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Ask Slashdot: Re-Learning How To Interview As a Developer?
An anonymous reader writes "Earlier in my career, when I switched jobs every year or so, I was pretty good at interviewing. I got offers about 75% of the time if I got to a in person. But times have changed... my last 2 jobs have been, longer term gigs.. 5 and 3 years respectively, and I am way out of practice. My resume often gets me the phone interview and I am actually really good at the phone screen.. I am 12 for 12 in the last 6 months phone screen to in person interview. It is the in person interview where I am really having issues. I think I come off wrong or something.. I usually get most of the technical questions, but I am not doing something right because I don't come off very likeable or something. It is hard to get very much feedback to know exactly what I am doing wrong. I have always gotten very good performance reviews and I am well liked at work, but if there is one area for improvement on my reviews it has always been communication. So I ask, can anyone give out some advice, I have tried toastmasters a few times, but does anyone have other tips or ideas? Has anyone else had a similar experiences?"
Listen and watch. If you are answering the question you thought they asked, instead of the question they thought they asked, they will probably be somewhat annoyed.
Try to pick up on that, and either figure out what they were asking, or ask for clarification. Let them get in a few words, too.
Sounds more like the proverbial age discrimination that exists in the tech world.
Resume - great; phone interview - great; but then the interviewers get one look at you...
I typically get job offers from almost all of my in-person interviews. What works for me is being very engaging in the interview. Appear genuinely interested in the company. Don't wait for the "do you have any questions for us" part of the interview before asking questions, ask questions throughout the entire interview. Ask questions about the corporate culture, ask questions about their internal workflow, ask questions about parts of the company other than the one you'll be working in.
Also, come off as very human during the interview, especially when they ask you about yourself. When they ask you about yourself, don't just rehash your resume, they can read that for themselves. Instead, talk about your interests, your hobbies, your life. "Well, I've been a programmer for 13 years, I have a BS in computer science from the U of M, I've been married for 3 years, I play softball and pain miniatures."
The interview is way less about them gauging your technical ability, and way more about showing your interest in the company and how you will fit in with their current team.
Yes, be prepared for the technical questions too, but that's really the minor stuff
What I always do is to ask for feedback after they decided not to hire me, or if I don't hear from them within a week.
What was it that decided against me, what could I have done differently.
Ask kindly and explain to them you want this information so that you can improve your own interview process. This worked very well for me, especially when it wasn't obvious why I didn't get the job. One time I did this I was even offered a job just because they had forgotten about me.
Also. Always look for jobs. It is never illoyal to go on interviews, just don't lie or take a sick day, plan for it. I am always on the watch for the dream job and everybody should too. Going on job interviews has many benefits, particularly you get to find out what you're worth, and if you get a good offer you can use it as leverage next when discussing your current salary :)
I once interviewed a guy who complained that he almost didn't make the interview cause he was still hung over from last night...
We didn't hire him.
Likeable is good, but complaining about past employers is a TERRIBLE idea. It is very very hard to do this without coming across as a whiner. Most interviewers immediately pick up on the implied negativity. `You are complaining about them today, you will surely complain about us tomorrow'.
Project positivity. You are not running away from anything. You are running towards something... the new job. Employers don't necessarily want to pick up and be saddled with orphans, refugees or the weak. They want healthy, well-adjusted individuals who can stand on their own feet and be productive.
Also, note that interviewing has changed over the past few years. Behavioral interviewing is all the rage, led by a few large, successful companies. In this situation, candidates are asked to describe specific things that happened to them in past jobs (or specific problems they have worked on), and the interviewer tries to get a feel for how the candidate behaved in that situation (overcoming adversity, dealing with ambiguity, working on seemingly intractable problems), and to extrapolate to how the candidate would behave in similar situations in future. If you really are experienced, you probably have a number of examples like this from your past. Research a few large companies (Google, MSFT, Amazon), they are very open about their interviewing strategies and the qualities they expect from an employee. Keep a few examples of behavior polished and ready.
And good luck!
Here's my $0.05. I've been a hiring manager for a number of developer positions.
i) Practice: Have a few pat answers for open ended or probing questions. Like when you get asked "Can you give me an example of..." pick a good example - one where you look good (I can't tell you how many times someone picked an "example of resolving a conflict with their coworker where they looked pretty bad"). Then bounce it off your NON-tech friends. Take their advice, even if it sounds weird or not how you would naturally talk. Then practice until you can make it sound natural.
ii) Question. It pays to ask a question or two about the questions being asked of you. Not every question but it shows you are listening and can be even used to show off knowledge you have but haven't been asked.
iii) Listen when they are talking. Try to get an idea of what these people are looking for.
iv) At the end you are often asked if you have any questions. Use the information about iii) to get them talking. Find something you have in common. Suggest some solution. i.e. get them talking about their biggest problem areas for software, hardware (whatever you're being hired for and ask them "Have you tried..."). Don't go on too much about a single technology. I don't mind it when someone slips an extracurricular into their interview but it should be a one off. For example, I interviewed a person who did some Ada programming in his spare time. Which is cool but he referenced it two or three other times and it started to sound like an attempt to distract from the question.
Bonus: Avoid jokes. Seriously. Unless you really can take the temperature of your audience it's hard to pull off and it can easily be taken the wrong way and counted against you . Remember that when you tell jokes to your peers at work they already know you (to some extent) and are attempting to think the best of you. An interviewer is trying to differentiate between you an everyone else. If someone from HR is on the interview panel and you tell a joke (or relay an experience) that makes you look like you have a problem or might be mildly sexist, ageist, racist. You can easily find yourself on the bottom of the pile when it comes to a decision.
>I suggest thinking vapid and friendly, like a labrador retriever, when you go into a job interview.
"Yes, I can write threaded code involving.... SQUIRREL!"
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
The problem with being eight years older is that you are, indeed, eight years older. Past a certain age it seems that the only jobs you will be able to get is through your network. All else being equal, a complete stranger who has to evaluate you against someone eight years younger (heck, you were a good developer at that age, right?) will definitely chose the younger person. More agile, easier to morph.
Work your network. If you are as good as you say you are, use your reputation instead of your skills.
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
Don't ever bother with jobs that have long, very specific skill lists. Those are always already filled, they are just HR jackasses wasting your time back-filling their hiring process.
There is no fixing it. They are not about to fess up that they intend to waste your time.
They have pissed me off to the point that I submitted bogus apps and made appointments I knew I would never show for. Just to return the favor with lots of interest. Had time on my hands. In the end I let them know why I was wasting their time, not who I actually was.
If everybody who had the time, submitted a bogus app to these bastards every time they do this bullshit, we could put them out of business. Now that I think about it, I might setup a website to help. Submit your HR drone being an asshole leads, or submit your bogus application package to one (or more) leads others have found. We could drown the BS artists in crap.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'