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If you pass screening rounds but not on-site, you may need to work on how you present yourself. On-site interviews are just as much about how much they like you

If you pass screening rounds but not on-site, you may need to work on how you present yourself. On-site interviews are just as much about how much they like you and want to work with you as it is about acing the technical screening side. Some red flags for on-sites: - if you do not attempt to develop rapport before, during, or after the interview - if you are any of the following: conflict-insensitive, overly-quiet, don't explain yourself or your decisions well, only show answers and not the thought process, take no initiative / force the other party to initiate all conversation topics, etc. - a sub-par communicator technically or otherwise. This usually means that you don't respond in the correct way to cues that people give out. As an example, if a person asks an open ended question, they likely want to put the ball in your court and have you sell yourself or confidently take the topic and run with it. If you answer tersely with very little knowledge shared, that's probably a failed communication interaction. Too many of those can lead to a no hire decision. I think this problem is magnified with older candidates because the expectation for being a great communicator is higher the older you are. Usually star candidates communicate very well and have the technical chops to back it up, not the other way around. Plenty of technically strong people are hindered in their effectiveness in an org by their sub-par communication abilities.

anon_zen10 8y ago
OP here (lost original handle) All valid points. Thanks! yes, communication is definitely an issue. I also have this problem especially when the interviewer does not engage in the solution/conversation, I get thrown off, lose focus, and its all downhill from there.
protonimitate 8y ago
This is great, and something I think a lot of the tech community at large tends to forget. Being technically proficient is the bare minimum, not the only desired quality. People forget that interviewing is part knowledge/skill screen, and part first date. You have to know your stuff, of course, but you also have to be someone that others want to be around. This is not to say that OP lacks these skills, but there is so much focus in tech community around passing technical questions and almost 0 focus on normal interview skills. The soft/personal skills side of interview is more art than science. My recommendation is to practice the social side as much as possible. Interview for non-tech positions, hire an interview coach, or otherwise exercise soft social skills as much as possible. Also remember that at the end of the day, you are being judged against all the other candidates and each hiring manager has a hidden set biases that you will never know about. Even if you crush the interview, there's still a chance they just might not like you.

anon_zen10 8y ago

OP here (lost original handle) All valid points. Thanks! yes, communication is definitely an issue. I also have this problem especially when the interviewer does not engage in the solution/conversation, I get thrown off, lose focus, and its all downhill from there.

protonimitate 8y ago

This is great, and something I think a lot of the tech community at large tends to forget. Being technically proficient is the bare minimum, not the only desired quality. People forget that interviewing is part knowledge/skill screen, and part first date. You have to know your stuff, of course, but you also have to be someone that others want to be around. This is not to say that OP lacks these skills, but there is so much focus in tech community around passing technical questions and almost 0 focus on normal interview skills. The soft/personal skills side of interview is more art than science. My recommendation is to practice the social side as much as possible. Interview for non-tech positions, hire an interview coach, or otherwise exercise soft social skills as much as possible. Also remember that at the end of the day, you are being judged against all the other candidates and each hiring manager has a hidden set biases that you will never know about. Even if you crush the interview, there's still a chance they just might not like you.