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We ask candidates to prepare a 20min presentation about one or two interesting projects they worked on. The whole dev team (8 people) is present and we all disc

We ask candidates to prepare a 20min presentation about one or two interesting projects they worked on. The whole dev team (8 people) is present and we all discuss it in a friendly, genuinely interested manner on eye-level, trying to understand what the candidate has build by asking design choices or more details on certain aspects, how error paths were handled, which trade off considered, how was the collaboration in his old team etc. Typically goes for 45min. The candidate is encouraged to ask the team any questions about how we work, what our tools and processes are etc. We get to know candidate and the candidate us. 60-75 min is all it takes. Afterwards we sit together as a team and share our impression, could we see working with them, did anybody see red flags, etc. Maybe 15-30min conversation. Then we reach a go-nogo decision right there and now. No coding questions, no brainteasers or similar. Haven't seen a candidate yet that could bullshit their way through the presentation and crowd consensus decision.

wildrhythms 5y ago
Personally, as an engineer at a highly desirable company, I would hate this process, and I imagine your candidates hate it too. And if your point of view during hiring comes from a place of looking for candidates trying to 'bullshit their way through' (your words), I wouldn't feel comfortable working there.
- popularonion 5y ago
  You would hate talking about your job for 45 minutes? Honestly trying to understand what your outrage is about.
- splittingTimes 5y ago
  "bullshitting" was indeed a bad choice of words on my part and it's not how we see our candidates nor it's reflective of our rational why we choose this interview style. It was a mere reference to another post further above. We try to make the candidates as comfortable as can be in a stressful interview scenario by having them talk us through some of their previous work. If that does not do it, i do not know what is. If you feel comfortable to code while others watch, good on you. I personally am not that kind of person. We try to be mindful of their time by having a single interview with minimal mandatory preparation time and same day feedback. We want to give them a chance to see how we as a team interact.

wildrhythms 5y ago

Personally, as an engineer at a highly desirable company, I would hate this process, and I imagine your candidates hate it too. And if your point of view during hiring comes from a place of looking for candidates trying to 'bullshit their way through' (your words), I wouldn't feel comfortable working there.

popularonion 5y ago
You would hate talking about your job for 45 minutes? Honestly trying to understand what your outrage is about.
splittingTimes 5y ago
"bullshitting" was indeed a bad choice of words on my part and it's not how we see our candidates nor it's reflective of our rational why we choose this interview style. It was a mere reference to another post further above. We try to make the candidates as comfortable as can be in a stressful interview scenario by having them talk us through some of their previous work. If that does not do it, i do not know what is. If you feel comfortable to code while others watch, good on you. I personally am not that kind of person. We try to be mindful of their time by having a single interview with minimal mandatory preparation time and same day feedback. We want to give them a chance to see how we as a team interact.