Doing Interviews
The Other Side of the Table
Let’s talk about the interview process. Tech company interviews have become the stuff of legend. Tales of impossible questions, nerve-wracking whiteboard coding, bizarre brain teasers, you name it: the Internet is full of examples of strange and wonderful experiences during interviews at leading technology companies.
In this article, we’ll explore some important aspects of interviewing candidates. Some of these aspects have no definitive answer or best practice, but I’ll offer my own opinions on what works and what doesn’t. A lot has been written on the process of technical interviews from the side of the candidate. It’s time to talk about what it’s like to be on the interviewer’s side of the table, so you can define and run this process yourself.
Let’s start with the obvious stuff: why do we do interviews? Well, we’re looking to make a decision as to whether we would want to work with a particular person. Can they help our company succeed by bringing themselves and their skills into the organization? As a technology company, we look for three major facets:
- Technical skill
- Team fit
- Suitability for the role
How can we perform interviews to identify these characteristics quickly, whilst leaving the candidate as happy…
