A Senior Software Engineer was Defined as "Dull and Disengaged" After His Interview - How to Prevent This From Happening to You

In our social circles, both professional and personal, the identities and labels that are applied to us are critical. While it doesn't always have to be an absolute success every time, when we engage with another group of people, it's important that we leave a positive impression. However, with large numbers of IT professionals experiencing long-term unemployment, there has been a significant uptick in companies either going dark or delivering negative feedback regarding their interviewing performance. This story has to do with a senior software engineer that, upon completing his final onsite interview with a startup here in Austin, was rejected and was labeled as "dull". Let's call him Benjamin.?

Seasoned software engineer with over 20 years professional experience who was part of a layoff three months ago and on an active job search. When I caught up with Benjamin over a phone call, he was in that daily routine of submitting his resume to multiple companies in hopes of securing some interviews. And he clearly let me know on our call that he was beginning to fatigue from the day to day grind he was having to go through.?

I had a client that was a good match for his experience and upon presenting his resume to the hiring manager, I was fortunate enough to land an interview for him. The first call went well and the technical assessment was positive too. We were fortunate enough to make it to the final onsite interview which was a hefty five hours long. I wished Benjamin the best of luck and told him that I should have feedback the very next day. Upon completion of the onsite, Benjamin got back to me and told me that he felt it went "okay" and I could not help but immediately think he was going to be declined. And later that day, the founder of the startup got back to me with these words and I have to admit that they stung quite a bit. Here you go,?

Hey Mark, we wrapped up with Ben a little while ago. From what the team and I could gather, he seemed to be lacking energy. Dare I say but he was dull and disengaged throughout most of the interview. I didn't sense any passion for his work and because of that, he will not fit in culturally. So we are a pass.?

I circled back with Benjamin and the struggle on my end is that while I let him know my client would not be moving forward, I refrained from disclosing that the company labeled him as "dull". I just didn't want to create any negativity between him and the company. So I kept quiet on that front.?

What can be done to make sure this kind of label is never applied to you? I can't fault Benjamin in any way. He is 20+ years into his career and his job search has imposed significant fatigue on him and it impacted his energy levels for this final round. But perhaps if he had deployed this approach in the interview, the feedback from the company would have been more positive?

When it comes to interviewing performance, I am seeing a lot of articles discussing how you can separate yourself from the pack in terms of how you present yourself to a company. But I honestly haven't seen anyone discuss this approach before. I am talking about the sharing of your positive words and praise on other people, specifically the software engineers who have interviewed you. A dynamic that isn't discussed too often is that when we praise another party, a lot of times, the light shines on us. Should you be in the final round of interviews with a company and meeting the firm's VP of Engineering, I can say with confidence that these words would be very well received. Here you go,?

And by the way, I have really enjoyed this interviewing experience with your company and the engineers working in your organization are brilliant!? Congratulations on building such an incredible team. I first realized this with the introductory interview but it continued with the technical assessment as well as this onsite interview. Everyone I have met? is so very talented and in regards to the problems they are working on, I have to admit, color me curious! This has been a great experience indeed and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet everyone here.?

This narrative doesn't need to be spoken word for word but if you can deliver a similar kind of message to the hiring manager or even a senior software engineer that is interviewing you, the last impression they will ever have of you is that you're "dull and disengaged".?

In terms of putting ourselves in the spotlight, the traditional sense is that we talk highly about ourselves to other parties. The "Me Comes First" approach in our careers can definitely take us very far up the ladder. However, I want to use this story as a classic "outside the box" approach making the most positive impression possible on a company that you are interviewing with. While this story is a not a 100% direct analogy to my post here,? let me tell a nice story about an elite Machine Learning leader that I hold in very high regard. This really did happen and I have to admit, it was an awesome experience.?

On a semi-regular basis, I grab coffee with this engineering leader and we connect on the labor markets and he shares what he is seeing on his end. It's always very healthy conversations and we cover a ton of topics inside sixty minutes. We meet at his company's offices where there is a coffee bar at the top floor of the building. Upon finishing one of our meetings, we took the elevator down seven flights to where his office was located. As we hop into the elevator, there are 6-7 people in there and the mood is quiet and pretty serious. I can't blame them because they are focused on work and simply looking to get to their offices. So we settle into the elevator and I'm about to exchange good-bye's with this incredible leader and at that moment, I say to myself, "Yeah, Mark, go ahead and drop these words on him in front of everybody". And believe it or not but I really said these words at a volume that was clearly heard by everyone,?

Have a great day man and you are the f*ckin' man! You are crushing it and just keep it going! You are such a badass and so damn happy for you!

In terms of etiquette in a public setting, using vulgarity is never good form. This Machine Learning leader has some really special humility about him and upon hearing these words from me in front of everyone, he literally darted out of the elevator as quickly as possible. No one else exited and upon the doors closing, everyone could not stop looking at me. In fact, one person came up and started talking to me in really nice fashion about how excited she was for the upcoming day and how great her job was going. It was a really pleasant conversation and upon the door opening at the ground floor, we bid our adieus to one another and she just had this huge smile on her face. Two weeks later, I grabbed coffee with this Machine Learning leader again and on our way to the cafe, there was someone in the elevator who had experienced the moment from two weeks earlier.? And again, he could not stop looking at me. The expression he was giving me was that he would love to grab coffee with me sometime.

You have my word that I did not do this for my own best interests. I truly had no idea that this proclamation of praise bestowed on this incredible Machine Learning leader would draw attention towards me from everyone else in the elevator. It wasn't the volume at which I spoke my words that got their attention nor was it the vulgarity. It was the sincerity. People felt how real my sentiment was towards this leader. As a matter of fact, I do genuinely feel this way towards this individual. Having told this story, can you somehow create such an experience in your interviews with a company?? If you find yourself at the final round with a company and you're meeting with the VP of Engineering or the CTO, verbally expressing sincere praise towards their engineering team and commenting on how talented they are will shine a very nice light on you. And no, you don't have to be vulgar about it either :-).? In doing so, you'll also create a special moment with the company that most likely will not be experienced with any other candidates that are in consideration for the same position.?

In closing, I just don't want a software engineer (or any IT professional for that matter) to make it all the way to a final onsite only to be defined as "dull and disengaged". Preparing for and executing formal interviews can take a lot of energy out of us. And yes, if you've been on a job search for upwards of three months, you are definitely feeling some fatigue. So how do you walk into an interview with a healthy dose of energy and shine a nice light on yourself???

The answer:? Speak in high praise about another party.?

Your words will be very well received and the company will also see you as a very strong culture match. And just like I experienced in the elevator with the industry elite Machine Learning leader, the light will shine on you!

Thanks,?

Mark Cunningham

Technical Recruiter

512-699-5719

[email protected]

https://thebiddingnetwork.com

https://markcunningham91.blogspot.com

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/markhc