When a Developer is Asked to Help Interview Candidates

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viewed. Do they look like they are uncomfortable as you are speaking with them? Do they look away from you when they answer?</p><p id="c0f9">These are not signs of them not being truthful, but after a while you can start observing how they act. Do not take one single incident as a red flag but be aware of their body language for the entire interview.</p><h2 id="9bac">Personality</h2><p id="c567">You want to try to find out what type of person they are: what is their demeanor. You want to ask him or her questions about how they would act in certain scenarios. Ask if they have been in a demanding environment in other jobs. Were they more laid back or did they get frustrated with the work or the people?</p><p id="011e">They will probably answer that they have no problem with a hectic workplace. Here, you are not looking for a truthful answer to this question. You are just seeing how they answer what their body language may tell you.</p><h2 id="1a61">Work ethic</h2><p id="e2ef">One of the questions that I was interested in getting an answer to was what happens if we ask you to stay at the end of the day or to work a weekend to finish the project. Well, you may not get a truthful ans

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wer out of it, but this at least lets the person know that there may be demands at times.</p><p id="5cf6">A second answer I was interested in was when I asked if they were involved with customers in any of their jobs. If they were, this will tell you that they were trustworthy enough to interact with customers. But do not take it as a negative if they said they were not interacting with customers.</p><h2 id="d032">Workplace variety</h2><p id="9b6c">Did they only develop software, or did they also get involved in other parts of the business? Were they expected to do documentation? Were they asked to get involved with testing? Were they involved at meetings for projects that they participated in?</p><p id="e08e">The reason to ask these questions is to see if they were only coding, or if they engaged in other aspects of the company which would give them a well-rounded experience.</p><h2 id="b63d">The final decision is not easy</h2><p id="19ea">It is not an easy thing to hire a new developer. My idea above is for trying to find a good fit for the company. A lot of times you can find people who can code, but that does not mean they are a good fit for the company.</p></article></body>

A non-technical approach to take when interviewing a new candidate

This is not an interview technique created by professionals, just the way that I managed the interview process.

I was employed as a software developer for my entire career. A few companies that I was with for a few years asked me to help interview new candidates. You would think that being a coder I would ask questions about how good they were technically, but I did not think that was the best approach.

I asked a few technical questions, but then switched gears.

Watch the person as you talk

You do not have to be an expert at this, but you should watch the body language of the person being interviewed. Do they look like they are uncomfortable as you are speaking with them? Do they look away from you when they answer?

These are not signs of them not being truthful, but after a while you can start observing how they act. Do not take one single incident as a red flag but be aware of their body language for the entire interview.

Personality

You want to try to find out what type of person they are: what is their demeanor. You want to ask him or her questions about how they would act in certain scenarios. Ask if they have been in a demanding environment in other jobs. Were they more laid back or did they get frustrated with the work or the people?

They will probably answer that they have no problem with a hectic workplace. Here, you are not looking for a truthful answer to this question. You are just seeing how they answer what their body language may tell you.

Work ethic

One of the questions that I was interested in getting an answer to was what happens if we ask you to stay at the end of the day or to work a weekend to finish the project. Well, you may not get a truthful answer out of it, but this at least lets the person know that there may be demands at times.

A second answer I was interested in was when I asked if they were involved with customers in any of their jobs. If they were, this will tell you that they were trustworthy enough to interact with customers. But do not take it as a negative if they said they were not interacting with customers.

Workplace variety

Did they only develop software, or did they also get involved in other parts of the business? Were they expected to do documentation? Were they asked to get involved with testing? Were they involved at meetings for projects that they participated in?

The reason to ask these questions is to see if they were only coding, or if they engaged in other aspects of the company which would give them a well-rounded experience.