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And that hits the problem for me; the process often doesn't allow showing what you have to offer, it only allows you to show that you check all boxes in the pro

by codr7 3y ago

And that hits the problem for me; the process often doesn't allow showing what you have to offer, it only allows you to show that you check all boxes in the process.

xyzelement 3y ago
I don't think that's true -- and I say that as someone who's spent plenty of time on both sides of the proverbial interview desk. Checking the boxes as you say sounds superficial, it's more like - there are some bars to the role you're interviewing for. A typical eng role probably has bars around programming ability, team work and communication ability, problem solving, etc. By "checking the boxes" you probably mean ability to demonstrate that you can do those things in the context of the interview - that takes practice. Now it comes to the other stuff beyond the bar that you want to show. There are some attributes about myself that I want to come up in the interviews whether I am asked about them or not. Making sure they get mentioned takes practice too.
- codr7 3y ago
  No, it's not that general, at all. Either you say the specific words that are in their script, or highlight the stuff they're really into, or you fail. Replying here because of wacky thread depth limitations in HN: Often personal preferences. And there's no discussion, just failure because you didn't say the right thing. Especially if you have more experience than the interviewer. Arguing that someone shouldn't get hired because they didn't check whatever box is something you would never get fired for. My last example was using GET instead of POST for a login endpoint, which is a perfectly fine thing to do.
  - xyzelement 3y ago
    Can you give me an example of what you mean?
jasonpeacock 3y ago
Sometimes teams are looking for specific knowledge or experience, then it really does matter. Other times, they are looking for a good developer who can pick up the necessary knowledge, and then it's much more open. For example, I don't care what programming language you use in your interview. Senior engineer using Python? Sure! Want to implement in low-level C? Sure! I know any good engineer can easily be productive in a new language quickly. But if I'm hiring someone to build/extend a real-time OS, then you need to check the "has experience working on real-time OS" box, because that's what I'm paying for when I hire you.

by codr7 3y ago

And that hits the problem for me; the process often doesn't allow showing what you have to offer, it only allows you to show that you check all boxes in the process.

xyzelement 3y ago

I don't think that's true -- and I say that as someone who's spent plenty of time on both sides of the proverbial interview desk. Checking the boxes as you say sounds superficial, it's more like - there are some bars to the role you're interviewing for. A typical eng role probably has bars around programming ability, team work and communication ability, problem solving, etc. By "checking the boxes" you probably mean ability to demonstrate that you can do those things in the context of the interview - that takes practice. Now it comes to the other stuff beyond the bar that you want to show. There are some attributes about myself that I want to come up in the interviews whether I am asked about them or not. Making sure they get mentioned takes practice too.

codr7 3y ago
No, it's not that general, at all. Either you say the specific words that are in their script, or highlight the stuff they're really into, or you fail. Replying here because of wacky thread depth limitations in HN: Often personal preferences. And there's no discussion, just failure because you didn't say the right thing. Especially if you have more experience than the interviewer. Arguing that someone shouldn't get hired because they didn't check whatever box is something you would never get fired for. My last example was using GET instead of POST for a login endpoint, which is a perfectly fine thing to do.
- xyzelement 3y ago
  Can you give me an example of what you mean?

jasonpeacock 3y ago

Sometimes teams are looking for specific knowledge or experience, then it really does matter. Other times, they are looking for a good developer who can pick up the necessary knowledge, and then it's much more open. For example, I don't care what programming language you use in your interview. Senior engineer using Python? Sure! Want to implement in low-level C? Sure! I know any good engineer can easily be productive in a new language quickly. But if I'm hiring someone to build/extend a real-time OS, then you need to check the "has experience working on real-time OS" box, because that's what I'm paying for when I hire you.