The flip side of the screen...

Ok...this week is not going to be a popular topic for folks who give interviews. It's going to feel like I'm calling you all out and saying what you're doing is wrong and you all are going to hate me...I'll risk that for a chance to give candidates a better experience and maybe be less stressed out while being scrutinized under a microscope.

Not trying to brag or toot my own horn...but something I hear really often from candidates is that they really "enjoyed" the interview experience they had with me. I gotta tell you...that pretty much sends me over the moon every time I hear it. If a candidate can relax enough to enjoy it...then I know I'm getting to see the real candidate and not just some nervous shell they are hiding behind. That got me thinking about why I've been getting that feedback...and this article was born.

Well...one thing I have going for me is I'm a big Santa Claus looking like fellow...so unless you've got a belly that's like a bowl full of jelly and big white beard, you might be stuck with this one...but let me tell you, it helps.

Kidding aside, these are the things I focus on while giving an interview.

Being There

This one is a little long but stay with me, it's a good story.

I've been the candidate in lots and lots of interviews...but I'll never ever forget my hiring manager interview at one particularly large company (I'll never name names...sorry). I had been working there for about a year as a contractor worker already and was invited to interview for an actual employee position, so I jumped at it. It was a loop of 5 individual interviews that took the whole day. The first 4 were gravy. I got asked a lot of logic questions...and I love logic questions, so I was sailing...then I got to the last guy.

I was waiting in the lobby, he burst into the room sorta grumpy and just said something like "Are you Toffer...come on...". It was like more than 20 years ago, so I don't remember the exact conversation, but it was short and rude. He quickly leads me to his office and we each sit down. He immediately turns to his monitor and starts typing...and sorta seemed to forget I was there.

Then after a few minutes he doesn't turn to me...just blurts out "Uhhh, I don't know...how would you test a soda machine". I was interviewing for a test engineer position at the time, so it made sense...I started rattling off test cases for a soda machine. Again, he went back to sorta not acknowledging my presence.

At some point I felt I had thoroughly tested that machine so I said, "I think it's pretty well tested". He immediately jumps up from his desk and YELLS at me..."WHAT ABOUT FOREIGN CURRENCY????". I mean...spittle flew out his mouth...the dude yelled it at max volume. I was...let's just say startled.

This is an example of NOT being there. This was a horrible way to interview someone. All he learned from me was how well I handle getting my cage rattled. Sure, that's something important to learn, but it should not be the sole focus of an interview. While I handled that situation well enough to get hired...I never forgot that guy and have forever flagged it as the worst interview experience I've ever had.

The point is, pay attention to the candidate...don't be off doing some other work. In this day and age, it's all about collaborative effort and if you as an interviewer aren't there to collaborate with...it can easily deflate a candidate's attitude and suddenly you're no longer getting a view of them, but instead a depressed shell.

Connection

I like to have a conversation...I don't like a candidate to read me a script, so I try to find something to connect with them on. I've had lots of hobbies over my many many many...many...years. Usually, I can find something to connect with a candidate on...and once we've had a chance to chat about GTA 6 or metalworking a little bit...they calm down and relax. I get a better picture of the real candidate...which gives me some insight on what it would be like to work with them. If a candidate has a hard time connecting on just a conversation...making a connection while working is likely going to be difficult as well.

Be helpful

When I interview someone, I'm trying to see the core of what they know...not if they can memorize every single possible method call and property of every object in every language.

For example, if I give a candidate a coding challenge and I see they know how to get to the end, but they are struggling on trying to remember the exact syntax of .reduce in javascript when they had been working in python for the last couple years...I'll just give it to them. It doesn't prove they are any less skilled...I'm just saving them and myself time by them not having to go look it up.

There are so many coding languages out there these days being used in such a wide spread of scenarios...myself, I've stopped really focusing on having a favorite or trying to be the best at any language. If the job calls for a particular technology...I go learn it and if there's some super awesome way to sort something or an algorithm to use for a calculation...I Google for that. I realize that by now someone else has already figured out all the really difficult problems while getting their masters and published it...and for the most part that info is just sitting at my fingertips to plug into whatever thing I'm creating.

What I want to see from a candidate is that they can understand how to plug all that together...that they have good logic and can explain what's going on.

Critical Evaluation

While I am helpful...I am also critical. As I mentioned before if I see that you obviously know the logic of how to get to the end...I'm happy as can be. But if I see a candidate struggling to understand something or if I see them do a CTRL+A on the screen to plug a coding question into some flavor of AI...then I stop being as helpful and I pay a lot more attention to what they are coding. If they suddenly just know how to solve it out of nowhere, it raises a flag to me saying I need to make sure they actually know how to get to the solution.

Honestly, I don't care if someone uses AI during an interview if they can do it seamlessly enough such that they don't go over time and can easily explain what the code is doing...great...that's as real-world scenario as it gets if you ask me. However, if they suddenly produce an answer but can't walk me through what's going on, then this is not a great sign.

Sympathy

I'm the original "been there, done that" guy. I'm extremely lucky enough to have had many jobs at many different companies...but to get there, I've had to be a candidate in interviews a ton of times! I've pretty much seen it all. In that context I know how a candidate feels when they are being interviewed. I know somedays you can wake up on the wrong side of the bed and then have to put on a positive face in order to keep trying to get the job of your dreams and even though you try hard...sometimes the stars don't align, and your stress shows through while you're trying to be at your best. I understand and get it...and I'm sympathetic to it.

Luckily, I have that Santa Claus thing going for me which I think resets a lot of folks rough mornings when I greet them with a jolly "hello"...but sometimes there's no coming back. When I see this happening, I try getting them to take a step back...take a breath...relax. If I see them frustrated on something I will give an overly helpful tip to see if that nudges them out of it. Quite often all a person needs is someone to show them the smallest bit of understanding and suddenly they are a rockstar...I've witnessed it over and over.

People are never going to be at their best 100% of the time so personally as an interviewer...I'm more interested to see a person is able to do the job even if they aren't at their best and being sympathetic can help in seeing that.

Educational

As I get older in life...my whole thing has turned into passing on what I know (or think I know). Interviews are a perfect place to pass things on. It provides a perfect vehicle to open discussion about why this is better than that. A coding challenge is a great way to expose a less experienced candidate to some logic they might not have come across before. Again, I cannot even count how many times I've heard from a candidate how appreciative they were to just have me explain a different way to do things.

One thing I make clear though is to call out that I've seen everything I need to and that we're now just discussing some extra stuff for fun. Once I say something to that effect, I can almost visibly see weight lifting from their shoulders. They relax and really take in the suggestions I have. That's my favorite part to be honest. I love seeing the "light bulb" moment when they figure out something new. It's the best part of interviewing.

Final Thoughts

I'm not saying my style of interviewing a candidate is the best way to do things. As always, I'm sure I have a lot of things yet to learn...but I do think my style lends itself towards getting a more realistic picture painted of a candidate and it gives them a much more relaxed and enjoyable interview. Just use all this as food for thought if you find yourself giving interviews at some point...always remember you were once that very same candidate.