Makes sense that when you're interviewing programmers you don't have to look for candidates proficient in your particular area. You need someone willing to lear

Makes sense that when you're interviewing programmers you don't have to look for candidates proficient in your particular area. You need someone willing to learn Conversely, if you're interviewing, signaling that you are highly interested in learning turns you into a strong candidate. I learned this one by accident when I interviewed at a company I didn't care about Relevant excerpt from a blog post I wrote [1]: > I was wandering around the booths with my bag full of swag. My eyes caught a pile of rubik’s cubes being given away by some company I’d never heard of. I wanted one! Of course I couldn’t just go up and ask for it directly, so I went and chatted with the guy manning the booth. His name was Vince. A few minutes later I walked away with my prized rubik’s cube in hand. That evening Vince called me up offering to conduct a full interview loop on campus. I already had a job offer from a company I liked, but I thought “Sure, why not? I could use the experience” > I had no intention of joining the company, they were some boring finance business. There was nothing to lose. So during the interview I felt free to ask any question I wanted. When I thought I got the answer to an interview question wrong, I’d ask “I don’t think I did so great here. What’s the right answer to this problem?” (I wanted to learn the answer for future interviews!). When asked a challenging question I could grin and delight in the problem solving aspect instead of worrying about how badly it would reflect on me. (Remember my smart aleck remark in the intro? That was this interview.) > Turns out they liked that: the next day I had a second job offer. At a significantly higher salary than my first one. Oh, and they wanted to fly me to New York in two weeks for an introduction to the company. I still didn’t want to join, but a free trip to New York? Sign me up! The company’s name: Bloomberg > Bloomberg was a practiced hand at recruiting. They had a full two days of events to leave us starry eyed about the company (I came thiiiiis close to accepting their offer). While there, Vince told me I’d made a great impression by fearlessly asking questions, even when I was stumped. > Since then I’ve stopped hesitating before asking any question in an interview. Let your curiosity run free! Don’t cage it! And as an interviewer, I can attest: sincere interest is always a good sign. [1] https://zainrizvi.io/blog/the-interview-advice-no-one-gives-you/ https://zainrizvi.io/blog/the-interview-advice-no-one-gives-...