3 ms·

I hope this comment comes across as helpful rather than rude: if you asked me a couple of those questions (especially back-to-back) during an interview, I woul

I hope this comment comes across as helpful rather than rude: if you asked me a couple of those questions (especially back-to-back) during an interview, I would not hire you. It isn't that any of those are bad questions per se, but the volume and forwardness of them would be a red-flag that this is a person who likes to show up, make trouble, and not be held accountable for it. Maybe that's not your goal, but remember that in an interview you only have a few minutes to communicate where you're coming from.

ethbr0 3y ago
As a counterpoint, if someone asks these questions in an interview of me, they'd still go to the "Had questions prepared" higher slice of rankings. Prepared questions indicate you have initiative and do your homework. I'm hiring thinkers, not drones. The only turn-off could be in the way they asked the questions and followed up -- aggressive? Not listening to my response closely? Not clarifying if I asked for more information?
- pierat 3y ago
  Exactly. This isn't meant to be a Blade Runner Voight-Kampff rapid-fire interrogation. An interview is supposed to be a bidirectional conversation to see if you fit with the manager/company and the company fits with you. Obviously, how you ask (and don't ask), and ask around these questions can really give an idea what to expect. There's also major red flags for places that you probably never want to work at. For example, dismissive managers are a major problem. What are they going through on a day-to-day? They probably can't tell you, but you can ask around them. Why are they interviewing? Is it a new position, or a replacement? Why did the replacement leave? I had one interview that the person leaving was also on the interview committee. Really nice gentleman. He was retiring, and wanted to move back with family across the US. And he was on the committee to help find a person and train them to be there. The job wasn't exactly what I was looking for and declined, but I greatly respected how they did that interview. Again, I interview primarily for engineering roles. Maybe other non-engineering roles do things differently. But I like to try to get a snapshot what the company's like, their expectations, my expectations, and how my life is working there. Last thing I want to do is accept a position and find out they grossly misrepresented the position to get me in the door, and make it hard to interview/switch to get out.
ebiester 3y ago
On the other hand, as a hiring manager, I know this is someone who is team-focused and wants to be part of an organization that is similar rather than a blame-focused organization. An organization that is aligned with the communications patterns outlined in those questions would answer those questions comfortably.
pierat 3y ago
I'm trying not to take this as rude... But yeah. My failing, I guess? I gave a list of types of questions I use to try to discern the manager and the company's perspective. Obviously these aren't to be utilized rapid-fire in a dismissive attitude. However, that's exactly how companies approach interviews. Why isn't it good for me to do the same that's being done to me? > if you asked me a couple of those questions (especially back-to-back) during an interview, I would not hire you. (The personal response) And there's no way I'd want to work with or for you with that kind of "you ask too many questions" attitude. > It isn't that any of those are bad questions per se, but the volume and forwardness of them would be a red-flag that this is a person who likes to show up, make trouble, and not be held accountable for it. I've also been in workplaces that fired after one fuck-up that was due to miscommunication, bad documentation, or other 3rd party factors. I'm not normally accustomed to making mistakes in my professional area, but they do happen. "How are failures and changes handles in your org?" is a massive key indicator of how this org maintains and grows, and I along with it. And as an engineer, I get *paid* to ask questions, including those pointed ones that get to the root of a matter. And I apply those skills and abilities to interview processes as I would to any other process. To see a hiring manager dismiss this type of interactive discussion as "someone who makes trouble", is the very type of manager I recommend to be fired on my reviews. > Maybe that's not your goal, but remember that in an interview you only have a few minutes to communicate where you're coming from. And the implied contextural clues you typed here indicates that it's the interviewer's to ask the questions, and the candidate to shut up unless spoken to, except for a softball one-off question at the end. Interviews are a 2 way street. You're interviewing me, and I'm ALSO interviewing you. My questions I ask that probe to a company culture and happiness of the interviewers is of utmost importance. I've turned down higher-paying higher-stress jobs precisely because people on the team balked at work-life balance questions. Another company had a manager roll their eyes when I asked if they would work the position they were hiring for. Just what exactly did I dodge by discontinuing the interview? One company blatantly stated that "full time ie expected to be 50 hours minimum" when I asked how maintenances were handled with scheduling. And they're a BIG vehicle company. 6 sigma, ISO 20000, yadda yadda. Absoluutely no life balance, and the interviewing manager made that known. I've dodged a LOT of crap companies with these sorts of questions. Yours sounds like one as well, with your response. No offense.
ncallaway 3y ago
I’d ask similar questions as the parent poster, and I explicitly wouldn’t want to work somewhere where asking these questions was a red flag. So, it can actually still be a useful candidate side filter. If you don’t hire me because I asked these questions, that’s good for me because I don’t want to work for you (not in an accusatory manner, just we probably don’t have compatible workplace expectations).

