3 ms·

That's exactly the point. The ideal candidate presumably has a number of ideas ready to go - the question is very similar to other interview questions and you s

by cryptoz 14y ago

That's exactly the point. The ideal candidate presumably has a number of ideas ready to go - the question is very similar to other interview questions and you should already be preparing to talk about your hobbies and interests. The question ensures the candidate can think quickly, pick a topic they know about, and talk about it coherently. If you can't do that, you're probably not a good fit for the team. Therefore, the question is an excellent interview question: it identifies those people who are very passionate about <something>, who are organized enough to explain it on the spot and who can interact well while teaching. Now, to the point about you: you should practice this. Being good at talking about your hobbies and interests in technical detail while explaining clearly is an extremely valuable skill. Learn it.

eli_gottlieb 14y ago
I dunno. What if my non-professional hobbies are controversial, or simply derided? I see no reason prospective employers should know that I'm a socialist or enjoy anime conventions, and many of them would almost certainly disapprove of one of those two.
- cryptoz 14y ago
  Edit: I think I hold exclusively controversial hobbies / books / opinions. I would love this question so much if I ever saw it in an interview. Controversial topics seem to be perfectly suited to this question. Original: The point of an interview is two-fold: the company is looking to find a good match for an open position, and the candidate is looking for work. Neither of you wants to enter an agreement that will turn sour. It is a reasonable position that if you have no interests, or hobbies, or any read books at all that you are comfortable talking about with your employer, that you are likely a poor fit for the company. The topic does not have to be non-professional, either. Pick something that relates to the job if you must. Isn't about half the world's population somewhat socialist? Or fans of anime? Those two examples you picked are, in my opinion, absolutely ideal topics to answer this question with. Why would you be so afraid to talk about them?
  - mappu 14y ago
    This is a tangent, but there are several segues you can use to get from anime to a generic technical discussion. Here are my examples: - I wrote a scraper for MyAnimeList.net to an sqlite3 db in order to build a mobile website. - I wrote a shell script that i keep a copy of in each folder for each anime series i watch. When the script runs, it parses its own name as a number and adds one, so that i can easily keep track of what episode i'm up to. I'm sure there are ways to turn almost any controversial hobby into something technical and demonstrable. Even if it's not something that you've built directly - Do you use the MAL Updater? Have you tried out Vocaloid? Using a really interesting playback method (hi10p, lavf, madvr, ...)? You could explain how they work.
    - eli_gottlieb 14y ago
      Ah, but the thing is: I don't have any technical projects related to anime. I currently have two technical projects on slow burn, but neither is anime-related. One of them is a research project, so I can always talk about that at the risk of coming across as single-minded. The other is a bit of software I'd like to turn into an on-the-side lifestyle business.
    - duskwuff 14y ago
      From what I understand, Jason Garrett-Glaser (DarkShikari) got interested in video encoding through the anime scene. He's now the lead developer on X264.
      - mappu 14y ago
        Absolutely (although you'll get told off for spelling x264 with a capital X). The `--tune touhou` option is a big giveaway - fascinating to see how an anime-subculture game had such a profound effect, but it's obviously a useful test case for the encoder. My other favourite example in the same vein is Avery Lee of Virtualdub fame (with EA, last i heard?). He maintains some fantastic software and an enthralling blog, and it all comes back to Sailor Moon.
