Lessons I’ve learned from interviewing in tech
How it started?
I’ll help build our team! How exciting! I’ll meet a lot of interesting people! We will quickly hire the best! It will be fun!
How it actually went?
I indeed met awesome engineers! Many of them were hired, and it’s amazing to see them enjoying their day-to-day work, even if it can be tedious at times, growing, learning, and contributing.
Despite the fact that I am an engineer, the hiring process and building the team is a highlight of my work, and I don’t regret a single second of it.
And hearing “I accepted the offer because you did/said …” months after they joined the team is really something incredible!
However, there are also some less positive aspects that I refer to as lessons. They appear relatively obvious (in retrospect), some I should have predicted, but others are sobering.
Unless you are a prestigious tech giant… Engineers just want a new job, and it’s not the same as wanting to work with you in particular. In fact, only a small percentage of the candidates knew anything about the company to which they applied!
Not everybody wants a dynamic, evolving role I used to have this naive notion that every engineer needs and wants to advance, do more, do better, and do more interesting things. Actually, no, they don’t! And… It’s perfectly OK!
You need a well-balanced team; some engineers will stand out, while others are content with what they have, and you must respect that!
Statistics Applying everywhere, not paying attention to the company, possibly showing up to the interview, possibly not, possibly showing up on your first day, possibly not.
Someone else made an offer before you, or their offer was better. This is the reality, and while it may feel bad because you spent so much time searching and interviewing, none of it is personal from the candidate’s perspective, and it shouldn’t be from yours.
It’s incredibly difficult to finish the interview early It’s surprisingly difficult to say, “I’m sorry, we can’t continue the process.” No, not just at first, not at all! And stating the reasons does not make it any better.
I’m not sure if it was just me or if this is a common mistake, but I always put myself in the shoes of the candidate. Shoes of someone hopeful, looking for a new job — perhaps to escape a toxic environment or to finally find a place to grow or get better compensation — it feels bad, I suspect it always will.
Not every candidate plays fair This was the most unexpected and disappointing realization for me.
Part of our process is evaluating candidates’ code. We’d like to see how they solve simple problems, what kind of code they write, and if they violate any rules of the language or framework. Even when given the option of presenting open-source projects or implementing a simple, “to-do” application, a percentage of candidates simply copy the entire application they find online and present it as their own.
I’ll refrain from passing judgment because I have no clear idea what could motivate someone to do such a thing.
To conclude this article, I’d like to offer you some advice, things that worked quite well for us!
- Nothing should be assumed or, worse, left out on purpose.
- The interview should work both ways — do you expect honesty? Give your candidate a realistic and honest picture of their potential, future workplace. Do you have legacy code? Say it! Some engineers would love the opportunity to turn bad code into good code! Tell them about the company’s struggles with the same confidence that you tell them about perks, social benefits, or carer plans.
- If the candidate asks you a question about which you are unsure, simply say that you don’t know, instead of making up an answer.
Simply put, regardless of who you meet, take them seriously, treat them with respect and they will reciprocate!