4 ms·

How many questions is too many? I'd want to ask something like half the questions listed here but that seems burdensome to the interviewer.

by tgb 11y ago

pklausler 11y ago
The interviewer controls the use of time, so don't worry about imposing a burden. In my case, anyway, I'd rather have a fascinating technical conversation than ask my usual programming challenge and algorithm design questions, so your great question might seem more like a gift than a burden. I'm serious! With me, anyway, ask big questions like "what should/will HPC hardware and programming languages look like in 10 years?" and then tell me why you think my answer is crazy.
beachstartup 11y ago
i do hiring. limit it to 15 minutes.
- jsmthrowaway 11y ago
  Because that 16th minute shows too much eagerness, right?
  - vonmoltke 11y ago
    16 minutes is desperation. 14 minutes is just looking for a paycheck.
  - beachstartup 11y ago
    let me ask you a serious question, notroll -- have you ever been asked more than 15 minutes of questions by a candidate, in an interview? i have not, and i've interviewed probably 300-400 people in my life. i interview almost exclusively over the phone, and we don't fly people out to waste days of their life, or have more than 3 rounds of phone discussions, so maybe that's where this disconnect.
    - vonmoltke 11y ago
      That seems like a really odd way to interview. If you really are relying on phone interviews to make a decision, then you bet my ass I'm asking you more than 15 minutes worth of questions over the phone (if I have them).
      - beachstartup 11y ago
        why is this odd? we hire remote workers. after 90 minutes of conversations (30 mins. x 3 rounds typically), it pretty much covers everything just fine. more than 15 minutes is half the scheduled time for each call. occasionally a very good candidate will talk for an hour or more, but that's an actual conversation, not a Q&A session. http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html also, i didn't ask "theoretically would you ask more than 15 mins. of questions", i said, have you been asked more than 15 minutes by a candidate, that you were interviewing. in the real world, most people don't ask any questions. it's exceptional that we'll get thoughtful questions, and those are usually the people we hire/offer. and of those people, nobody has more than 15 minutes worth. and people who can't even answer basic questions like "how do you list the network connections on a linux machine" aren't given the opportunity to ask questions, because the call is over. again, a long-winded technical discussion is a different thing, i'm talking about "tell me about your enterprise ticketing system and how many pointless meetings per week you have" type of questions.
mjbellantoni 11y ago
As a hiring manager I can never get too many questions from a candidate. If there's something specific I want to ask you, I'll make sure I get my question in.

How many questions is too many? I'd want to ask something like half the questions listed here but that seems burdensome to the interviewer.

by tgb 11y ago

How many questions is too many? I'd want to ask something like half the questions listed here but that seems burdensome to the interviewer.

pklausler 11y ago

The interviewer controls the use of time, so don't worry about imposing a burden. In my case, anyway, I'd rather have a fascinating technical conversation than ask my usual programming challenge and algorithm design questions, so your great question might seem more like a gift than a burden. I'm serious! With me, anyway, ask big questions like "what should/will HPC hardware and programming languages look like in 10 years?" and then tell me why you think my answer is crazy.

beachstartup 11y ago

i do hiring. limit it to 15 minutes.

jsmthrowaway 11y ago
Because that 16th minute shows too much eagerness, right?
- vonmoltke 11y ago
  16 minutes is desperation. 14 minutes is just looking for a paycheck.
- beachstartup 11y ago
  let me ask you a serious question, notroll -- have you ever been asked more than 15 minutes of questions by a candidate, in an interview? i have not, and i've interviewed probably 300-400 people in my life. i interview almost exclusively over the phone, and we don't fly people out to waste days of their life, or have more than 3 rounds of phone discussions, so maybe that's where this disconnect.
  - vonmoltke 11y ago
    That seems like a really odd way to interview. If you really are relying on phone interviews to make a decision, then you bet my ass I'm asking you more than 15 minutes worth of questions over the phone (if I have them).
    - beachstartup 11y ago
      why is this odd? we hire remote workers. after 90 minutes of conversations (30 mins. x 3 rounds typically), it pretty much covers everything just fine. more than 15 minutes is half the scheduled time for each call. occasionally a very good candidate will talk for an hour or more, but that's an actual conversation, not a Q&A session. http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html also, i didn't ask "theoretically would you ask more than 15 mins. of questions", i said, have you been asked more than 15 minutes by a candidate, that you were interviewing. in the real world, most people don't ask any questions. it's exceptional that we'll get thoughtful questions, and those are usually the people we hire/offer. and of those people, nobody has more than 15 minutes worth. and people who can't even answer basic questions like "how do you list the network connections on a linux machine" aren't given the opportunity to ask questions, because the call is over. again, a long-winded technical discussion is a different thing, i'm talking about "tell me about your enterprise ticketing system and how many pointless meetings per week you have" type of questions.

mjbellantoni 11y ago

As a hiring manager I can never get too many questions from a candidate. If there's something specific I want to ask you, I'll make sure I get my question in.