Interviewing Hell. Interviewers ...some help please?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been put in charge of my department (this was a few weeks back) after a massive company-wide shakedown. The new guy who I report to has no understanding about computers (I impressed him by explaining that the icons on his desktop did exactly the same thing as the icons in his start menu. This is fine. He’s not trying to pretend that he has more info than he does.

But he just dumped a job on me that I don’t want, but rationally, he’s right…it makes sense for me to do it.

We need to hire someone. He knows nothing about tech-support/computers/etc. He said “It makes sense to let the guy who knows what questions to ask and who knows the needs of his group to do the hiring.”

Dammit, he’s right.

But I hate being intervied: Poofy, fluffy questions that force me to lie:
interviewer: What is your greatest weakness (see related thread)
Interviewee: (thinks “Like I’m gonna tell YOU.”) Well, jeepers. I guess my greatest weakness is that I overachieve. I work long hours uncomplaningly, and I’m a perfectionist. I guess I need to learn to work less.

:rolleyes:

Help.

My idea of interviewing is to check their work history (by calling previous employers), giving 'em a written test to test knowedge/spelling/grammar, and doing a few mock calls. I don’t care about their personal lives, hobbies, “greatest weaknesses” etc. Or am I missing something?

Every interview I’ve been to has seemed like a test of my ability to generate nice sounding bullshit and not much else. Or has it? Can anyone who’s done interviewing let me know if there are dark interviewer secrets that I don’t know about that give you deep insights from an interviewee’s answer to the question “If you were a tree, what kind would you be” (I was asked that to get my first tech-support job.) I answered “Aspen” since I’d just seen a bunch earlier today. The interviewer nodded. What did he learn from that question?

Any help here? I gave my first interview yesterday and it lasted about 10 minutes. The guy was pretty good, knew his stuff, trainable, had a decent idea about phone manners, etc. I got this by asking him how he’d handle a few call situations and about 3 minutes of polite chat. He seemed surprised and disappointed that it was so quick, and the H.R. (I hate the term Human “Resources”…you exploit, utilize and mine resources. Let’s call 'em Personnel Dept. again!) guy who did the pre-screen was also surprised at how quick it was. I could have cut my questions by a third and been satisfied.

Help! Some questions to ask and some insights into how to interview please?

Fenris

2

IANAPR (I Am Not A Professional Recruiter), but…

A lot depends on what role you’re interviewing someone for. If, for example, it’s a problem-solving job, you might give them a hypothetical problem (not necessarily related to the job in hand) and see how they deal with it – patiently and methodically, using lateral thinking, questioning the assumptions and so on. If it’s a creative job you might set them a statement (e.g. “There is a 9pm curfew in Chicago”) and ask them to come up with as many implications of that as they can, to judge how well they can deal with being creative under pressure. If it’s for a team-based job you might ask them how they would deal with certain situations (e.g. a co-worker who resents their authority, or how they would handle a major mistake they’d made) to judge how they approach interpersonal issues.

Of course, none of these are foolproof tests of character, but they might help give indications of how well they’re suited to the type of work.

3

Don’t listen to 'em, Fenris.

The guy seemed disappointed because most interviews, at least interviews that lead to offers, do take longer. But this is because most HR people have no clue as to what kind of work the prospect will be doing if hired. They can’t check his technical skills because, well, how would they know? They ask questions which are supposed to give some sort of insight into the person’s character. But the questions are so inane that the prospect has no choice but to lay on the BS. They become accustomed to being most impressed with best BSer.

I, personally, would prefer your style of interview. You could always offset the prospect’s disappointment by sheduling a 2nd interview right away if feel he/she would work well. The disappointment came from being conditioned to long, painful interviews and perhaps assumed that it was short because you did not like him/her.

Keep it short and to the point! It’s a definate improvment!:smiley:

4

BTW, that first line did not, in any way, refer to Mattk. I thought my reply would get in first.

5

I’ve done interviewing, I’ve taught both interviewing and how to be interviewed (ok, so I’ve only **been ** interviewed 8 times in my life…, was offered jobs from 5 of them).

One thing to absolutely do:
Make sure you ask the exact same questions of each candidate.

Other than that, decide what’s important to you. I’m a fan of specifically designed questions for the position (if you have the time). You’re looking for some one with the computer savvy you require (easy enough to test out, I’d think), plus the work ethic you desire and the ability to get along with the others in your group.