  - drivingmenuts 14y ago
- bduerst 14y ago
  I was asked what my hobbies were when interviewing for a job. I replied that I was currently working through reading books that had banned for various reasons. When asked what that last book I read, I replied "Atlas Shrugged", and explained the premise, story, and conclusions of Ayn Rand. The interviewer hated Ayn Rand but still hired me. Explaining and articulating why you are a socialist and the conclusions that lead you to the view is exactly the purpose of the question.
- engtech 14y ago
  It took me about a decade to realize this, but it's a lot more fun to work for companies where your quirky hobbies fit in, rather than companies where they would look down on you because you think that casual fridays mean "sexy pichaku".
philwelch 14y ago
> and you should already be preparing to talk about your hobbies and interests What!? How is that in the slightest bit relevant?
- cryptoz 14y ago
  I suppose it depends on the person and on the job. For me, I list my hobbies and interests on my resume. So it's clearly relevant, as the interviewer has a copy of my resume and I had better be prepared to talk about what I wrote. For my job, my hobbies have always been relevant. I've been through about 15-20 interviews in my life so far and my hobbies have been a topic at every single interview. It's tough for me to imagine a job where these topics aren't relevant. I appreciate that this may not be universally true, but for me it's mission critical.
  - rhizome 14y ago
    Funny, I put my hobbies on my resume and nobody has ever asked about them.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    OK, if you're applying for programming jobs and programming is also your hobby, then you have a point. I put my programming hobby projects on my resume too. But that's it. If my hobby is playing bass in a death metal band, or volunteering for the LGBT community, or racing motorcycles, or political activism, it's hard to see how that's relevant at all. All I accomplish by putting that crap on my resume or talking about it in an interview is giving a prospective employer an opportunity to discriminate against me based on irrelevant crap[1]. Because believe it or not, if someone has diametrically opposing interests but they're willing to be professional about it, I'm willing to be professional about it too. [1] Admittedly, if you're applying to work in a music store, or for a LGBT nonprofit, or a motorcycle shop, or a political campaign, those hobbies become relevant, and your programming hobby becomes irrelevant.
- mguillemot 14y ago
  Depends on your industry. It's usually quite relevant in the video game industry, for example (and usually for the wrong reasons, but it always makes for some interesting interview discussions...).
jhickner 14y ago
When this topic comes up I always marvel at the _intellectual_ shortcuts people take to justify the _practical_ shortcuts they take to simplify the hiring process. Working with someone is the only way to evaluate what it will be like to work with someone. Looking at their work is the only way to evaluate their work. Tautology is your friend in the hiring process. There is no royal road to hiring great people. With regard to "you should be prepared to talk about your hobbies and interests" - Great people are (almost by definition) not interested in the particulars of your interview process. In fact, if they actually are great people you'll be courting them, not the other way around, and they'll be bringing their own ideas to the table instead of sweating over whether they're conforming to your preconceptions.
nollidge 14y ago
I assure you I can ably speak extemporaneously about anything I grok in technical detail when required, but I am speaking about the simple act of choosing which thing to talk about.

