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Job interviews go both ways (2011)

diegobasch.com

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Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#51

Post by bcbrown »

potatolicious wrote: post #44
rlu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never interviewed anyone, but also, if they don't ask me any questions about the company then I'm gonna think they simply don't care and they applied for the role "just for a job". I don't want to work with people who don't care.

Eh, I have two rebuttals against that: - Is your job worth caring about? Let's be honest, not everyone is working on putting people on Mars or pushing the boundaries of machine learning, etc. A lot of programming jobs are just spitting out code for a paycheck. When I was a tad younger, with less experience under my belt, and fewer choices in employers, I interviewed at many a job where I was expected to act like I'm…

What I do is write down ahead of time 10ish questions, then ask each one of 2-3 interviewers. That will usually lead to one or two follow up questions, and that's about enough. Yes, all-day interviews are grueling, but with preparation I view the question-asking phase as a break.

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#53

Post by pawelkomarnicki »

Huh I remember 2 interviews that I was sure I am never ever going to work at the company :-) At one well-known-company interviewer literally treated me like garbage from the very first minute (including waiting for the scheduled meeting in the building corridor), I didn't even try to do say anything then. Another one started pretty well, but then I saw the team (super demotivated) and they asked me to do some shady test-stuff (HTTP referer header spoofing), but the nail to the coffin was the manager telling me that I have to disregard notice time and instantly jump ships for them, because they won't wait for me ;-) So yeah, the interview works both ways, there were jobs (like my current one) that I felt that the fit is strong and the final negotiation effects are not so important.

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#54

Post by ido »

incision wrote: post #13

The author advocates questioning the interviewer directly, but he doesn't mention questioning anyone in his Netscape interview, only making mental notes of various red flags. In practice, I think that's the way 'both way' interviews generally have to go - you don't interview your interviewer, but you do evaluate and judge your potential employer critically. Personally, my attempts at interviewing an interviewer have…

Asking if someone is on medication is not only unethical, I'm pretty sure it isn't legal either. Do you want to also know their sexual orientation, religion and who they voted for?

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#55

Post by WWLink »

potatolicious wrote: post #44
rlu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never interviewed anyone, but also, if they don't ask me any questions about the company then I'm gonna think they simply don't care and they applied for the role "just for a job". I don't want to work with people who don't care.

Eh, I have two rebuttals against that: - Is your job worth caring about? Let's be honest, not everyone is working on putting people on Mars or pushing the boundaries of machine learning, etc. A lot of programming jobs are just spitting out code for a paycheck. When I was a tad younger, with less experience under my belt, and fewer choices in employers, I interviewed at many a job where I was expected to act like I'm…

I think what happens is different companies (and dev teams, actually) have different personalities. A type A team/company will look for type A programmers. If you end up with a personality match, it doesn't guarantee you the job but it does probably help a ton.

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#56

Post by eli_gottlieb »

MadMoogle wrote: post #47
Iftheshoefits wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are some that I've asked: 1. "During your most recent budget period, what influence did politics rather than the merits of budget requests have in distributing resources, and in what ways?" 2. "How heavily influenced by politics (or upper management) is the performance review process?" 3. "Has anybody recently been let go as the result of being ranked lowest on a performance review?" 4. "Are managers subject to…

Existential question of the day: If the answers are almost all lies or omissions, what's the point of asking the questions? To get good at spotting the rare honest answer among the PR? And how do you know what's a lie and what isn't? There's no way to verify anything they're telling you unless you know somebody working there.

Lies or omissions can still contain information. They're not nonsense, and thus you can in fact learn from them.

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#57

Post by lmm »

dingaling wrote: post #46
leorocky wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "What would you say separates the strongest and the weakest members of your team?" It's easy to reply to this phrasing with a canned answer and very little though. "Experience, skill, and a positive attitude." If someone gave this answer to you and you're the candidate asking the question it is basically 0 information. I think the better way to ask this question is to ask "Has anyone been recently let go and why? H…

This is a very interesting exchange because it illustrates the difficulty of forming a question that the company can't turn to their advantage. For example: > Has anyone been let go or put on a performance improvement plan for not being a good enough engineer? Few people are put on PiPs for not being 'good enough' at engineering; most PiPs are about people not doing what the company demanded, no matter how unreasonab…

> But the company could respond to your question with 'sure, we clear-out the deadwood every six months!' because in their view those people weren't 'good enough'

And that's the kind of answer that would be really interesting to hear.

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#58

Post by dmitri1981 »

One question I always ask my interviewers is "What is the best thing about working here?". You can tell a lot by their immediate response and whether their face lights up with excitement. One answer I will never forget is a developer responding with "We have a Dyson hand dryer".

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#59

Post by [deleted] »

Iftheshoefits wrote: post #32
incision wrote: post #13

The author advocates questioning the interviewer directly, but he doesn't mention questioning anyone in his Netscape interview, only making mental notes of various red flags. In practice, I think that's the way 'both way' interviews generally have to go - you don't interview your interviewer, but you do evaluate and judge your potential employer critically. Personally, my attempts at interviewing an interviewer have…

Here are some that I've asked: 1. "During your most recent budget period, what influence did politics rather than the merits of budget requests have in distributing resources, and in what ways?" 2. "How heavily influenced by politics (or upper management) is the performance review process?" 3. "Has anybody recently been let go as the result of being ranked lowest on a performance review?" 4. "Are managers subject to…

[deleted]

Re: Job interviews go both ways (2011)

#60

Post by typingduck »

nevster wrote: post #30
HarryHirsch wrote: post #3

Did I ever mention that interview with a whizzo East Coast startup where the interviewer couldn't answer where the company was planning to be in five years time? It's one of those questions where they will squirm like eels, but you have to know, because you are committing your time and future earnings to them. Squirming is fine, but being struck dumb is not acceptable. The experience was epic, it ended with a greybea…

I always ask "Do you enjoy working here?" Their instant response is usually telling.

I always ask this. Doesn't even require an honest answer, the length of pause is sufficient.

(although now it's been on HN interviewers will probably be better prepared)

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