It’s the last two that are the clunkers. Decide for yourself what work ethic you want. For me personally, I was less concerned with ‘appearance’ issues (ie does this person appear to be working most of the time) and more concerned with product. if it only took you 2 hours to do the work I needed done today, I’m fine with that, for example.

So, perhaps, look at what a typical day and a non typical day would look like for that position - much stress? deadlines? interaction with others? and taylor your questions towards that.

I’d be happy to help do the tweeking if you’d like.

6

No worries, Spooje.

For what it’s worth, I’m no fan of ‘fluffy’ questions, but for some jobs where specific technical skills aren’t required the odd probing question can be useful in judging how well someone’s personality fits. On the other hand, if you’re hiring a sys admin, there’s no point in indirect questions.

7

My sister’s head of HR where I work…

I was hired first I swear!

I can pass your question along to her if you like.

If you want a lot of answers I’m the Tech Admin of Human Resource Net, A forum full of HR folks just waiting for questions.

8

**
THAT one, I knew (as I’ve been threatened by the HR Dpt, my boss, etc. Apparently there are legal ramifications as to why the questions have to be the same. I’ve also been told to document everything.) :).

I’ve got a week or so before the rest of the interviews, (the one guy was a fluke…he was scheduled by the old boss and no one remembered/knew that he was scheduled to show up, when he did, I was thrown at him with about 20 minutes notice.) so I can design the questions at my leisure and if I want to, I can call the first guy back to go through the real questions.
**

**
I may take you up on that! I’d also appreciate if you could give me an idea of
A) What an interviewer is trying to get from “What is your greatest weakness?” or “What kind of a tree would you be?”. In other words, what will the answer tell the interviewer.

B) What sort of questions could be used to test work ethic, and ability to get along ( for the “get along” bit, I assumed I could just chat with the candidate and see if they’re surly or uncommunicative. If I do that with every candidate, would that work?)

C) I’m not sure if I’m supposed to consider it or not, but dammit, appearance counts. If the candidate shows up in flip-flops, a tee-shirt and cut-offs, I’ll interview 'em (I’ve seen some people in the HR department who actually have shown up for interviews like this), but as far as I’m concerned they’re out of the running. Clean, professional clothing: doesn’t have to be a suit and tie. Clean jeans and a polo shirt is fine. In general, is this a fair judgement to make?

Thanks!

Fenris

9

She got to hire her own group of engineers. Liked meeting people, couldn’t come up with any “What type of animal are you?” questions. So she did it her own way, some technical checks, a bit of chit chat and trying to understand how personalities would fit together.

She has a core group of some pretty great people. (Her newest complaint is that her favorites have made enough of an impression to get promoted and pulled away from her.)

So just relax, you’ll be fine.

10

You’re totally justified in requiring certain “dress codes” in an interview. It doesn’t matter if you have no dress code what so ever once they get the job, but if they show up wearing cut offs and flip flops, they feel that they need to put no effort into the interview. OTOH, if they make an effort, but have no fashion sense, that’s fine. Just like they are looking for a job that will take an interest in them, they should show interest in getting the job.

It’s like a date. You wouldn’t show up to a girls house on the first date looking messy, unless you really didn’t care what sort of impression you made. Sure, you can wear whatever you like, just don’t be surprised if you don’t get another date with her.

11

** Good, we’ve got time, do you want my e-mail???

**

What I personally am looking for is how the person deals with negatives. If they take the tactict that they have no faults, then they’re going to be a problem for me - I want to be able to say “I want you to do this in this manner” without either “well, nobody told me to do it that way” or “ohmygoshI’msosorryIcan’tbelieveIdidsomethingssostupid” etc.

The tree kind of thing (I’ve never personally used) is to get the person to talk, so you can see what they’re ‘like’.

**.

Actually, for the work ethic thing I ask questions about how they feel about deadlines, how they deal with them, what they consider proper use of ‘down time’ etc. Frankly one candidate used his employer’s postal meter (to the tune of $4 !!!) to send in his application materials - I found that to be dishonest in the extreme.

For ‘getting along’, (and check with your human resources folks if they’d ok this), I described a typical day in my office and asked them about it. For example, at the time, we had a small office, and during down time (lunch break, first coffee in am etc.) we’d discuss current events etc. OJ trial, abortion, elections, you know, non controversial stuff like that. One guy stated he could always be counted on to give the basketball scores. ( :eek: ). You’ll be surprised at how folks respond.

