job interview ? what's personality got to do with hiring programmers ?
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I am just wondering, do you really say that? If so, how does it go over? I ask because what I have realized is that over the last two thousand year while technology has changed, our ability or lack thereof to communicate remains the same: very hard for some of us (myself included) to learn. Thus it seems this is a timeless question. What I find interesting is: in my case, what has changed with regards to the question is not the question itself, but how I answer it. I have a far more loving answer today at 48 than twenty years ago.
It's how you say it that counts. Stay affable, show humour, display interest in the work (if you're genuinely interested), and any doubts or fears (if you have them) -- bullsh1t might get you a job, but you'll be bloody miserable and probably be let go soon. I always have a good laugh, during interviews, unless it turns out to be a contract that I really don't want. If the people I will have to work with take themselves too seriously, and don't want to laugh, I don't want to work with them. Never go into an interview allowing yourself to be nervous or scared. Thinking "OK, this should be fun!" allows you to open up more, and lets you give good answers immediately (rather than thinking "I wish I'd said that!" later)
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Generally, the content of Fast Company essays leave me slightly nauseous, but, scattered among the bits of this one: [^] ... I am reminded of some real-world experiences I had back in the daze when I was more than just another cubicle-hamster in silicon valley.
Quote:
When it comes to nailing an interview, your personality may play a larger role than you think. According to a recent study conducted by TopInterview and Resume-Library, 70% of employers consider a candidate’s personality to be among the top three factors in deciding whether to extend a job offer. It’s substantially more important than education (18%) or appearance (7%). So, what personality traits will make or break your chances of landing the job? Employers reported that “overconfidence” was the most offensive. However, when asked which personality traits they find the most attractive, they rated “confidence” as the second-most important quality.
Seem a bit contradictory ? Over-confidence/arrogance: yep, seen that one cost a middle-level program manager candidate their chance at a very lucrative position. But, when someone has demonstrated, in their existing software achievements, very high skill levels ... how much does personality come into play ... once you rule out obvious deal-breakers like extreme behavior/conduct ? Of course, I speak of a time before Agile, Scrum: perhaps those "ideologies/religions" make interviewing, today, more focused on personality. ability to interact ? I hate that inevitable question about: "the time when you made a mistake ..." ! For marketers, I'd demand nothing less than perfect abilities to bs :omg:
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
It works both ways, I have interviewed with very inexperienced interviewers who were so nervous that as a young man I was unequipped to deal with that. In that instance, neither has a strong enough personality to make the interview work. In other situations I interviewed with an interviewer who had a really strong personality. It felt like an interrogation, I came out shaking, though I did get the job. It turns out he was doing that on purpose and he was impressed that I did not break down during the interview. In another case I was interviewed by someone who was roughly my equal though he was more mature. The interviews went well, I got the job. So, yes, personality matters, it always will. At least until Robots and AI's are doing the hiring, then it will be one sided, until the applicants are robots and AI's.
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Salaam, Abbas, no smirk intended; i'm just an old whale blowing his spout as he is about to beach himself. i am certain you are a healthy, happy, and productive, young man ! the one thing i try and never underestimate is the ability of individuals to grow and change; at the same time, healthy people can maintain a set of core values that are consistent, and that they/we struggle to defend as we encounter the inevitable speed-bumps on the path of life: loss, disease, hardship, bad luck, family difficulties, etc.etc. Gandhi-ji said: "I want the winds of all cultures to blow around my house, but, I don't want to be knocked over by any of them. Remember what Kabir, and Gandhi said, and forget what bill said :) cheers, bill
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
People learn my imitation of others, rather than their taught learning. In the article (covers more than cooking!) How do people learn to cook a poisonous plant safely? - BBC News[^] we see we are creatures of social habit. We often don't really learn, unless shown, so that we can 'copy'. The hiring methods only need to work adequately, rather than well.
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BillWoodruff wrote:
Seem a bit contradictory ?
Not at all. Confidence is important to communicate with trust, specially if we have multidisciplinary engagements and sometimes, with clients. Confidence is very important to firmly show a point so its absorbed by the audience. Whereas overconfidence is very dangerous and can easily blind the overconfident from the truth (and blind others too) and can also quickly lead to arrogance. When someone is overconfident re-validation of his beliefs do not happen as frequently as they should.
BillWoodruff wrote:
... how much does personality come into play ...
