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Comment by remyp | Hacker News Reader

I’m reasonably certain I’ve interviewed you. Send me an email (in profile) and I’ll be happy to give honest feedback/advice.

For that matter, I’m happy to provide advice to any programmers struggling to find work. Feel free to reach out.

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Not OP and a hiring manager myself once but I will love to compare notes and hear your thoughts on what are the common problems/mistakes you see when interviewing developers or engineers and if you have any general advice.

Considering most of the HN population are technical folks, many will possibly find your experience & knowledge useful or at the very least, contribute to a worthwhile discussion on hiring technical people.

Edit - Added a list of problems/mistakes that I commonly see when I interview people for technical positions:

• Being borderline arrogant, argumentative and/or abrasive in conversation even though they are brilliant - Yes, I've interviewed people that are smart and have a wealth of knowledge but the straight forward truth is this role (and most developer/engineering roles for that matter) requires a person to work with not only other people within the team but also with other technical teams & departments so if you can't show that you are a team player, it doesn't matter how good you are as a developer/engineer.

• Lying straight up on certain details and not owning up to it - one common interview tactic I use is to ask what version of [technology] that the person has worked on and what are their "battle scars" experiences with that particular version or [technology]. I have had people tell me they work on versions that don't exist (i.e. latest v5 and they claim v8) or claim they have 5 years experience when said version of [technology] has only existed for 3 years. Also, I find that the true experienced people in [technology] can passionately tell you about their problems using [technology] and what they did to get around it rather than simply just evangelizing said [technology].

• Talking bad about anything or anyone - This might just be a personal preference but a big turn off for me is when a candidate starts bad mouthing their ex-bosses, colleagues or company. I might make exceptions for special circumstances (i.e. sexual harassment, bullying, etc) but even then, I will find it as a negative against their personality if that person keeps harping on it and don't show at least signs that they are taking steps to move on. Call me old school but I believe in never burning your bridges regardless of what the circumstances are and even if you don't, the last thing you should do is bring it up in an interview.

Note - these are my personal opinions, preferences and experiences on interviewing and I do not claim my methods to be the best way on doing so.

>Talking bad about anything or anyone

Personally, I think this should be near the top, and I think arrogance[1] should be near the bottom. And not just for interviews. If you are known for giving credit where credit is due? that's going to get you more help at this job; that's going to get you better contacts, more recommendations for your next job. You will see your co-workers again. Generally, if you can say something good and true about a co-worker, you should.

There are few times when as an individual contributor where it's in your interest to say something bad about someone else. I mean, I'm not saying to lie, just if you can't say something nice, keep your mouth shut.

[1]Yes, yes, socially skilled people see arrogance as a different thing from confidence, not just a matter of degree. But if you are that socially skilled, you don't need these tips. Me? I see it as a sort of linear progression from low self-esteem through confidence and then into arrogance. For the tech industry, this is a good enough (though incorrect) model. I mean, you can go too far in one direction or the other, but at least for me it seems to be a reasonably tunable thing, and I've seen far more people fail interviews due to being too far on the shy/humble/lacks confidence end of that scale than the other way around.

This is really an exercise in speaking diplomatically. Often we leave jobs because we can't be as productive in the current environment. That's usually code word for other failures in the company. I think at the executive level it can be helpful to have the discussion on what you would do differently. Most adults in my experience will appreciate a candid discussion as long as you are sharing your experiences in a humble and respectful manner.

I'm guilty of the first one, mainly due to how badly either money or work is handled at most places (IT in particular). It seems that most places hire whoever has a degree without actual knowledge of implementing things which turns into the old must know $VENDOR tool.

Guilty of the last one. I sort of thought it would be a good idea to trash talk the competitor (my previous employer), but when I saw the look on the CEOs face I knew I screwed up.

Got the job anyway, based on other circumstances (and maybe also because it was common knowledge in the industry that the previous employer really was a nutter, which later became a matter of public record in a court case).

But generally, definitely not a good idea to badmouth anyone in job interviews. Or ever, even.

Also guilty. I answered the question "Why are you leaving previous company" with something terrible like, "I'm tired of working with old people." Foot>>Mouth

What I meant was more "I'm tired of working on 20 year old software and with coworkers who don't seem motivated or ambitious." Oh well. Live and learn.

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