4 ms·

This is a good strategy and it's one I've employed, but what I've found a lot of the time is that you get nothing from the candidate. Basically you ask them qu

by MCRed 11y ago

This is a good strategy and it's one I've employed, but what I've found a lot of the time is that you get nothing from the candidate. Basically you ask them questions and they give you short, often vague answers. They don't really go into detail or talk at length. I've found this about a lot of people in general. You can ask them three questions and they will sorta answer one, but never illuminate anything. I don't know if this is a sign of dim intelligence, or nervousness or not paying attention or what. But people who are on the ball and great communicators will do much better in this kind of interview than people who are terribly shy-- even though the latter might be a better employee. (spending less time around the water cooler for one.)

rdtsc 11y ago
> but what I've found a lot of the time is that you get nothing from the candidate. Same here. I do interviewing for the company often. And I assume it is a sign of nervousness. Basically I try to be compasionate and if they don't explain enough, I tell them the reason I am asking or give them a chance to talk maybe about another accomplishment or hard project they worked on they are particularly proud of. And in the end it might not be the ultimate deciding factor. > ut people who are on the ball and great communicators will do much better in this kind of interview than people who are terribly shy I am extremely shy as well. But I can get really excited about the projects I worked on, or technology topics, in general.
derf_ 11y ago
This is definitely a problem. I don't think it's a sign of dim intelligence, or even not paying attention. It may be a sign of nervousness, or simply of being an introvert (like myself). They may still be very good people. Part your job as an interviewer is to draw them out enough for you to figure that out. They may not understand what you're looking for in their answers. Did you tell them when you asked? It was obvious to you, but it may not be obvious to them. Once I get a few of these answers, I try to ask questions that require more background explanation to respond to. This requires some thinking on your part. If you've seen a project like theirs before, you can ask them how they solved some of the problems that you ran into on your own project. "Did you consider X? What would happen if..." If you are actively engaged and thinking, people will respond to that, much more than if you ask very open-ended questions like, "Tell me about X."

by MCRed 11y ago

rdtsc 11y ago

> but what I've found a lot of the time is that you get nothing from the candidate. Same here. I do interviewing for the company often. And I assume it is a sign of nervousness. Basically I try to be compasionate and if they don't explain enough, I tell them the reason I am asking or give them a chance to talk maybe about another accomplishment or hard project they worked on they are particularly proud of. And in the end it might not be the ultimate deciding factor. > ut people who are on the ball and great communicators will do much better in this kind of interview than people who are terribly shy I am extremely shy as well. But I can get really excited about the projects I worked on, or technology topics, in general.

derf_ 11y ago

This is definitely a problem. I don't think it's a sign of dim intelligence, or even not paying attention. It may be a sign of nervousness, or simply of being an introvert (like myself). They may still be very good people. Part your job as an interviewer is to draw them out enough for you to figure that out. They may not understand what you're looking for in their answers. Did you tell them when you asked? It was obvious to you, but it may not be obvious to them. Once I get a few of these answers, I try to ask questions that require more background explanation to respond to. This requires some thinking on your part. If you've seen a project like theirs before, you can ask them how they solved some of the problems that you ran into on your own project. "Did you consider X? What would happen if..." If you are actively engaged and thinking, people will respond to that, much more than if you ask very open-ended questions like, "Tell me about X."