**

IMHO, you bet (as long as you’re looking at things like appropriate clothing and not ‘how tall is he’). I always recommend to people to take an interview seriously, and that should be reflected in how you dress. Dress ‘one notch’ better than the folks working there - if they’re wearing suits, wear a suit with a vest for example. If they’re wearing golf shirts and jeans, wear a button down shirt with khakis. etc. And actually, I used to recommend the golf shirt to folks on a regular basis (that is until there was a news report of a van backing up to the local Hudsons and making away with about 100 golf shirts :eek: )

12

For the getting along question, try something like “tell me about a time when you had to work on a project with some one who…” (fill in your annoying trait here)

Listen to the answer and make sure the applicants give you a real life experience, not an “I think I would…” response.

If you let them think about it, you’ll probably hear some good stories and maybe get some insight into the person and if they’ll fit in or not.

13

I’ve done more interviewing than I ever wanted to do but if the fruits of my grim experience will help…

  • take notes! You won’t remember which candidate said what, struck you a particular way, etc. nearly as well as you think. Interviewing is gruelling for all parties concerned and after awhile faces and answers blur together. I use a separate sheet with space for notes on each question. Just jot down enough during the interview to trigger your memory; spend more time listening, observing, etc. Just leave enough time after the interview to flesh out your notes while the memory is fresh.
    Sounds kinda stoogey but it’s really helped, especially on tie-breakers among finalists. It’s also valuable documentation on the offchance your decision process is challgened later.

  • I thoroughly agree w/ the posters above: figure out in advance what you want then ask accordingly. I love situational questions, i.e. “what would you do? how would you handle…?” questions. They’re much less stressful for candidates and can reveal a helluva lot.

  • trust your instincts. Yeah, you can make judgments on general appearance, conduct, etc. as long as age, race and stuff aren’t part of them. If someone slouches through the interview, gives monosyllabic answers, picks a paperclip off your desk to clean out his ears (yes, it happened) then you have every right–and responsibility–to evaluate what kind of employee he or she would turn out to be. If someone can muster up a decent effort for an interview how much effort could you reasonably expect them to put toward the job?

  • remember it’s a two-way street. This is a pet peeve of mine, having been the interviewee enough times. They’re making their own judgments about what kind of place it’ll be to work. I’ve turned down job offers because I was treated like crap during the interview. Same psychology holds from the previous point. If someone’s treated like dirt as a candidate chances are the treatment won’t be one bit better as an employee.

Good luck, Fenris! Really, it’s not so bad. It’s tiring and a little nerve-wracking but with any luck you’ll get a great new coworker and somebody will get a great new job.

Veb

14

Ask professionals for advice, you get advice on how a professional would do it (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). However, professionals in HR departments have been subjected to training (often against their will! while being served stale donuts and scortched coffee on breaks!) on “How to Interview.” This leads to questions about trees, animals, and to the other seemingly obtuse queries we all hate.

You, Fenris, have the opportunity to break the chains that bind the interview process into discussions about woody plants and rabid bunnies. You can revolutionize. You can treat the interviewee like a person! You can talk to them, ask them interesting, REAL questions! You can stop the bullshit!

Seriously, your original approach is rational and makes good sense. When I was asked to interview people, that’s what I did. The interviewees seemed to appreciate it, and we got some good people. Go with your instinct and good luck!

15

absolutely Jane - the ‘open ended’ questions are my personal favorites and WOW, the way they were answered!

For example, “our clients come from a wide variety of backgrounds, ethnic and religious groups. No matter who we hire, this person will need to be able to connect with this wide range. Can you describe for me how you intend to do so, and give examples of ways you’ve done so in the past?”

One candidate failed that one so badly it was scarey. (he detailed a story in which he had an encounter with a person of one minority group and that person ended up chasing him down the street with a knife, but he had to go back the next day to finish the job. THAT was the story he selected to demonstrate his ability to get along with folks whe weren’t like him).

16

There’s a lot of good advice already mentioned in this thread, but I thought I would add a few more. I also hate interviewing and somehow ended up doing a lot of it.

One thing that I have found helpful is to ask the person to describe a project, task, or system from their current job (or another job in the past). It doesn’t matter if their current job is not very similar to the job you are offering. It’s a good way to get a sense of how organized the person is and if they have an idea of “the big picture” – ideally they should be able to tell you how this specific task fits into the overall goals and visions of the employeer. If you are hiring a person to do tech support for an advertising company, and their last job was developing a computer network for a school system, you can still get a good sense of whether this person knows what he/she is talking about even though the population is extremely different. Listen for clues about whether the person can speak briefly and to the point to communicate his/her ideas, if he/she is confident about technical aspects, how he/she talks about coworkers (“well, it was difficult because the people were such idiots” – not a good sign), and how he/she evaluated the success of the project (“we closely monitored user complaints, and made adjustments accordingly” – good sign).

