3 ms·

I don't mean why do you want to work at this particular company more than all other companies, but why do you want to work here at all? What is it that you find

by pron 6y ago

I don't mean why do you want to work at this particular company more than all other companies, but why do you want to work here at all? What is it that you find appealing here? This is also a good meta-question. Even after I write to a candidate to say that they will be asked this, you'd be surprised how many are unprepared. I remember one guy who told me, when I asked him, that he's interviewing at so many places that it's unreasonable to expect him to know any specifics about this company. I wondered if he thought it reasonable, given how many people I was interviewing, that I try to know anything specific about him. Unsurprisingly, that answer is the only thing I remember about him.

tomjen3 6y ago
Then you filtered out an honest person. Lets face it though, it is not that hard to jot down some notes for each company that you can review in a couple minutes in the car before the interview.
- pron 6y ago
  Honesty is a necessary condition, but certainly not a sufficient one. If someone came to the interview and said that they don't really know how to program, I might appreciate their honesty, but still not hire them, and I might think badly of them for wasting my time. And while it's easy to jot down notes and review them (which is what I, as an interviewer had to do), the fact that some people didn't even do that despite being told in advance that they should, told me something about them. I didn't ask them for a take-home exercise or anything too time-consuming, just to know what it is that we're doing.
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    And if the prospective employee asked you what you think makes you special as an employer, what would you say? Would have an answer about what makes you unusual and distinctive compared to tens of other possible employers?
    - pron 6y ago
      I don't think you understand. My question isn't why would you like to work here more than anywhere else, but why would you like to work here? For example, if we were McDonald's, the answer could be, because I like hamburgers, or because I like giving service, or because I'm interested in the supply chain -- not because Burger King sucks. And if the candidate asked me why I'm interviewing them, of course I'd have an answer, because I prepare for interviews. The goal is to know if the candidate knows what we're doing and is interested in the subject. And remember, we're talking about a high skill, high pay job.

by pron 6y ago

tomjen3 6y ago

Then you filtered out an honest person. Lets face it though, it is not that hard to jot down some notes for each company that you can review in a couple minutes in the car before the interview.

pron 6y ago
Honesty is a necessary condition, but certainly not a sufficient one. If someone came to the interview and said that they don't really know how to program, I might appreciate their honesty, but still not hire them, and I might think badly of them for wasting my time. And while it's easy to jot down notes and review them (which is what I, as an interviewer had to do), the fact that some people didn't even do that despite being told in advance that they should, told me something about them. I didn't ask them for a take-home exercise or anything too time-consuming, just to know what it is that we're doing.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  And if the prospective employee asked you what you think makes you special as an employer, what would you say? Would have an answer about what makes you unusual and distinctive compared to tens of other possible employers?
  - pron 6y ago
    I don't think you understand. My question isn't why would you like to work here more than anywhere else, but why would you like to work here? For example, if we were McDonald's, the answer could be, because I like hamburgers, or because I like giving service, or because I'm interested in the supply chain -- not because Burger King sucks. And if the candidate asked me why I'm interviewing them, of course I'd have an answer, because I prepare for interviews. The goal is to know if the candidate knows what we're doing and is interested in the subject. And remember, we're talking about a high skill, high pay job.