4 ms·

When a candidate bombs an interview, I don't think "wow, what a shitty engineer, how are they even employed?" I think, "wow, interviewing sucks."

chrisseaton 6y ago
Why bother interviewing if you aren’t learning anything about the person but only about how bad your interviews are?
- closeparen 6y ago
  There are several hills I would strongly consider dying on, but interview reform is not one of them.
  - symlinkk 6y ago
    So you’re not going to answer the question I guess?
    - closeparen 6y ago
      You get classroom training, shadow hours, supervised hours, and certification on a particular type of interview. From that day forward any open slot on your calendar is fair game for Recruiting to schedule, up to 3 per week. You might get away with a "No" RSVP if you have a good excuse, but not in general. It's part of your job.
      - shemnon42 6y ago
        Three a week? What SVP did your group piss off? Or are they back to the 4 rejects per hire game?
        closeparen 6y ago
        It was like that during hyper growth and also during massive attrition in tougher times. Now it’s more like 0-1.
- CobrastanJorji 6y ago
  Interviewing should normally have two results: the candidate was able to demonstrate the appropriate skills, or the candidate was not. Not being able to demonstrate the right skills in the interview does not mean that the candidate is a bad programmer or even a bad fit for the job. It just means that I was not able to verify their bona fides in that hour. That's the difference between "that interview didn't go well" and "you are a bad programmer." One's a major blow to self confidence, and the other's a bummer. It's also a helpful mindset shift for both the interviewer and the interviewee: both of us are working together to achieve the goal of proving your capabilities. My job is to give you as many opportunities as possible to do so.
  - blub 6y ago
    Why do you think that whenever we discuss interviews on HN, there's several highly upvoted comments complaining about how many incompetent people show up for interviews and how this basically makes coding interviews necessary? I think it's because most interviewers consider people that failed their interview bad programmers.
    - closeparen 6y ago
      Trying to be charitable, I think that is about people failing FizzBuzz not LC Hard.
dzolob 6y ago
This is a beautiful take on life. Thanks.

chrisseaton 6y ago

Why bother interviewing if you aren’t learning anything about the person but only about how bad your interviews are?

closeparen 6y ago
There are several hills I would strongly consider dying on, but interview reform is not one of them.
- symlinkk 6y ago
  So you’re not going to answer the question I guess?
  - closeparen 6y ago
    You get classroom training, shadow hours, supervised hours, and certification on a particular type of interview. From that day forward any open slot on your calendar is fair game for Recruiting to schedule, up to 3 per week. You might get away with a "No" RSVP if you have a good excuse, but not in general. It's part of your job.
    - shemnon42 6y ago
      Three a week? What SVP did your group piss off? Or are they back to the 4 rejects per hire game?
      - closeparen 6y ago
        It was like that during hyper growth and also during massive attrition in tougher times. Now it’s more like 0-1.
CobrastanJorji 6y ago
Interviewing should normally have two results: the candidate was able to demonstrate the appropriate skills, or the candidate was not. Not being able to demonstrate the right skills in the interview does not mean that the candidate is a bad programmer or even a bad fit for the job. It just means that I was not able to verify their bona fides in that hour. That's the difference between "that interview didn't go well" and "you are a bad programmer." One's a major blow to self confidence, and the other's a bummer. It's also a helpful mindset shift for both the interviewer and the interviewee: both of us are working together to achieve the goal of proving your capabilities. My job is to give you as many opportunities as possible to do so.
- blub 6y ago
  Why do you think that whenever we discuss interviews on HN, there's several highly upvoted comments complaining about how many incompetent people show up for interviews and how this basically makes coding interviews necessary? I think it's because most interviewers consider people that failed their interview bad programmers.
  - closeparen 6y ago
    Trying to be charitable, I think that is about people failing FizzBuzz not LC Hard.

dzolob 6y ago

This is a beautiful take on life. Thanks.