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Motley says: "As an interviewer, I need to prove I am better than the candidate"

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Summary

 

Motley:  I can't hire someone better than I am - they'll move up the corporate ladder quicker!

 

Maven: It's your job to hire the best person for the job and to follow best practices as an interviewer.

______________________________

 

[Context:  Cynthesis has a free position on Motley's team and he is to be involved in the interview for a new candidate]

 

Maven: Hey Mot, I have something to show you-

 

Motley: Not now! I have a candidate coming over in 10 minutes to interview for a new position on my team. I have to finish reading this news article and then get over to the interview room.

 

Maven: Cool. What kind of background does she have?

 

Motley: How should I know? I'll find out when I interview her.

 

Maven: You mean you have not read her resume???

 

Motley: Nah. I get in there, give her a few coding questions, make sure she does not match my level, and then consider her for the job based on what I just saw.

 

Maven: Ouch. Don't you think that her experience should come up in the interview? As we discussed previously, coding is important, but you also need to make sure she can back up the contents of her resume and fit in as a team player.

 

Motley: I might glance at her resume a bit during the interview. That's good enough.

 

Maven: Au contraire, mon frere. I recommend reviewing her resume up front and tailoring your questions to her experience. You cannot ask her to code some stuff up in C# if she has only used Java, for example.

 

Motley: If she's only used Java then I don't want her on the team!

 

Maven: Oh, that is soooo naïve. C# and Java are very similar, and the class libraries are much alike. I would judge her more on her general technical merit and team fit as opposed to what languages she knows. Plus, it's not all about whether you can outdo her in an interview. Wouldn't you just love to have someone on the team that you could learn from and help grow yourself personally? If I come out of an interview having learned something from the person I am interviewing, that contributes a lot to my hire or no hire decision.

 

Motley: But if she's better than I am she'll probably climb the corporate ladder faster than I do!

 

Maven: It's not about climbing the ladder. Are you here just to climb the ladder or do you want to do your best to help the team, the company, and create a kick butt product?

 

Motley: Fine.

 

Maven: Here are some suggestions for interviewing in case you are interested:

  • Ask open-ended questions. E.g. "Tell me about a time". Follow-up with questions based on the answer and really get into depth on a few topics vs. high-level breadth on many topics.
  • Make sure you don't dominate the conversation. The interview is about the interviewee - you want to hear them speak as much as possible to make a value judgment.
  • Role plays work great. Put them in a tough situation and see how they come out of it. Play devil's advocate, but tell them you are doing so to ensure you don't come off as rude.
  • Your final decision at the end of the hour-long interview (recommended time) should be "hire" or "no hire". Make sure the person can really do the job. If you are unsure of the candidate, the default decision should be "no hire".
  • Write up a really good summary of the interview. The format I like to follow is "Summary" (brief overview of the interview and my decision), "Details" (the questions I asked and how the candidate answered them), and "Conclusion and Follow-up" (concentrate on unsure areas and where the next interviewers should probe). This write-up provides history and covers your butt should legal action take place in the future.
  • Make the candidate feel relaxed - start the interview with some small talk before jumping into some technical questions. You could also ask them to tell a story from their past that might be relevant to this position.
  • Don't use canned questions off the Internet. You found the questions, so chances are good so did the candidate. How many times have I heard "How do you detect a cycle in a singly linked list?" for example.
  • Avoid questions that have a "trick" in them and if the candidate doesn't get the "trick", they don't stand a chance. These kinds of questions (especially brainteasers) really don't prove anything.

 

Motley: There are some good tips there. Fortunately I already do most of that. But guess what?

 

Maven: What?

 

Motley: I AM NOW LATE FOR THE INTERVIEW!! I told you I didn't have time to chat. Now step aside so I can judge team fit for the newbie.

 

______________________________

 

Maven's Pointer: Make sure you spend time preparing as an interviewer. Plan some questions in advance based on the requirements for the position and the background of the candidate. You want to come across as professional and show that you take the interviewer responsibility very seriously. Would you want to work with a team where the interviewer is unprepared and wants to make himself look better than you? It does not leave you with a good feeling about the team and may ultimately affect your decision of whether to take the job should you get offered the position.

 

Maven's Resources: