Re:People are still bad at gauging their own interview perfo...
by kristopolous on Thursday September 08, 2016 @04:19PM
(#12456908)
Algorithms and elite schools doesn't tell me whether you'll use the right-sized solution for a problem and be able to prioritize and focus on tasks accordingly. It doesn't tell me if you can perceive and extract requirements well and have a process of communication and a professionalism of management in how you go about getting to solutions that work for the humans that will be using it.
It also doesn't tell me about your personal value system and whether you are passionate about creating good user experiences or if you are just interested in a technical playground or if you are a social climber or what.
It also doesn't tell me if you are highly opinionated and want to do things your own way or if you are flexible enough to deal with the imperfections of the real world. I don't know whether you value the mantra that the perfect shouldn't be the enemy of the good.
No, none of these brain teasers or abstract bootcamp style things tell me that - and those are the actual things that will make or break a company and determine whether your product will hit the market on time. Those are the things that will get you a customer base and will create a company culture of productivity and not something that doesn't lead to results.
Until interviews become more about how people approach work and their ethic and process of conducting it (which is a major part of classical engineering), these are ineffective tools for finding the right people.
---
[1] although as a disclaimer, I strongly prefer companies of under 20 employees. If you have 200, then the employees can be more insulated from the exposure to these types of risk and the necessity of this type of vertical thinking. But it's an "insulation" - everyone is working either directly or tangentially on something that is intended to be used by something in the world (usually humans).
It also doesn't tell me about your personal value system and whether you are passionate about creating good user experiences or if you are just interested in a technical playground or if you are a social climber or what.
It also doesn't tell me if you are highly opinionated and want to do things your own way or if you are flexible enough to deal with the imperfections of the real world. I don't know whether you value the mantra that the perfect shouldn't be the enemy of the good.
No, none of these brain teasers or abstract bootcamp style things tell me that - and those are the actual things that will make or break a company and determine whether your product will hit the market on time. Those are the things that will get you a customer base and will create a company culture of productivity and not something that doesn't lead to results.
Until interviews become more about how people approach work and their ethic and process of conducting it (which is a major part of classical engineering), these are ineffective tools for finding the right people.
---
[1] although as a disclaimer, I strongly prefer companies of under 20 employees. If you have 200, then the employees can be more insulated from the exposure to these types of risk and the necessity of this type of vertical thinking. But it's an "insulation" - everyone is working either directly or tangentially on something that is intended to be used by something in the world (usually humans).