3 ms·

My top interview tip, and it's painful that I have to say this but so, so many candidates get it wrong, is "answer the actual question". It is so frustrating w

by mvdtnz 3y ago

My top interview tip, and it's painful that I have to say this but so, so many candidates get it wrong, is "answer the actual question". It is so frustrating when I word a question very specifically and the candidate doesn't answer it. Most commonly it's a question like "tell me about a time when you encountered a bug in production, how you discovered it and the steps to resolve it". And instead of answering the question, they tell me about what they _would_ do, if they _had_ found a bug. Or worse, they step me through some process that their company uses. I'm looking for personal experience, not what you read on a blog post once. I also am mindful at the start of all of my interviews to tell the candidate I am not trying to trick them, I'm just trying to learn where they're at. So if I ask you for an experience you haven't had, that's totally fine - no one has done everything, we're just looking for the boundaries.

slyall 3y ago
The problem is that you misunderstand the question you are asking. When you say "tell me about a time when" you are really saying "Tell me a prepared story about when". In this case the person didn't have a prepared answer for that question so they went with a generic answer to show to you that they knew what they were doing. They could have found & fixed hundreds of bugs in production over their career, but trying to recall an example that will make a good story during an interview is hard and risky. The good news is they will prepare a story for the next interview at a different company.
BHSPitMonkey 3y ago
> Or worse, they step me through some process that their company uses. Ugh, I've had this so many times and it's the worst. Often those candidates will pull that move multiple times in the same interview, too. Sometimes this is also paired with a level of oversharing that makes me think "wow, I sure wouldn't want a member of _my_ team going off and blabbing this much about _our_ projects when they start looking for their next job".
Mawr 3y ago
> Most commonly it's a question like "tell me about a time when you encountered a bug in production, how you discovered it and the steps to resolve it". And instead of answering the question, they tell me about what they _would_ do, if they _had_ found a bug. Of course they do, it's only natural and smart. They hear your standard formulaic behavioral question and cut to the chase instead of being sheep. If you want real answers, hold real, natural conversations. Don't read items off a checklist.
- mvdtnz 3y ago
  The question is just a jumping off point to talk about things like monitoring and alerting, production logging, your release process, testing, etc. It's why I want to start with personal experience. > Don't read items off a checklist. I've gone through periods of interviewing 3+ candidates a week for months at a time. It's just not reasonable to expect me to have a unique and interesting conversation with everyone. There are things I need to get into.
  - Mawr 3y ago
    That's fine, just be aware that the way you phrase your question is indirect and smells of the typical interview BS. If you'd like to find out how the candidate handles bugs, ask for that directly. Otherwise you're no longer in the realm of a technical question anymore, but in the "can you, on the spot, come up with a plausibly-sounding story that puts you in good light?". The ability to recall/make up/tell good stories (under pressure!) has nothing to do with engineering.

by mvdtnz 3y ago

slyall 3y ago

The problem is that you misunderstand the question you are asking. When you say "tell me about a time when" you are really saying "Tell me a prepared story about when". In this case the person didn't have a prepared answer for that question so they went with a generic answer to show to you that they knew what they were doing. They could have found & fixed hundreds of bugs in production over their career, but trying to recall an example that will make a good story during an interview is hard and risky. The good news is they will prepare a story for the next interview at a different company.

BHSPitMonkey 3y ago

> Or worse, they step me through some process that their company uses. Ugh, I've had this so many times and it's the worst. Often those candidates will pull that move multiple times in the same interview, too. Sometimes this is also paired with a level of oversharing that makes me think "wow, I sure wouldn't want a member of _my_ team going off and blabbing this much about _our_ projects when they start looking for their next job".

Mawr 3y ago

> Most commonly it's a question like "tell me about a time when you encountered a bug in production, how you discovered it and the steps to resolve it". And instead of answering the question, they tell me about what they _would_ do, if they _had_ found a bug. Of course they do, it's only natural and smart. They hear your standard formulaic behavioral question and cut to the chase instead of being sheep. If you want real answers, hold real, natural conversations. Don't read items off a checklist.

mvdtnz 3y ago
The question is just a jumping off point to talk about things like monitoring and alerting, production logging, your release process, testing, etc. It's why I want to start with personal experience. > Don't read items off a checklist. I've gone through periods of interviewing 3+ candidates a week for months at a time. It's just not reasonable to expect me to have a unique and interesting conversation with everyone. There are things I need to get into.
- Mawr 3y ago
  That's fine, just be aware that the way you phrase your question is indirect and smells of the typical interview BS. If you'd like to find out how the candidate handles bugs, ask for that directly. Otherwise you're no longer in the realm of a technical question anymore, but in the "can you, on the spot, come up with a plausibly-sounding story that puts you in good light?". The ability to recall/make up/tell good stories (under pressure!) has nothing to do with engineering.