Given the stress of software development, should the job interview for a developer position be kind and gentle, or should it challenge candidates to show their stuff? Common sense says the latter. Yet the typical interview goes easy on the candidate. In this article, I'll show why that tactic doesn't work -- and I'll give you an alternative approach that does. The classic interview In the typical scenario, interviewers start by asking candidates to recap their resume. Then come inquiries about specific projects they've worked on and which languages and protocols they understand. Candidates who spout the right buzzwords and acronyms with a certain air of authority tend to convince interviewers they know enough to perform the job. Typically, candidates will repeat this conversation with two or three people, gaining confidence with each interview that they're answering the questions correctly and will be offered a job. Frankly, I think that this is one of the worst ways to interview candidates for a software development position. Most of these positions are high-stress, deadline-oriented, bug-fixing endless loops. Developers are always scrambling to meet a project or product delivery. This is why software deadlines are never on Friday, always on Monday -- so that we have the weekend just in case we need it. Given the stress of a job like this, why do we persist in giving candidates a kind and gentle interview? What you're trying to learn The goals of an interview are simple: At the end of an interview, you need to know whether:
- The candidate is actually competent in the required skills.
- Sufficient chemistry exists between the candidate and the rest of the team.
- The stress of the job will break the individual.
- The candidate can think clearly about problems and work toward solutions.
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Talkback
This article presents one valid tip for interviewing ... reciting work history with confidence doesn't necessarily make you a good candidate.
This is obviously only a small fraction of the larger interview process to ensure you get quality candidates on board. I actually put together a blog outlining many more interview strategies:
http://www.customsoftwarebypreston.com/software-developer-interview
Thanks,
Brett Miller