

Ask HN: Interview mistakes startups/companies make that cost them the candidate? - SkyMarshal

Plenty of folks at HN experienced with technical interviewing from both sides of the table.  What mistakes do interviewers make that result in the candidate passing on the company&#x2F;opportunity?
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fsk
If people give me a programming test or assignment before the interview, I
usually pass now. I am currently employed and don't have time to waste on a
stupid pre-interview screening test. It's also insulting.

~~~
fredophile
Do you mind if I ask why you find it insulting? During my last job search such
tests were pretty typical. We use one as part of the screening process at my
current job. It's just a low pass filter and saves us from wasting time on
someone that looks good on paper but can't actually do the job well.

~~~
fsk
It's insulting for an experienced candidate who graduated with honors. The
interview pre-screening test says that I'm not worth 15 minutes of your time
on a phone screen to figure out if I'm competent or not. If my experience and
education doesn't justify 15 minutes of your time interviewing me, then you
are disrepecting me by making me pass an additional test, USUALLY LESS
MEANINGFUL THAN THOSE I TOOK IN SCHOOL, for the privilege of MAYBE getting a
chance to talk to you. (There are lots of times I did the stupid screening
test AND STILL NO ON-SITE INTERVIEW.)

Even more insulting, someone just gave me a multiple-choice personality pre-
screening test, the "Predictive Index"
([http://www.piworldwide.com/solutions/predictive-index-
system...](http://www.piworldwide.com/solutions/predictive-index-system/)).
Fuck you for asking that. I know I'm "INTJ". If you aren't a complete social
retard, you could figure that out by talking to me for a few minutes. The next
time someone gives me the Wonderlic test, I walk out of the interview. Also, I
know that only a corporation run by twits would ask such a thing, so I'm not
missing anything by passing.

Interestingly, it's gotten better since I started contracting/consulting. The
key seems to be when you're interviewing with someone non-technical, instead
of someone who likes to show off by asking obscure language trivia questions
on interviews.

~~~
fredophile
I've known plenty of CS majors that couldn't write good code when they
graduated. There are plenty of people with years of experimce that also aren't
very good. I don't know anyone that can judge your abilities just from reading
your résumé.

For the written screen my current company uses it does take time from an
experienced engineer to assess it. It doesn't mean you're not worth 15 minutes
of time. It means we'd like to spend the 15 minutes deciding if we want to put
you on the phone with two engineers for an hour.

Interviewing and hiring is expensive and time consuming. Can you blame
companies for trying to weed people out as early and cheaply as possible? If
you can't write a production quality version of fizz buzz why would I want to
talk to you? When you end up on the other side of the table asking the
interview questions you see that those stupid programming assignments, that
any second year CS student should be able to do, have value.

Knowing you're INTJ isn't useful. Obscure language gotcha questions aren't
useful. Knowing if you comment your code is. I think you've been through some
bad written screening tests. That doesn't mean that they can't have value as
part of the interview process.

------
fredophile
I wouldn't call it a mistake but when I'm interviewing I look for a good fit.
There are lots of reasons why a company or position in a company might not be
a good fit. If you're interviewing and people decide that they're not a good
fit that's probably a good thing. It's better for them to not take the job
than for them to be unhappy and leave six months or a year later.

