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Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
51–60 of 155 posts
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#52It sounds like the VP is there one who needs to be fired. If he can’t handle questions like that it brands he is building a really bad team. Better to get rid of him and find someone who is better at team building and recognizing talent.
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#53I 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 am not from the states but my IT career involved working on teams with US clients and also working in the US for a few years. I find it very hard to say "I did X" for anything except for personal projects that I did myself from start to finish. In typical work projects even the best of ideas always need to be bought by rest of the team and also executed collaboratively by the team. I would be dishonest if I were to…
> I find it very hard to say "I did X" for anything except for personal projects that I did myself from start to finish.
I come from a culture that has a similar approach, where taking sole credit for team efforts is typically viewed negatively. Took me a few years to get the hang of lying on interviews and taking sole credit for team efforts.
And ironically, it only dawned on me when I became an interviewer myself. That's when I realized everyone lies on interviews. Especially interviewers.
When everyone is playing the same game, it's a fair ground.
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#54I 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 div…
And yet developers go through the most ludicrous interviewing processes, having to prove time and time again that they have enough technical skills, while having 10 years of experience in their CV :^)
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#55The set up of this article doesn't make a lot of sense. It describes a case where "not a good fit" was in fact exactly that; the candidate wanted an open workplace where he could express opinions and grow his skills, the hiring manager wanted an experienced resource who would do as they were told and not rock the boat. Both types of workplace exist, and both types of candidates exist. The question for me is why the a…
> do as they were told and not rock the boat This is a problem. It means the best output you're going to get is that of the level of the person doing the telling rather than the person who's first-hand doing and learning. I see this all the time. I once wondered why sometimes a new club/bar would open up, sparing no expense, but then the music would sound like shit. Not the sound system, but the DJ. It's because they…
People being bad at at hiring is really orthogonal to whether people want someone who just does what they're told, or who also partially controls the direction of their work. You're making the assumption that it's some idiot owner hiring people, when it could just as easily been that the owner has hired someone with a particular vision to run their company, and that person needs you not for your creativity, but your level of craft.
It doesn't make me bad at hiring painters if I don't want them to have a say in the color.
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#56Earlier 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’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.
He seemed genuinely surprised when I asked him what he wanted to know instead of me following the script in his head.
I suppose he could have been acting, but I don’t think so. Looking back, I think he was expecting me to act like a vendor salesman promising the world in hopes of getting a commission.
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Sure. But the 10s of 1000s of people laid off this year don’t have that luxury.
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#58Interview Question: “Show me how to reverse a linked list.”
Position : Backend AI Engineer
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#59I 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 have this problem - I am one man hardware department for almost a decade. I am interviewing now and people don’t want to listen to this. I designed everything and own everything. So I started lying having imaginary colleagues who co-designed the these things. Then interviews went okayish again. Some toxic places do not want teamwork. It is called here “spoon feeding”.
Re: Stop eliminating good candidates by asking them the wrong questions
#60Earlier 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."
Plot twist: they're left handed/footed and your biased assumptions failed you.