11 ms·

Interviews are more of an art than a science. I try to keep it conversational and open-ended. If I sense something amiss, my opening is simply for them to tell

Interviews are more of an art than a science. I try to keep it conversational and open-ended. If I sense something amiss, my opening is simply for them to tell me about themselves with no further context or direction. Normal candidates will start asking me what I want to know as they trickle out the things they're most proud of. They'll ramble for a bit and then eventually I will pull on some threads they gave to get the ball rolling. Bad candidates will either freeze, start reading their resume to me, not talk about work, or just start saying nonsense. Maybe all of the above. I give an extra shot to those who freeze by giving them a nudge, but I wrap it up immediately with the rest.

l33t233372 3y ago
I’m wondering how differentiate: > “ start reading their resume to me […] or just start saying nonsense” From: > “ trickle out the things they're most proud of. They'll ramble for a bit” Generally rambling and nonsense are similar, and resumes contain trickles of things that people are most proud of.
- sublinear 3y ago
  "Reading their resume" means not giving me more info beyond what's literally in their resume. Example: "Oh well I've worked with React before. It was an interesting project. It was for an ecommerce project. (endless silence after)" "Start saying nonsense" means they're just making things up. Example: "So yeah I've used git before. It's a cool programming language. It reminds me of C. I love programming."
  - Aeolun 3y ago
    I’m always mildly confused by the question. Makes me wonder if you read my resume. Still, I ask the question in more or less the same way during interviews. How people respond is more interesting than what they respond with.
    - sublinear 3y ago
      If you're interviewing with me I definitely read the resume. Not all places are the same though. Occasional mild confusion in a good candidate is worth stumping the bad ones often. I do feel slightly bad, and I admit it's slightly rude, but it works and the interview process is what it is. By the end of the interview, the rough start is hopefully forgotten. If you ever get this question upfront again hopefully you understand why and roll with it.
MattPalmer1086 3y ago
Is the definition of a bad candidate simply someone who doesn't interview well? Just wondering if you have any data that supports the idea that those people would not perform well in a role, or just that it's very hard to tell anything about them in an interview!
- sublinear 3y ago
  "Interviewing well" isn't just a matter of getting along with me. I pick resumes similar enough to what we already do (as most places do). If you can describe the day-to-day of what we do without much prompting that's a very strong signal you're a good fit. You don't need data for this beyond the experience of making a few bad hires and lots of good hires. Like I said, the interviewing process is not much of a science. I'm nowhere close to the only person who does this. I've been on the candidate side of the interview process too you know.
  - MattPalmer1086 3y ago
    Sure, just curious. Interviewing well is hard, on both sides of the process. At the end of the day you have to make a decision and if someone doesn't make it easy for you to hire them, then they don't get the job mostly. I have been overridden a couple of times and candidates were hired that I thought were poor. In both cases I was right about their weaknesses, but in one case they had strengths I did not acknowledge and they were excellent. The other one was a disaster!
  - cmh89 3y ago
    > If you can describe the day-to-day of what we do without much prompting that's a very strong signal you're a good fit Why not just ask that then? "Tell me about yourself" is just a bad open-ended question. I've been in enough interviews to anticipate generic bad questions like that or "what's your biggest weakness" style questions, but not everyone has. Hiring managers frequently can't differentiate between people who are knowledgeable and people who are just good at interviewing. I've coached many of my peers and done lots of coaching with success because at the end of the day, interviews are about taking advantage of the information asymmetry between your actual experience and what the hiring manager can actually know.
callalex 3y ago
Sheesh, I’m glad you’ve never interviewed me. What an odd trap to set.
- groestl 3y ago
  What trap?
kfor 3y ago
Do you worry that you risk introducing bias into your interview process with this sort of unstructured questioning? There is quite a bit of research [1] demonstrating that structured and standardized interviews across candidates are one of the most crucial ways of preventing various types of bias, conscious or not. [1] Here's a useful summary article: https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-intervie...
- michaelt 3y ago
  You wouldn't want the entire interview to be unstructured, but because every candidate is different, I think it's more than fair to give people an opportunity to highlight their own strongest areas. I wouldn't want to overlook a great candidate because I omitted to ask whether they invented UDP, or whatever.
  - cutemonster 3y ago
    Talking about their strongest areas or inventions can be part of a structured interview.
    - sublinear 3y ago
      Not unless you ask. Resumes omit many things due to length constraints, and the candidate might prioritize recent work over quality work if it's too long ago. Legacy skills are important too, but those details don't always make the cut in both the resume and job description.
      - cutemonster 3y ago
        > Not unless you ask Yes well that's what the interviewer is doing: asking things, And the interviewer can have a question in their list: Ask job applicant about their strongest skills? (And maybe inform the applicant beforehand if they want to think about what to say)
- vasco 3y ago
crystaln 3y ago
Please stop doing this. You’re making judgements on candidates for social skills that most likely have nothing to do with their job. Sounds like you’re interviewing for a date or a roommate, not an employee.
- canadianwriter 3y ago
  I guess it depends on the position - if you have to work with people as a regular part of your position, social skills would be a part of the role, an important one at that.
- 9dev 3y ago
  I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that. (Not GP, but acting the same) I'm looking for candidates I actually want to work with. That includes people with social skills sophisticated enough to freely talk about their prior work. If a candidate can't do that, they are not a good fit for my company.

