4 ms·

You're asking candidates to answer questions like "What problem is your company solving?". Maybe I'm misreading your comment, but if the founder is looking to h

You're asking candidates to answer questions like "What problem is your company solving?". Maybe I'm misreading your comment, but if the founder is looking to hires to answer these questions, that sounds very concerning, and probably a place I'd avoid. Enthusiasm is great, but the founders/current employees should have an understanding that far outstrips anything an outsider can provide (unless you're dealing with someone who already has deep knowledge of a well known domain, which is a bit of a different angle).

CoastalCoder 4y ago
I may be mistaken, but I think you misunderstood the comment. The questions are meant to be asked by the job candidate, not by the employer.
- switchbak 4y ago
  "candidates who enter the interview process with their own good ideas for answers to these questions". "Candidates ... their own good ideas for answers". Yes: the candidate asks these questions, but the commenter seemed to suggest that they also want candidates who have good answers ready for those questions. That seems like a bit of a funny thing to expect from a candidate who doesn't necessarily know the domain, and certainly wouldn't be an authority on the company.
  - CoastalCoder 4y ago
    Ah, got it. I interpreted that as meaning that a candidate who did have such answers would really stand out. I.e., those aren't considered basic qualifications for the job, but are awesome if a candidate is actually like that.
    - jacobr1 4y ago
      I would agree with that for dev positions. But when I was hiring PMs, these types of questions were actually a key part of the interview. The particulars of the answers mattered a lot less than the fact they did _some_ research, and formed a limited mental model of business from which we could discuss different scenarios, tradeoffs, pivots, features, etc ... Major bonus points for them basically turning the tables around and interviewing/grilling me on how we were going tackle "recent announcement from competitor" or "trend in market" and asking good followup questions to dig into how that could relate to what impact they could have.

CoastalCoder 4y ago

I may be mistaken, but I think you misunderstood the comment. The questions are meant to be asked by the job candidate, not by the employer.

switchbak 4y ago
"candidates who enter the interview process with their own good ideas for answers to these questions". "Candidates ... their own good ideas for answers". Yes: the candidate asks these questions, but the commenter seemed to suggest that they also want candidates who have good answers ready for those questions. That seems like a bit of a funny thing to expect from a candidate who doesn't necessarily know the domain, and certainly wouldn't be an authority on the company.
- CoastalCoder 4y ago
  Ah, got it. I interpreted that as meaning that a candidate who did have such answers would really stand out. I.e., those aren't considered basic qualifications for the job, but are awesome if a candidate is actually like that.
  - jacobr1 4y ago
    I would agree with that for dev positions. But when I was hiring PMs, these types of questions were actually a key part of the interview. The particulars of the answers mattered a lot less than the fact they did _some_ research, and formed a limited mental model of business from which we could discuss different scenarios, tradeoffs, pivots, features, etc ... Major bonus points for them basically turning the tables around and interviewing/grilling me on how we were going tackle "recent announcement from competitor" or "trend in market" and asking good followup questions to dig into how that could relate to what impact they could have.