Tech Interviews

Interviews in the tech industry are always a hot topic, now more than ever with all the layoffs it's important to learn how to stand out. I've interviewed over 100 people in my career, from system design, to algorithms, to behavioral. I can safely say that I have a really good track record for hiring the right people and not once have I regretted the decision. Even when I went out on a limb for someone.

As much as I hate it, early on, some of the decision making was guided by some gut feeling. I used to have a hard time explaining and rationalizing it. I collected my thoughts several times to understand exactly what was the number 1 differentiator that I couldn't express with words. In the end it was mostly about attitude and honesty. When two candidates are equal in this regard, technical knowledge and communication tend to triumph.

One thing I always hated was interviewers pretending like they have never been through the process and not acknowledging how nerve wrecking it can be. That's usually how I start every interview! I know it's difficult and most people can't give their 100% under pressure with a stranger so I try my best to put the candidate at ease so that I can witness the best they can show me.

That said, there are a few things you can't escape in the tech world, the main one is "fluff" in your resume. Things that are there only to give the impression of knowledge that doesn't really exist. I prefer when someone specifies in their resume how much they know about a topic, tool, framework especially if they know little. Otherwise the assumption is that anything on your resume is fair game. If you can't back it up that's a red flag. I have a few examples:

• One candidate put on their resume they had Tensorflow knowledge. When asked about it they said they only played with it but didn't really know much more.
• Another one put on their resume that they were part of some architectural decisions at the company. When asked about it, turns out they were just (and I'm quoting here) "in the same room".

Both could have been framed much better to have a meaningful conversation with me. The first one could have specified that they experimented with Tensorflow so my questions would have been more about thoughts and what they learned, rather than expertise. The other one could have mentioned they applied learnings from major architectural decisions at the company, so I could have asked what they learned rather than digging into major driving factors of these decisions and what role they played. Both cases would have setup the conversation in such a different way that I would have been less hesitant right off the bat. I gave both the chance to change my mind but unfortunately it was a pattern that didn't save them.

Broadly though, it's just a different attitude and openness that will set you up for success. I appreciated much more the person who was upfront about not being familiar with a problem space but still willing to try. At that point it became a collaborative effort of me giving direction but no hints and them reasoning out loud how they would go about it. At the end of the day interviewers look for people they would be excited to work with, they can pick up signals based on how they interact with them. If you're unsure about something that's OK! I was open with an interviewer when I had to deal with some regex. I communicated I would try my best but I would need some trial and error to get a regex right. They were totally ok with it, even gave me a hint and I ended up getting a great offer!

Sometimes pure technical expertise won't get you that far if you can't work with other or won't listen. I remember this one person who was technically really good but could not listen to any requirements and would just go on a tangent and brush off what was asked. This made it incredibly hard to work with them and every interviewer had the same experience, it was difficult to direct them to fit the requirements every step of the way.

Thoughts

The ability to work with and not against your interviewer has always made a big difference in the impression a candidate leaves. Be open and honest like you would be with your teammate. Also understand that it's a two way interview, you're also trying to understand if YOU would like to work with the interviewer who can potentially show bad attitude. Start with putting on your resume things you can discuss in depth, show good attitude when faced with a challenge and leverage all your technical prowess without being too hesitant if you get stuck. Talk it out and sometimes that's just enough to unblock you, other times the interviewer will give you a tiny push tto set you on a better path. So be honest, show good attitude, and back it up with good technical know-how!