9 ms·

I've been in agency recruiting for almost 20 years, and I've never told a candidate what question to expect. I might say there is a whiteboard exercise, or year

by fecak 11y ago

I've been in agency recruiting for almost 20 years, and I've never told a candidate what question to expect. I might say there is a whiteboard exercise, or years ago mentioned if a client asked Fermi problems, but never a specific question. The biggest problem with contingency recruiting is when the recruiter feels that the size of the fee > the value of a recruiter's reputation. This issue caused me enough angst that I created my own business model that eliminates these incentives to cheat. I personally have never considered asking about the specific questions/answers for my clients' interviews. I may be in the minority on that.

rawnlq 11y ago
Well it's definitely cheating, not going to argue that. But it doesn't hurt anyone other than other people vying for the same spot (but they are not paying you, so fuck em). Your candidates get to take out variance by passing interviews they can clearly pass if they "by chance" prepare for it ahead of time. And the company will just see you as someone who refers a lot of high quality candidates in terms of interview skills. And it's not like pure deadbeats can pass even with studying all the questions ahead of time. The work being done at tech companies is nowhere near as hard/interesting as the interview questions themselves so they will do just fine on the job. I might be just a tad jaded. :P
- fecak 11y ago
  Again, I'll help a candidate by letting them know what type of interview to expect (whiteboard, grilling, pairing, etc.), but not specific questions. I'll also mention if there is a drug test, and I can't help them pass that either. I don't think anyone would consider that cheating, especially in this day and age where candidates can find actual interview questions and answers in a ton of places. I'm sure other recruiters may be inclined to try and let their candidates cheat. My reputation is worth more than that, and since my work isn't contingency I don't have the same incentives to cheat as contingency recruiters do.

by fecak 11y ago

rawnlq 11y ago

Well it's definitely cheating, not going to argue that. But it doesn't hurt anyone other than other people vying for the same spot (but they are not paying you, so fuck em). Your candidates get to take out variance by passing interviews they can clearly pass if they "by chance" prepare for it ahead of time. And the company will just see you as someone who refers a lot of high quality candidates in terms of interview skills. And it's not like pure deadbeats can pass even with studying all the questions ahead of time. The work being done at tech companies is nowhere near as hard/interesting as the interview questions themselves so they will do just fine on the job. I might be just a tad jaded. :P

fecak 11y ago
Again, I'll help a candidate by letting them know what type of interview to expect (whiteboard, grilling, pairing, etc.), but not specific questions. I'll also mention if there is a drug test, and I can't help them pass that either. I don't think anyone would consider that cheating, especially in this day and age where candidates can find actual interview questions and answers in a ton of places. I'm sure other recruiters may be inclined to try and let their candidates cheat. My reputation is worth more than that, and since my work isn't contingency I don't have the same incentives to cheat as contingency recruiters do.