credit for working on those things. That’s your contribution!!! Yes it was a team effort that got the project over the line and made it successful. But you contributed to that effort and you should be proud and take credit where credit it due!

He was a bit taken back. He thought it would be lying or stealing to put those projects on his CV.

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#46

Post by the_lonely_road »

CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #31
kayodelycaon wrote: post #8

I’ve had this experience. I passed all of the interviews only to be failed by a senior manager that had some kind of expectation I couldn’t figure out. About 6 seconds into a phone call, I’d failed for not matching whatever expectation he had for how a phone call should go. As far as I can tell, he expected me to do everything his way without being asked. That was truly bizarre. I think I dodged a bullet there.

I noticed long ago that many people have their own interviewing “secrets”. Remember that story about how Henry Ford would fail applicants if they put salt on their meal without trying it first? A lot of people take stories/ideas like that to heart. The person interviewing you was probably offended you called him by his first name or something. “A good applicant won’t do that”.

It’d also highly possible they did nothing wrong and the guy wanted to tank the interview for another reason. A favored candidate, opposing the team expansion, racism/sexism/ageism etc.

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#47

Post by BiteCode_dev »

I see a lot of geeks giving advice on how to hire other geeks, but I'm guessing most of them had never being involved in the hiring process.

In fact, if you sum up all the recommendations of people online about recruitment, you can't hire anybody, because every single move is something you should not do according to one of the self-proclaimed new expert.

Once again, as a developer, I can only notice how much of a diva my peers have become. We are very lucky we are a hot commodity on the market, because I tell you, no other professionals get a pass for a tenth of the things we claim we are entitled too.

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#48

Post by eterm »

logicalmonster wrote: post #40
rr808 wrote: post #22

For my current job I got grilled with leetcode style questions. Lucky I'd done a few before so knew the tricks. Now I work there the job is basic crud style work, nothing fancy required. Employer also hires grads almost exclusively from Ivy League universities and they mostly suck. Makes me look good. :)

> For my current job I got grilled with leetcode style questions. I don't mind being asked a leetcode style question or two in an interview. Even if somebody struggles with solving an unfamiliar problem off the cuff, you can see if they they take some logical problem solving approaches. But it's frustrating that no practical web-development questions are ever asked for those kinds of jobs. For instance, security is r…

> a data leak could literally destroy a company overnight

Source?

I'm sure we "wish" that were true, but data leaks haven't even destroyed companies whose entire existence is predicated on storing data such as Equifax.

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#49

Post by surgical_fire »

throwaway2990 wrote: post #41
woleium wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think I dodged a bullet there. Bingo! Remember that the interview process is bidirectional, you are also interviewing them to see if you want to work there or not :))

If there is high demand and not enough to fill the roles or you’re able to go almost anywhere… then sure it’s bidirectional. But the majority of people it’s one sided. They don’t have the option to challenge the interviewer. They need the job, the income, and cannot risk getting rejected by appearing picky.

But that's why the best time to interview for a job is when you are already employed and are not really looking for anything new.

I did so many interviews without any intention of ever accepting the offer, it would be almost comical. But, it's great practice for when I actually want a new job, and refusing offers always massage my ego.

Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions

#50

Post by [deleted] »

Lapsa wrote: post #32
phkahler wrote: post #24

I agree with most of it but not this: "Interviewees are often told to use “I” to get credit for work done, but “we” is probably a more realistic depiction of how work gets done." I've had too many candidates talk about "we" and the general project, or what the team they were on did. But when I try to get at what they specifically did I get nothing. Sure we need team players, but not just cheerleaders. Take credit for…

more relevant in States. rest of the world isn't as obsessed with managing their egos

[deleted]
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