You might follow up by asking “looking back, is there anything you would do differently?” or “what advice would you give to someone else just starting a similar program?” There are no right or wrong answers, you’re just trying to get a sense of how thoughtful and reflective the candidate is. I would be highly suspect of someone who answered “oh no, it was 100% correct so I wouldn’t change a thing.”

NOTE: if this causes a potential conflict of interest issue, let’s say if you are hiring someone away from a direct competitor, then be clear that you are not looking for names or detailed information, simply a general outline of how the project was handled by the applicant.

Beware of using too much of your time to talk about the job itself. It is very easy to get into the trap of doing all the talking (at least for me, I love talking, and an interviewee is the ultimate captive audience!). Of course, you need to tell them the basics of the position. You should give them the opportunity to ask questions about the job, but I try to keep my own answers reasonably brief.

I have never asked anyone if they were a tree, but maybe I should start.

17

I’ve never been the one in charge of interviewing, but I’ve sat in on a couple second interviews. One thing about hiring computer professionals today is that they have a tendency to switch jobs perhaps more frequently than other professions. And given the fact that we’re in pretty high demand at the moment, you really want to keep in mind that if your applicant doesn’t like the job, he/she can probably find another without too much difficulty. That puts a bit of a burden on the interviewer to not only make sure that he’s going to be able to do the job, but that he’s also going to enjoy doing the job and is going to stick around for more than a few months. I realize from experience that it’s a very difficult thing to determine, but unless you want to go through the entire process again…

Of course, if you ask someone what they see themselves doing in five years and they seriously say, “I’ll probably be dead by then…”

18

OK,

I’ve added a few questions to my interview. Any tweaks, comments, suggestions, additions or “Good FUCK! Don’t ask that!” type responses would be appreciated.

I’ve got 5 tech questions that’ll make sure that the candidate knows a floppy drive from a monitor. I’m comfortable with those.

Addtionally:

  1. Tell me what you liked about your last job.

  2. Tell me what you didn’t like about your last job and how you dealt with them.

  3. How would you handle a customer who’s extremely upset, screaming and swearing?

  4. I describe (in general terms) the basics of the job and ask if they have any questions.

I’ve just found out (through another surprise (to me) interview yesterday… hopefully the last one) that when things go right, the Human Resources folks give the candidate a qualifing interview. This is where the candidate is asked “If you were a tree, what kind would you be?” and get typing tests, that sort of thing. If they pass, then I get the results of the first interview and get to see 'em, so I’m apparently going to be the second interview.

Oh yeah: And I’m gonna ask the cute ones if they think I’m hot and if they want to go out? Is that OK? :wink: :smiley:

Fenris

19

** Real standard questions, but that’s ok. Look for: 1. On the ‘like’ side, if all the responses are non work related or will be a small part of their prospective job. 2. on the ‘dislike’ side, if they talk about something that’ll be a major part of their new job or (big red flag) personality conflicts.

** Excellent ('tho I would ‘tweak’ it to ask 'how have you dealt with in the past, and if they respond that it’s never happened BULLSHIT (unless they’ve never dealt with customers before)

** this is also good. If they can’t come up with questions, be concerned.

** that’s ok, it’ll weed out the serious flakes (hopefully)

** Actually, when we asked the questions about 'how would you feel about conversations of topical ‘tho controversial nature’, my one co worker at the time, a male about 62 at the time, I overheard him asking it this way of a young -21- year old female "We talk about everything here, like SEX " I suggested to him to tone it down a ratchet or two…

20

What do I need to watch out for regarding personality conflicts? That they exist? Or how the prospective employee dealt with them (“I took an axe to her. I’m on a work release program now. You don’t have anyone there who cracks their knuckles, do you?”)

** this is also good. If they can’t come up with questions, be concerned.**
[/quote]

That’s what I was thinking! It’s kind of a trick question, but if they can’t find even one question to ask… :slight_smile:

As an aside, in a really, REALLY weird interview, do you go with your gut or your brain? The guy I interviewed yesterday was loud/brash, showed up in a tee-shirt and jeans, said a couple of four letter words (and apologized each time), complained about his previous boss and job, etc. However, he knew the technical stuff, has the right background and I liked him, despite everything. I’m being vague here, just in case, but I’m not sure if I should give more weight to my gut-level like, or my rational side. (I’m inclined to go rational, but how much does instinct figure in?)

Fenris