I don’t usually write about work life, trying to avoid any inappropriate remarks, but sanitized interview stories are probably OK.
I’m searching for a good .NET developer, and going through a lot of resumes, phone calls, and people. My tact for interviews these days is to have a few starting points ready, and follow the conversation naturally from there. I find it’s more instructive, and certainly more interesting for both parties.
However, being me, sometimes I end up doing unorthodox things on the spur of the moment. Here are a couple:
STORY #1
This candidate was very earnest, but very junior. “Wet around the ears” wouldn’t be much of a mischaracterization. The enthusiasm and earnestness during the phone interview won an in-person interview, though.
During the in-person interview, however, several basic mistakes were made. Considering the candidate’s apparent enthusiasm for software, though, I decided that perhaps checking for learning aptitude alone would be sufficient. So I fetched a laptop with Internet connectivity, and reiterated the questions, indicating that earlier answers were wrong. The earlier questions were of the kind easily found with a search engine, and the candidate acted quickly and made corrections.
Since I had given an aid, I felt compelled to ask a harder question, deriving from those topics. It was a harsh question, requiring mostly judgment and experience than textbook knowledge, but I wanted to see how the candidate fared. I ended up having to give a LOT of nudges for several minutes, but we eventually got there.
STORY #2
During the phone interview, this candidate came across as a confident, easy-going talker, with the technique of covering up ignorance by taking words from the questions and using them in the answer, with a little bit of filler. Why people do this, I’m not sure; do they think I would ask questions on topics I don’t know well?
At the end of the conversation, however, the candidate took the initiative to express that “Even though I didn’t kno- express, the answers in the way you wanted to hear, I learn fast. If I don’t know it now, give me a couple hours and I will.” Now, there’s a mix of high confidence and spin here, as the candidate deliberately changed the phrasing of the first part to suggest that it wasn’t that the answer was unknown, it was that it wasn’t communicated properly. Smiling with amusement and mischief as I processed this, I replied, “OK. A couple hours you said. Email me back with the answers to the questions I asked earlier?” I rattled off the 3 main question I had received unsatisfactory answers for and bid a good day.
Naturally, I did receive an email with the well researched answers, although it was five hours later. A ready explanation was also attached: it wasn’t that it took that long to research the answers, it was that confidential communication had to wait until the end of the work day. Assuredly, if there’s a followup in-person interview, some doozy questions on those topics will be asked!
