Companies that ask, “What do you want to do?” | Hacker News Reader

Companies that ask, “What do you want to do?”

2 pointsdreamdu5t4 comments

The question comes in the form of, "What are you looking for?" or "What do you want to do here, ideally?"

I find this question incredibly difficult to answer when interviewing with startups for engineering positions. It seems incredibly rhetorical. Obviously if I could do whatever I want I wouldn't be applying for jobs in the first place!

It seems like a trick question. Am I really supposed to say, "I'm looking to get paid to program. That's why I applied here and am being interviewed now."

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I hire people. I ask this question because I sincerely want to know if there is a good fit. If you are honest and I am honest then we start off a little better with a higher probability of having a good working relationship.

I also ask this because I want to know if you are a curious, growing, learning organism. We want those. We don't want 9 to 5 people. Tell the truth. Why start off lying?

The truth will come out soon enough. Why hang out for a few weeks and get bounced because of a wrong fit? It's bad for everyone.

But then that's our shop. We do it our way. In Dilbertville it is probably different. But you get to choose your life, so why not do it right?

EDIT: if you answered me "I like programming. You're hiring programmers" and you showed me you really did like it, that would be a winning answer in my book. I hire tax professionals. Someone who says they really really like the hard core "work out the numbers" paperwork would be exactly what I want. Or someone who loves to figure out seemingly intractable problems.

So I think your throwaway answer is probably the best one. Say it with a laugh and then follow up with something that shows you REALLY like programming. Winner.

What if I am a curious, growing, learning organism who wants to just work 9 to 5. Sorry, but I think the people who ask such questions are either lazy who cannot come up with actual questions or are not experienced enough to know a good candidate from a bad one. If you are looking for a specific trait then I feel that you should look around in the people you already know who have that trait first. And then check if the people you are interviewing are similar to the ones you admire. Questions like these and where do you see yourself in 2 years don't really bring out anything in the candidate if you are looking for anybody other than sales guys.

This question is about fit. I've interviewed places where this kind of question led to discussion that resulted in both sides realizing it wasn't a good fit. That's useful to know. The company doesn't want to hire you if you won't stick around and you'll just end up unhappy and looking for work again quickly.

Here are some things to consider when answering this question:

- What areas of programming do you like? Do you want to work on databases, low level coding, front end web dev stuff, etc.

- Do you like starting things from scratch or would you rather work on adding features to an established code base?

- What type of scheduling do you like? Are you okay with tasks changing rapidly or do you prefer your work schedule to be more planned in advance?

- What size of team do you like to work with? How do you prefer to interact with your other team members?

- Are you hoping to learn from more senior devs? Do you want to move up to take on more responsibility (senior or lead positions)?

Sure you're being paid to program, but do you want to create something from scratch? Do maintenance work? Build internal tools? There must be something interesting you can say. Imagine you're on a first date and you get asked "where do you see this night ending?" You shouldn't say "my place" even though that's what you want. You should say something more charming.

EDIT: If you are interviewing for a startup, a good answer is that you are excited to be a part of something from the very beginning, and being able to shape it as it grows. If it is an established company you can say you are excited to see how an established player has dealt with the challenges of serving a large customer base, etc.

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