Definitely not an expert in recruiting or interviewing processes, despite having been on both sides of interviews multiple times already. Interviewing is a process that I don’t enjoy regardless of what my role in the process is. As someone interviewing for a job, I find it uncomfortable to be asked question that I know I would never ask someone. Furthermore, I am extremely bad at coming up with quick answeres, that would really represent my thoughts. I’m very much someone that would rather take a few extra minutes to think problems through, to philosophize about the questions I’m in front of.

As the interviewer, my discomfort is even bigger. I normally find myself questioning the process itself and what is it that would really help me understrand whether the person I’m interviewing is a good fit for the the role, for the team, and ultimately for the company. This fitness evaluation goes both ways. That is to say, as part of the interview process I’m also trying to understand whether everything holds the other way around. The distinction is not obvious but it exists. Unfortunately, it is only possible to partially figure out either of these fitness challenges with the time there normally is available.

There are a few things that are an absolute no for me:

Coding exercises⌗

Questions about coding mean nothing to me. I find no use, and much less pleasure, in asking people to code live. There are multiple reasons why interviewers may want to go for coding exercises. I would argue that there is nothing in the coding exercise that cannot be asked in plain spoken language. Moreover, there is more value in assesing people can have proper conversations and express their thoughts than in evaluating their coding skills. This is not to say that there’s absolutely no value in assesing coding skills. It is certainly not the most critical skill to asses given the time constraints of an interview process. Ultimately, our jobs, whether we accept it or not, require more talking than actual coding.

Interviews longer than 1h⌗

Nothing else to add. It’s dreadful, tiring, excrutiating, and it brings no value. I find it disrespeectful to keep someone for more than 1h in an interview where you are both constantly evaluting every single word that is spoken, trying to catch anything that may seem weird, or off.

Speaking for the entire interview process⌗

It’s extremely important for me to give the other person time to ask any questions about the job, myself, the team, and the company. It is only fair for the other person to have a chance to evaluate whether I’m someone worth working with, as well as evaluating the team, the company and the tasks.

I will keep adding and editing this post as more thoughts will come to mind.