I’m a software engineer who sometimes interviews other software engineers. I’m not given a script to go off of, I get to ask them whatever I want. Usually we just talk about technology and coding from a high level. I’m not a big fan of whiteboard tests.
I’ve noticed, however, that a lot of people applying to software engineering jobs feel very alien to me. I started coding when I was 12 and spent most of my teenage years on technology forums. A lot of people applying to these positions are very much ladder-climbing type people who got into the career for the money. Working with these people is an absolute drag.
We also interview for “culture fit”. I would like to add in a single question to my interviews to assess that: what is your favorite science fiction book. You don’t even have to have read it recently, you just have to have read one and formed an opinion on it. My thoughts
Pros:
- Weeds out a lot of people since half of Americans don’t read books at all.
- Theoretically filters out people who love this kind of tech subculture from people who are just in it for the money
Cons:
- It’s unfair to people who enjoy fantasy novels, or any other form of fiction
- Being motivated by money probably shouldn’t be a disqualifying factor (I certainly wouldn’t do this job for free), I’m just tired of working with yuppies and lashing out at poor unsuspecting Jr Devs
I’m half-hearted on this. I see why it could be considered unfair but I’m really tired of the kinds of people I work with.
As a tension softener, I tend to open interviews with: What’s the best movie ever and why should I love it too?
It helps me tell how good they are convincing someone else of something while also it helps them relax a bit, as a softball before we start pitching curved ones.
I prefer doing this rather than asking for hobbies as the interviewees tend to gave prepared corporate-grade answers.
I tend to finish asking to give us a song recommendation, which sets a better mood (hopefully) to end it.
I just hope there’s nobody out there still trying to figure out if they gave us the wrong recommendations.
Oh that’s so stressful. I actually hate sharing my song and movie recommendations because I usually like weird indie shit that nobody else enjoys (as pretentious as that makes me sound). I get extremely self conscious about my taste in stuff and would 100% worry that I gave the wrong recommendation.
Oh god just thinking about this is giving me anxiety.
I want someone that’s pleasant to work with and can pull their weight, but that’s just my preference.