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Ask HN: Non-developers, how are your job interviews like?

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Ask HN: Non-developers, how are your job interviews like?

#1
We all know how they are for developers: programming challenges (Fizzbuzz, homework, whiteboard coding, etc.), examples of your work (GitHub, side projects, blog, etc.), questions like "what is the hardest challenge you have had to overcome and how did you approach it?", they ask you about something and they expect you to get excited talking about it... and the usual behavioural questions.

Re: Ask HN: Non-developers, how are your job interviews like?

#3
If I get the job through a friend, the interview does not matter. If I apply to a job and I dont have a friend there, the interview does not matter.

I heard you dont use other skills than the ones learnt in the first 6 years of school to work in a bank or in HR.

They only call me to interview when I have to lift heavy bricks on a construction site.

Re: Ask HN: Non-developers, how are your job interviews like?

#5
I can only speak from experience from when I was fresh out of college with an English degree and trying to get a job for... literally anything under the sun related to marketing, communications, or copywriting.

The interview honestly doesn't matter. You're also lucky if you even get a call back for an interview. Usually, there's so many people who look just like you on paper that your resume and cover letter almost instantly get thrown into the trash.

When you do get called up - it's usually just a lucky break. Most people are fairly personable. Any number of factors can affect your interview and whether or not you're selected. I just happened to get a lucky break the first time I got a job as a marketing intern... and it was just because the person interviewing me also went to the same alma mater as me.

Re: Ask HN: Non-developers, how are your job interviews like?

#6
post #2

It's mostly a peacocking competition, unless you have certain non-technical skills, or an 'in' already.

This is what I have experienced the last few months. The interviewer checks off boxes in their notes as you successfully utter the current "buzzwords" they are looking for. I didn:t notice the connection until I had 2 interviewers & the guy pulling for me gave me a wink or thumbs up when his associate paused to make a mark on his notepad. Afterward, my guy affirmed I hit the right topics. Sadly, I didn`t make the cut as I was asking for a "livable" wage which exceeded their professed "competitive" offering.

Re: Ask HN: Non-developers, how are your job interviews like?

#8

I can only speak from experience from when I was fresh out of college with an English degree and trying to get a job for... literally anything under the sun related to marketing, communications, or copywriting. The interview honestly doesn't matter. You're also lucky if you even get a call back for an interview. Usually, there's so many people who look just like you on paper that your resume and cover letter almost i…

Language majors, like philosophy, psychology or math majors have some very core skills that are useful in a lot of pursuits but not enough to clear the hiring bar in much of anything unless you're from a top school or have an advanced degree.

Re: Ask HN: Non-developers, how are your job interviews like?

#10
post #9
post #7

Hiring manager "Can you pass a background check?" Me "Yep" hiring manager "Can you pass a piss test?" Me "Yep". Was really the only questions I been asked during interviews before becoming a programmer.

Was it a government job?

UPS moving a box from right to left. If you are moving boxes left to right you either in the wrong spot in the warehouse or just doing it wrong.
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