Huh, the only successful interviews I have are the ones where I'm burned out after a long, fruitless, frustrating job search. And so I walk in assuming the interview will be a waste of time and just not caring anymore.
That's when I get an offer.
That's when I get an offer.
My first time interviewing with Google (in 2008), the press was reporting that they were in a hiring freeze, I had no big names on my resume, so I figured it was basically hopeless and I'd just do the best I could and enjoy my trip to Silicon Valley. After my interview, I was like "Well, I did okay, but you really have to be perfect to work at Google and I wasn't perfect. I'm never coming back to California anyway, so I might as well do all the tourist stuff [I'd held an extra day to interview with Twitter, but they ended up not moving forwards with my candidacy] and just treat it as an all-expenses paid trip to SF." So I just went to Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf, treated myself to a nice dinner, and took the red-eye home to Boston. As I'm groggily waking up after a post-red-eye nap, the Google recruiter called me to say "Your interview feedback looks great. We'd like to fast-track your application on the assumption that the hiring committee will say yes."
Been living in California for 11 years now, and I just started back at Google after working there for 5.5 years, leaving, and doing startups for another 6. The most recent round of interviews was the same - I was super nervous for Lyft, Stripe, Coinbase, Netflix, etc. and ended up not getting the job, but with Google it was like "Hey, I worked there once, I know people who also know my interviewers, I used to give interviews like the one I'm sitting in now, what's the big deal?"
I've read advice that you shouldn't schedule your interview on a Friday, but that's exactly what I did so that I could spend the following weekend in SF :)
lol this industry is hopeless
The panel was different, too - my first time around I had 2 algorithm, 2 UI (Javascript), and 1 system design interviews, while the second time was 2 algorithm, 1 behavioral/leadership, and 2 system design interviews. This is probably reflective of the differing role and higher level.
My previous startup I worked at had gone under, and I was thinking about starting my own. An old coworker of mine invited me to lunch. We had a couple of margaritas, and he asked if I wanted to see his office.
I went to check it out, and suddenly he asks if I can talk to some of his coworkers.
So I basically interviewed while drunk and not fully realizing I was being interviewed.
They offered me the job, and I have been working there for 8 years now.
Maybe the best way to be relaxed during a job interview is to not even realize it is happening. And having a couple of margaritas can't hurt.
Some companies stress interpersonal fit over technical ability, as you are initiated in "the Culture."
I enjoy telling this story, because I think it is funny and always gets a laugh.
I do think, though, that it is indicative of a problematic culture in tech that perpetuates hiring people who are like you. I got the job when I was a young, single guy who could fit into that sort of 'brogrammer' culture. I am lucky in that the company has changed over the years (bought by a large corporation, and we have mostly moved on from this sort of culture), because I have two young kids now and can't live that sort of life anymore.
What is worse, is there are a lot of great software developers who NEVER could fit in to that sort of culture, and they would have had a lot harder time being hired.
Sounds like dating ;)
In my short list (ignoring years of time wasted travelling), i have only met 1 yes man. He came from money, and sales. Owned 4 large businesses, and would over promise, under deliver and over receive ALWAYS.
So what are your experiences like and from where?
I think no backbone can be a personality trait, sure. But it is NOT a trait of 'need' and action, in my experience.
I'd like to focus on Dating because I disagree with your offhand comment, even though it was in jest and is probably more cynical than you are in person.
> The more … apathetic ill be cherished. Sounds like dating ;)
Feeling bad makes your behavior suffer. Being angry makes you less nice to people. Being tired means you don't engage with people. Being scared or anxious makes you hide your vulnerabilities and close yourself off. I'm not saying that badly behaved people deserve to be ignored, I'm acknowledging that it is uncomfortable to interact with people who are hurting.
Being "driven and hungry" while dating makes you behave worse. It makes you over-eager to please the other person, and it flattens out your personality. Instead of focusing on making the person like you, you should be exploring whether you like each other. A date can be successful even if the two of you don't end up dating because you two would not make a good couple.
Some companies will only hire those who are desperate and will do anything. I assume, hopefully correctly, that those are the companies not worth working for, so instead I use the interview opportunity to get better at interviewing. Because these companies want to take advantage of their employees, I do not feel bad wasting their time.
I interviewed at a few places for some really easy, fun-looking jobs while I was doing freelancing. I didn't care if I got the jobs, but they did look trivially easy compared to what I'd been doing earlier in my career. Surprisingly though, after making it through all the technical people and talking to the CEO in every case, I never got the job.
Later on I applied to a really awesome job at a FAANG-class megacorp, and the hiring manager's manager called me. He said "Look, you've gotten the highest marks I've ever seen for a candidate. Everyone loved you. But I have a hunch that you aren't going to be dedicated to this job. So before we move forward, I want your personal promise that you aren't planning to just hop ship in 6 months to start a company or something"
I was JUST starting to get nervous about finding a new job at this point. My consulting work had dried up, I was down to about 3 months' worth of cash, and I was thinking about selling my car to get a few more months' runway while I grind Leetcode in order to be able to pass the bar at Google.
So you can imagine how shocked I was to hear that this guy thought his awesome senior engineer FAANG job wasn't good enough for me. I promised to stick it out, got the job, and so far it's been my favorite job of all time (other than the glorious week where my crypto trading bot was working well and just printing free money..)
Like it or not, interviews are a game. Smart people will figure out how to play them after losing enough, though maybe some of us take a bit longer ...
Somehow the recruiter was still interested.
Maybe this should be my strategy for every job application? :-)
(I'm older now, have hangovers less often, and find them much more tiring, so this might not apply any more)
Then my brilliant plan was spoiled.
The role of anxiety in interviewing became very clear to me during a season when I failed all my interviews until I got my first (and a very good) offer. Suddenly I started passing all of them. It was night and day. I was very surprised having always had much longer and frustrating recruiting processes.
My conclusion was if I interview to gain interview experience, not to get the job, I do far better, and I gain interview experience. This is the local maxima I found from that, but there could be better.