by cryptoz 14y ago

eli_gottlieb 14y ago

I dunno. What if my non-professional hobbies are controversial, or simply derided? I see no reason prospective employers should know that I'm a socialist or enjoy anime conventions, and many of them would almost certainly disapprove of one of those two.

cryptoz 14y ago
Edit: I think I hold exclusively controversial hobbies / books / opinions. I would love this question so much if I ever saw it in an interview. Controversial topics seem to be perfectly suited to this question. Original: The point of an interview is two-fold: the company is looking to find a good match for an open position, and the candidate is looking for work. Neither of you wants to enter an agreement that will turn sour. It is a reasonable position that if you have no interests, or hobbies, or any read books at all that you are comfortable talking about with your employer, that you are likely a poor fit for the company. The topic does not have to be non-professional, either. Pick something that relates to the job if you must. Isn't about half the world's population somewhat socialist? Or fans of anime? Those two examples you picked are, in my opinion, absolutely ideal topics to answer this question with. Why would you be so afraid to talk about them?
- mappu 14y ago
  This is a tangent, but there are several segues you can use to get from anime to a generic technical discussion. Here are my examples: - I wrote a scraper for MyAnimeList.net to an sqlite3 db in order to build a mobile website. - I wrote a shell script that i keep a copy of in each folder for each anime series i watch. When the script runs, it parses its own name as a number and adds one, so that i can easily keep track of what episode i'm up to. I'm sure there are ways to turn almost any controversial hobby into something technical and demonstrable. Even if it's not something that you've built directly - Do you use the MAL Updater? Have you tried out Vocaloid? Using a really interesting playback method (hi10p, lavf, madvr, ...)? You could explain how they work.
  - eli_gottlieb 14y ago
    Ah, but the thing is: I don't have any technical projects related to anime. I currently have two technical projects on slow burn, but neither is anime-related. One of them is a research project, so I can always talk about that at the risk of coming across as single-minded. The other is a bit of software I'd like to turn into an on-the-side lifestyle business.
  - duskwuff 14y ago
    From what I understand, Jason Garrett-Glaser (DarkShikari) got interested in video encoding through the anime scene. He's now the lead developer on X264.
    - mappu 14y ago
      Absolutely (although you'll get told off for spelling x264 with a capital X). The `--tune touhou` option is a big giveaway - fascinating to see how an anime-subculture game had such a profound effect, but it's obviously a useful test case for the encoder. My other favourite example in the same vein is Avery Lee of Virtualdub fame (with EA, last i heard?). He maintains some fantastic software and an enthralling blog, and it all comes back to Sailor Moon.
- drivingmenuts 14y ago
bduerst 14y ago
I was asked what my hobbies were when interviewing for a job. I replied that I was currently working through reading books that had banned for various reasons. When asked what that last book I read, I replied "Atlas Shrugged", and explained the premise, story, and conclusions of Ayn Rand. The interviewer hated Ayn Rand but still hired me. Explaining and articulating why you are a socialist and the conclusions that lead you to the view is exactly the purpose of the question.
engtech 14y ago
It took me about a decade to realize this, but it's a lot more fun to work for companies where your quirky hobbies fit in, rather than companies where they would look down on you because you think that casual fridays mean "sexy pichaku".

philwelch 14y ago

> and you should already be preparing to talk about your hobbies and interests What!? How is that in the slightest bit relevant?

cryptoz 14y ago
I suppose it depends on the person and on the job. For me, I list my hobbies and interests on my resume. So it's clearly relevant, as the interviewer has a copy of my resume and I had better be prepared to talk about what I wrote. For my job, my hobbies have always been relevant. I've been through about 15-20 interviews in my life so far and my hobbies have been a topic at every single interview. It's tough for me to imagine a job where these topics aren't relevant. I appreciate that this may not be universally true, but for me it's mission critical.
- rhizome 14y ago
  Funny, I put my hobbies on my resume and nobody has ever asked about them.
- philwelch 14y ago
  OK, if you're applying for programming jobs and programming is also your hobby, then you have a point. I put my programming hobby projects on my resume too. But that's it. If my hobby is playing bass in a death metal band, or volunteering for the LGBT community, or racing motorcycles, or political activism, it's hard to see how that's relevant at all. All I accomplish by putting that crap on my resume or talking about it in an interview is giving a prospective employer an opportunity to discriminate against me based on irrelevant crap[1]. Because believe it or not, if someone has diametrically opposing interests but they're willing to be professional about it, I'm willing to be professional about it too. [1] Admittedly, if you're applying to work in a music store, or for a LGBT nonprofit, or a motorcycle shop, or a political campaign, those hobbies become relevant, and your programming hobby becomes irrelevant.
mguillemot 14y ago
Depends on your industry. It's usually quite relevant in the video game industry, for example (and usually for the wrong reasons, but it always makes for some interesting interview discussions...).

jhickner 14y ago

When this topic comes up I always marvel at the _intellectual_ shortcuts people take to justify the _practical_ shortcuts they take to simplify the hiring process. Working with someone is the only way to evaluate what it will be like to work with someone. Looking at their work is the only way to evaluate their work. Tautology is your friend in the hiring process. There is no royal road to hiring great people. With regard to "you should be prepared to talk about your hobbies and interests" - Great people are (almost by definition) not interested in the particulars of your interview process. In fact, if they actually are great people you'll be courting them, not the other way around, and they'll be bringing their own ideas to the table instead of sweating over whether they're conforming to your preconceptions.

nollidge 14y ago

I assure you I can ably speak extemporaneously about anything I grok in technical detail when required, but I am speaking about the simple act of choosing which thing to talk about.