A lot! I for one have experienced a fair share of behavior that can intoxicate a whole team. You mentioned extreme behavior, but the extreme behavior in many ways are silent. Someone that is overconfident may shadow an entire team and enforce the rule of "my way or the highway". I have seem plenty of this happening to teams I participated in and also the ones I had contact with. Some types of behavior can can hinder innovation, demotivate peers and simply steer the team in the wrong direction as if it was right. Teaching skills is much cheaper and faster than changing someone's behavior and also carries a lot less risk to the company. All we need is someone eager to learn and with the right cultural fit in the company and the team.
BillWoodruff wrote:
I hate that inevitable question about: "the time when you made a mistake ..." !
It is a great question! It can tell a lot about the candidate's ability to admit he makes mistakes and how he deals with it. Hiding a mistake can be very costly and have worse consequences than the mistake itself. Learning how the candidate deals with mistakes can tell a lot about his arrogance or humbleness, his ability to react to negative situations, teamwork, ability to learn and adapt. This question alone can help raise lots of flags about the candidate.
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
Confidence? Does that include the confidence to let the interviewer know that you don't want to work with him/her? The most recent interview that I deliberately "flubbed" was with RIM a few years back (shortly before they went bankrupt). I had pretty much decided I did not want to work with the folks that were interviewing me (I thought their interview technique was essentially useless, and they appeared to be having problems with employee retention), when they asked, "How good are you at multi-tasking?" My reply: "I suck at it, and so do you, *especially* if you think you don't." That little truth-bomb was pretty much the end of the interview.
Violinist and Teacher when I'm not writing software...
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Generally, the content of Fast Company essays leave me slightly nauseous, but, scattered among the bits of this one: [^] ... I am reminded of some real-world experiences I had back in the daze when I was more than just another cubicle-hamster in silicon valley.
Quote:
When it comes to nailing an interview, your personality may play a larger role than you think. According to a recent study conducted by TopInterview and Resume-Library, 70% of employers consider a candidate’s personality to be among the top three factors in deciding whether to extend a job offer. It’s substantially more important than education (18%) or appearance (7%). So, what personality traits will make or break your chances of landing the job? Employers reported that “overconfidence” was the most offensive. However, when asked which personality traits they find the most attractive, they rated “confidence” as the second-most important quality.
Seem a bit contradictory ? Over-confidence/arrogance: yep, seen that one cost a middle-level program manager candidate their chance at a very lucrative position. But, when someone has demonstrated, in their existing software achievements, very high skill levels ... how much does personality come into play ... once you rule out obvious deal-breakers like extreme behavior/conduct ? Of course, I speak of a time before Agile, Scrum: perhaps those "ideologies/religions" make interviewing, today, more focused on personality. ability to interact ? I hate that inevitable question about: "the time when you made a mistake ..." ! For marketers, I'd demand nothing less than perfect abilities to bs :omg:
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
The very best programmers I have ever worked with were mildly to severely introverted, and mildly to moderately (high-functioning) autistic. When I started my career as a programmer, I was very slightly introverted, and more than just slightly autistic. As my career progressed, I became more introverted, and less autistic (I think the latter was mostly due to dietary changes). Since I am personally familiar with introversion and autism, if I was interviewing a programmer for a position at my company, I would look for signs of both of those.
Violinist and Teacher when I'm not writing software...
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People learn my imitation of others, rather than their taught learning. In the article (covers more than cooking!) How do people learn to cook a poisonous plant safely? - BBC News[^] we see we are creatures of social habit. We often don't really learn, unless shown, so that we can 'copy'. The hiring methods only need to work adequately, rather than well.
PhilipOakley wrote:
People learn my imitation of others, rather than their taught learning.
If that is true for you, how do you account for the murder of the English language in this sentence :omg:
PhilipOakley wrote:
The hiring methods only need to work adequately, rather than well.
I hope you are joking !
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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PhilipOakley wrote:
People learn my imitation of others, rather than their taught learning.
If that is true for you, how do you account for the murder of the English language in this sentence :omg:
PhilipOakley wrote:
The hiring methods only need to work adequately, rather than well.
I hope you are joking !
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
BillWoodruff wrote:
murder of the English language
As a Yorkshire man living in Scotland, I've yet to find a real English language... ;)
BillWoodruff wrote:
hiring methods... joking !
Semi-seriously, as a Systems Engineer, the idea of the `hiring process` is to have 100% of folks be out of the top 5%, which isn't sustainable across the industry. You get ~50% of folks out of the top ~40% (with the difference being those who don't get the employment ;-). Performance is generally determined by the system that the component is in. It's only when the system has few components that it can be the other way around.
