3 ms·

So these kinds of posts keep showing up. How are interviews for not-software-engineers conducted? ie. how do you interview for a business analyst role, or a sa

So these kinds of posts keep showing up. How are interviews for not-software-engineers conducted? ie. how do you interview for a business analyst role, or a sales and marketing role? I have to assume that those roles suffer from the same sorts of issues a SE job does -- that someone can talk a good game but not be able to perform in the role.

gwbas1c 8y ago
Doctors have to go through a rather grueling licensing process. The job interview is mostly about determining mutual interest. Doctors also need to go through periodic re-credentialing. To put it bluntly, when a doctor has credentials, you at least know that they're competent; and more competent than 2-4 1-hour quizzes.
- kod 8y ago
  Speaking as a licensed attorney, passing the bar does not mean that you're competent.
  - cr0sh 8y ago
    But if you were applying for a position at another firm, what would they likely look at to determine competency? I'm not a lawyer - but my guess would be how many cases they've handled in the past, whether those were with another firm or by themselves (not sure what this is called - if anything - "self-employed lawyer"?), and how the case turned out and such (though this latter thing may not tell you much - after all, they could be a great lawyer and candidate, but lose every single case not based on anything they did or didn't do). As you can probably tell - I really don't know what I am talking about in this area...
  - jimbokun 8y ago
    Then how would you go about identifying a competent attorney?
    - kod 8y ago
      References and talking to them.
  - gwbas1c 8y ago
    The bar exam is different than what doctors go through
latortuga 8y ago
Research shows that the two best ways to screen candidates are a general knowledge/IQ test (which is mostly illegal in the US) and a work sample test. The fact that a work sample test predicts work success makes a lot of sense - have them do the thing you want to pay them to do and evaluate how well they do it. Duh! You should screen folks using the work that they are going to be doing for you. Are you hiring someone to code on a whiteboard? No? Then why are they doing that in the interview?

gwbas1c 8y ago

Doctors have to go through a rather grueling licensing process. The job interview is mostly about determining mutual interest. Doctors also need to go through periodic re-credentialing. To put it bluntly, when a doctor has credentials, you at least know that they're competent; and more competent than 2-4 1-hour quizzes.

kod 8y ago
Speaking as a licensed attorney, passing the bar does not mean that you're competent.
- cr0sh 8y ago
  But if you were applying for a position at another firm, what would they likely look at to determine competency? I'm not a lawyer - but my guess would be how many cases they've handled in the past, whether those were with another firm or by themselves (not sure what this is called - if anything - "self-employed lawyer"?), and how the case turned out and such (though this latter thing may not tell you much - after all, they could be a great lawyer and candidate, but lose every single case not based on anything they did or didn't do). As you can probably tell - I really don't know what I am talking about in this area...
- jimbokun 8y ago
  Then how would you go about identifying a competent attorney?
  - kod 8y ago
    References and talking to them.
- gwbas1c 8y ago
  The bar exam is different than what doctors go through

latortuga 8y ago

Research shows that the two best ways to screen candidates are a general knowledge/IQ test (which is mostly illegal in the US) and a work sample test. The fact that a work sample test predicts work success makes a lot of sense - have them do the thing you want to pay them to do and evaluate how well they do it. Duh! You should screen folks using the work that they are going to be doing for you. Are you hiring someone to code on a whiteboard? No? Then why are they doing that in the interview?