MagicAndi

Very UK centric I know, but I found it to be a very interesting report. As pat of a wider review of STEM subjects [0], Sir Nigel Shadbolt investigated the performance of Computer Science graduates, specifically why they have higher rate sof unemployment follwoing their course, relative to other STEM subjects. The full report can be found here [1].

[0] http://www.hefce.ac.uk/kess/gradstemreview/ [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/computer-science-...

This. So true. No disrespect to the author of (grand-) parent comment, but working in SV or a startup is not always refelective of working elsewhere (in the US or further afield). I'm based in the UK, and had to endure long working hours/insane deadlines early in my career while working for various consultancy firms. Once I moved away from these 'churn and burn' factories, I made a point of working for employers who take care of their employees. Since then I rarely work weekends (never in my current role), and would rarely work more than the required 45 hours a week. Despite this, I find I'm more productive, and achieve more than I ever did earlier in my career when I was working long hours.

Basically, you have to treat the interview as a two way process - they are interviewing you, but you are also interviewing them. You need to look at how the company has treated you from the moment you applied, and pick up on any indicators that the organisation you're applying to is toxic.

I would look at the following:

(1) How has the company communicated with you since you applied to the position? Has it been a single person communicating to you, or several, or an automated process?

(2) How did you find it – personal or completely anonymous?

(3) Was there a telephone screening interview with HR?

(4) How were you tested technically? Were you sufficiently tested?

(5) Did you have to write code as part of your interview process? If not, this is a major failing. If the company doesn’t know if you can code or not, what is the point hiring you?

(6) How large was the interview panel? This is most visible way of assessing how important a company views recruiting developers.

The interview itself:

(7) Were the questions asked relevant to the work you believe you will be doing?

(8) Did the questions asked match the advertised job? If it doesn’t, it is likely that the job advertised won’t be the job you will actually be doing.

(9) The interviewer’s personality and behaviour. Were you treated with respect?

(10) Would you like to work with these people? Remember, in an interview, people are on their best behaviour on both sides of the table. If you come out of an interview thinking that one of the interviewers was a pain, then they will be most likely be a complete bastard to work with. You need to trust your gut instinct about people.

(11) How was the outcome communicated to you?

I've blogged about this previously at http://www.andyparkhill.co.uk/2015/04/the-software-developer...