l33t233372 3y ago

I’m wondering how differentiate: > “ start reading their resume to me […] or just start saying nonsense” From: > “ trickle out the things they're most proud of. They'll ramble for a bit” Generally rambling and nonsense are similar, and resumes contain trickles of things that people are most proud of.

sublinear 3y ago
"Reading their resume" means not giving me more info beyond what's literally in their resume. Example: "Oh well I've worked with React before. It was an interesting project. It was for an ecommerce project. (endless silence after)" "Start saying nonsense" means they're just making things up. Example: "So yeah I've used git before. It's a cool programming language. It reminds me of C. I love programming."
- Aeolun 3y ago
  I’m always mildly confused by the question. Makes me wonder if you read my resume. Still, I ask the question in more or less the same way during interviews. How people respond is more interesting than what they respond with.
  - sublinear 3y ago
    If you're interviewing with me I definitely read the resume. Not all places are the same though. Occasional mild confusion in a good candidate is worth stumping the bad ones often. I do feel slightly bad, and I admit it's slightly rude, but it works and the interview process is what it is. By the end of the interview, the rough start is hopefully forgotten. If you ever get this question upfront again hopefully you understand why and roll with it.

MattPalmer1086 3y ago

Is the definition of a bad candidate simply someone who doesn't interview well? Just wondering if you have any data that supports the idea that those people would not perform well in a role, or just that it's very hard to tell anything about them in an interview!

sublinear 3y ago
"Interviewing well" isn't just a matter of getting along with me. I pick resumes similar enough to what we already do (as most places do). If you can describe the day-to-day of what we do without much prompting that's a very strong signal you're a good fit. You don't need data for this beyond the experience of making a few bad hires and lots of good hires. Like I said, the interviewing process is not much of a science. I'm nowhere close to the only person who does this. I've been on the candidate side of the interview process too you know.
- MattPalmer1086 3y ago
  Sure, just curious. Interviewing well is hard, on both sides of the process. At the end of the day you have to make a decision and if someone doesn't make it easy for you to hire them, then they don't get the job mostly. I have been overridden a couple of times and candidates were hired that I thought were poor. In both cases I was right about their weaknesses, but in one case they had strengths I did not acknowledge and they were excellent. The other one was a disaster!
- cmh89 3y ago
  > If you can describe the day-to-day of what we do without much prompting that's a very strong signal you're a good fit Why not just ask that then? "Tell me about yourself" is just a bad open-ended question. I've been in enough interviews to anticipate generic bad questions like that or "what's your biggest weakness" style questions, but not everyone has. Hiring managers frequently can't differentiate between people who are knowledgeable and people who are just good at interviewing. I've coached many of my peers and done lots of coaching with success because at the end of the day, interviews are about taking advantage of the information asymmetry between your actual experience and what the hiring manager can actually know.

callalex 3y ago

Sheesh, I’m glad you’ve never interviewed me. What an odd trap to set.

groestl 3y ago
What trap?

kfor 3y ago

Do you worry that you risk introducing bias into your interview process with this sort of unstructured questioning? There is quite a bit of research [1] demonstrating that structured and standardized interviews across candidates are one of the most crucial ways of preventing various types of bias, conscious or not. [1] Here's a useful summary article: https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-intervie...

michaelt 3y ago
You wouldn't want the entire interview to be unstructured, but because every candidate is different, I think it's more than fair to give people an opportunity to highlight their own strongest areas. I wouldn't want to overlook a great candidate because I omitted to ask whether they invented UDP, or whatever.
- cutemonster 3y ago
  Talking about their strongest areas or inventions can be part of a structured interview.
  - sublinear 3y ago
    Not unless you ask. Resumes omit many things due to length constraints, and the candidate might prioritize recent work over quality work if it's too long ago. Legacy skills are important too, but those details don't always make the cut in both the resume and job description.
    - cutemonster 3y ago
      > Not unless you ask Yes well that's what the interviewer is doing: asking things, And the interviewer can have a question in their list: Ask job applicant about their strongest skills? (And maybe inform the applicant beforehand if they want to think about what to say)
vasco 3y ago

crystaln 3y ago

Please stop doing this. You’re making judgements on candidates for social skills that most likely have nothing to do with their job. Sounds like you’re interviewing for a date or a roommate, not an employee.

canadianwriter 3y ago
I guess it depends on the position - if you have to work with people as a regular part of your position, social skills would be a part of the role, an important one at that.
9dev 3y ago
I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that. (Not GP, but acting the same) I'm looking for candidates I actually want to work with. That includes people with social skills sophisticated enough to freely talk about their prior work. If a candidate can't do that, they are not a good fit for my company.