Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Some people are really good at interviewing and being charismatic enough to convince people to hire them. Totally agreed. Traditional interview processes select for people who are good talkers. That doesn't correlate well with technical skill: you over-hire glib people and under-hire people who aren't. E.g., the shy, awkward, and anxiety-prone. When I run an interview process, I focus on making it as much like real…
>Traditional interview processes select for people who are good talkers. That doesn't correlate well with technical skill: you over-hire glib people and under-hire people who aren't. E.g., the shy, awkward, and anxiety-prone. This is true: but "technical skill" is not the ONLY hiring criteria that should be considered. (I say this as a fairly shy, awkward and anxiety-prone person, who has had his share of interviews-…
Basically, I think workaday collaboration and communication is a pretty different skill than on-the-spot glibness. If I'm hiring a PR person or a press secretary, glibness is a valuable skill, because an important part of their job is to talk over people, to favor sounding good over consideration or substance. But for a software team, I value more substantial engagement and communication. So no, I'm happy to hire people who are not glib. Have done before, will do again. And for those who do happen to have the gift of gab, I want to be sure they have it in check and only deploy it when necessary. A colleague who can say, "I don't know" is way better than one who glibly avoids that out of pride.