ethbr0 3y ago

As a counterpoint, if someone asks these questions in an interview of me, they'd still go to the "Had questions prepared" higher slice of rankings. Prepared questions indicate you have initiative and do your homework. I'm hiring thinkers, not drones. The only turn-off could be in the way they asked the questions and followed up -- aggressive? Not listening to my response closely? Not clarifying if I asked for more information?

pierat 3y ago
Exactly. This isn't meant to be a Blade Runner Voight-Kampff rapid-fire interrogation. An interview is supposed to be a bidirectional conversation to see if you fit with the manager/company and the company fits with you. Obviously, how you ask (and don't ask), and ask around these questions can really give an idea what to expect. There's also major red flags for places that you probably never want to work at. For example, dismissive managers are a major problem. What are they going through on a day-to-day? They probably can't tell you, but you can ask around them. Why are they interviewing? Is it a new position, or a replacement? Why did the replacement leave? I had one interview that the person leaving was also on the interview committee. Really nice gentleman. He was retiring, and wanted to move back with family across the US. And he was on the committee to help find a person and train them to be there. The job wasn't exactly what I was looking for and declined, but I greatly respected how they did that interview. Again, I interview primarily for engineering roles. Maybe other non-engineering roles do things differently. But I like to try to get a snapshot what the company's like, their expectations, my expectations, and how my life is working there. Last thing I want to do is accept a position and find out they grossly misrepresented the position to get me in the door, and make it hard to interview/switch to get out.

ebiester 3y ago

On the other hand, as a hiring manager, I know this is someone who is team-focused and wants to be part of an organization that is similar rather than a blame-focused organization. An organization that is aligned with the communications patterns outlined in those questions would answer those questions comfortably.

pierat 3y ago

I'm trying not to take this as rude... But yeah. My failing, I guess? I gave a list of types of questions I use to try to discern the manager and the company's perspective. Obviously these aren't to be utilized rapid-fire in a dismissive attitude. However, that's exactly how companies approach interviews. Why isn't it good for me to do the same that's being done to me? > if you asked me a couple of those questions (especially back-to-back) during an interview, I would not hire you. (The personal response) And there's no way I'd want to work with or for you with that kind of "you ask too many questions" attitude. > It isn't that any of those are bad questions per se, but the volume and forwardness of them would be a red-flag that this is a person who likes to show up, make trouble, and not be held accountable for it. I've also been in workplaces that fired after one fuck-up that was due to miscommunication, bad documentation, or other 3rd party factors. I'm not normally accustomed to making mistakes in my professional area, but they do happen. "How are failures and changes handles in your org?" is a massive key indicator of how this org maintains and grows, and I along with it. And as an engineer, I get *paid* to ask questions, including those pointed ones that get to the root of a matter. And I apply those skills and abilities to interview processes as I would to any other process. To see a hiring manager dismiss this type of interactive discussion as "someone who makes trouble", is the very type of manager I recommend to be fired on my reviews. > Maybe that's not your goal, but remember that in an interview you only have a few minutes to communicate where you're coming from. And the implied contextural clues you typed here indicates that it's the interviewer's to ask the questions, and the candidate to shut up unless spoken to, except for a softball one-off question at the end. Interviews are a 2 way street. You're interviewing me, and I'm ALSO interviewing you. My questions I ask that probe to a company culture and happiness of the interviewers is of utmost importance. I've turned down higher-paying higher-stress jobs precisely because people on the team balked at work-life balance questions. Another company had a manager roll their eyes when I asked if they would work the position they were hiring for. Just what exactly did I dodge by discontinuing the interview? One company blatantly stated that "full time ie expected to be 50 hours minimum" when I asked how maintenances were handled with scheduling. And they're a BIG vehicle company. 6 sigma, ISO 20000, yadda yadda. Absoluutely no life balance, and the interviewing manager made that known. I've dodged a LOT of crap companies with these sorts of questions. Yours sounds like one as well, with your response. No offense.

ncallaway 3y ago

I’d ask similar questions as the parent poster, and I explicitly wouldn’t want to work somewhere where asking these questions was a red flag. So, it can actually still be a useful candidate side filter. If you don’t hire me because I asked these questions, that’s good for me because I don’t want to work for you (not in an accusatory manner, just we probably don’t have compatible workplace expectations).