Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer

Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by skeeter2020 on Friday October 08, 2021 @01:34PM (#28801802)

If the company thinks they have a good story around PTO they will sell it in the first interview. As an interviewee it's very important to me and I will definitely ask questions, but later in the process when I have more leverage. I don't think someone asking in the first interview is lazy, just perhaps naive. They'd be better to ask about work/life balance and expectations in general and then probe what the interviewer answers back.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by bluGill on Friday October 08, 2021 @04:36PM (#28803887)

At my company you get one interview, if you get a second interview it is because we liked you but someone else was better and passed your resume on to a different team. One thing we do is take every candidate to lunch (COVID has changed this of course) with someone who doesn't have input into if you are hired: so feel free to ask those questions that you are not sure about.

Having done a few interviews, nobody knows what questions to ask.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by adrianmonk on Friday October 08, 2021 @06:25PM (#28804831)

> lunch ... with someone who doesn't have input

I think part of this could be that they don't know whether to believe that you truly have no input.

When I was an interviewee, my lunch escort told me they didn't, and I was pretty sure it wasn't a devious trick to get me to let my guard down, but I had no way of knowing for sure. I also thought, if there isn't a formal process, maybe if I say something too dumb or wrong, they would still mention it to someone. So I stuck to really superficial topics.

Then I got hired and later served as a lunch escort. Now knowing the process and knowing there truly is no input, I tried to convince the interviewee, and he didn't seem to believe me just like I didn't when I was in his shoes.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by OJFord on Saturday October 09, 2021 @07:09AM (#28808797)

Maybe better than a single 'lunch escort' would be a group of friends, or a team the candidate isn't being considered for or something.

So that there's some joviality (or not! Something to get an impression of) without putting such one on one pressure on the candidate so that it still feels like an interview. Candidate can just sit and eat even and enjoy others' conversation.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by jrh206 on Friday October 08, 2021 @10:55PM (#28806617)

Yeah, in principle it's a great idea. Realistically no rational candidate would believe that the lunch escort has no input.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by slyall on Saturday October 09, 2021 @01:03AM (#28807192)

Even if they have "no input", if the interviewee did or said something really extreme it would be reported back.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by bluGill on Saturday October 09, 2021 @11:52AM (#28810896)

Maybe, but taking the time to talk to hr means it would be awful before someone would go through the effort.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by swader999 on Friday October 08, 2021 @05:21PM (#28804356)

I always leave time off conversations to the offer negotiation stage when I make it past the interview stage. I want my time off in writing and if it's not enough I'll ask for much more money before I accept.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by rsj_hn on Friday October 08, 2021 @06:09PM (#28804706)

Correct. It is in the interest of the company to sell you on all the perks and they should do that up front.

It is in your interest to view PTO as any other form of compensation and to make those compensation demands after you have demonstrated how valuable you are to the company via the interview process. You don't start negotiating salaries before the first interview, because that's a bad strategy.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by slg on Friday October 08, 2021 @08:35PM (#28805868)

How often do people really negotiate PTO? I have been flatly refused the times I have asked about it. It seems to be much more difficult than negotiating salary or other comp. Companies handle those individually so they are used to negotiating on them. PTO is often handled at a departmental or company level and companies can be hesitant to make exceptions for an individual employee.

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Re:Things I’ve learned in my 20 years as a software engineer by lazyasciiart on Friday October 08, 2021 @08:43PM (#28805928)

I have seen salary bumps offered when additional PTO is requested, which can be calculated into x days of unpaid leave.

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