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BillWoodruff wrote:
murder of the English language
As a Yorkshire man living in Scotland, I've yet to find a real English language... ;)
BillWoodruff wrote:
hiring methods... joking !
Semi-seriously, as a Systems Engineer, the idea of the `hiring process` is to have 100% of folks be out of the top 5%, which isn't sustainable across the industry. You get ~50% of folks out of the top ~40% (with the difference being those who don't get the employment ;-). Performance is generally determined by the system that the component is in. It's only when the system has few components that it can be the other way around.
As a Yorkshire man living in Scotland, I've yet to find a real English language... ;)
So, everyone from Yorkshire is retarded in terms of spelling, and grammar ... or, is it bagpipes' related brain damage from living in Scotland ?.
Semi-seriously, as a Systems Engineer, the idea of the `hiring process` is to have 100% of folks be out of the top 5%, which isn't sustainable across the industry. You get ~50% of folks out of the top ~40% (with the difference being those who don't get the employment ;-). Performance is generally determined by the system that the component is in. It's only when the system has few components that it can be the other way around.
You must be part Irish to spout blarney like this.
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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BillWoodruff wrote:
Seem a bit contradictory ?
Not at all. Confidence is important to communicate with trust, specially if we have multidisciplinary engagements and sometimes, with clients. Confidence is very important to firmly show a point so its absorbed by the audience. Whereas overconfidence is very dangerous and can easily blind the overconfident from the truth (and blind others too) and can also quickly lead to arrogance. When someone is overconfident re-validation of his beliefs do not happen as frequently as they should.
BillWoodruff wrote:
... how much does personality come into play ...
A lot! I for one have experienced a fair share of behavior that can intoxicate a whole team. You mentioned extreme behavior, but the extreme behavior in many ways are silent. Someone that is overconfident may shadow an entire team and enforce the rule of "my way or the highway". I have seem plenty of this happening to teams I participated in and also the ones I had contact with. Some types of behavior can can hinder innovation, demotivate peers and simply steer the team in the wrong direction as if it was right. Teaching skills is much cheaper and faster than changing someone's behavior and also carries a lot less risk to the company. All we need is someone eager to learn and with the right cultural fit in the company and the team.
BillWoodruff wrote:
I hate that inevitable question about: "the time when you made a mistake ..." !
It is a great question! It can tell a lot about the candidate's ability to admit he makes mistakes and how he deals with it. Hiding a mistake can be very costly and have worse consequences than the mistake itself. Learning how the candidate deals with mistakes can tell a lot about his arrogance or humbleness, his ability to react to negative situations, teamwork, ability to learn and adapt. This question alone can help raise lots of flags about the candidate.
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
The Dunning-Kruger effect is not about "confidence" as that word is commonly used [^].
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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BillWoodruff wrote:
I hate that inevitable question about: "the time when you made a mistake ..." !
My standard reply to those questions is a variant of "Good Lord! Are we still asking that? Are the 1970s back? I knew I should have worn flares." Sometimes I say 1960's and tie-dye; depends on the ages of the interviewers.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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The Dunning-Kruger effect is not about "confidence" as that word is commonly used [^].
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
It seems similar to the effect when people believe their own lies.
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
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Confidence? Does that include the confidence to let the interviewer know that you don't want to work with him/her? The most recent interview that I deliberately "flubbed" was with RIM a few years back (shortly before they went bankrupt). I had pretty much decided I did not want to work with the folks that were interviewing me (I thought their interview technique was essentially useless, and they appeared to be having problems with employee retention), when they asked, "How good are you at multi-tasking?" My reply: "I suck at it, and so do you, *especially* if you think you don't." That little truth-bomb was pretty much the end of the interview.
Violinist and Teacher when I'm not writing software...
celticfiddler wrote:
Confidence? Does that include the confidence to let the interviewer know that you don't want to work with him/her?
I guess. The moment that you feel you don't want to work with them, you can end the interview right there (you don't need to be impolite) so you stop wasting both people's times.
celticfiddler wrote:
That little truth-bomb was pretty much the end of the interview.
Although I can understand the motivation for having a little bit of fun before ending the interview, I wouldn't do it myself. That's a little bit of my life experience that what goes around comes around.
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
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Generally, the content of Fast Company essays leave me slightly nauseous, but, scattered among the bits of this one: [^] ... I am reminded of some real-world experiences I had back in the daze when I was more than just another cubicle-hamster in silicon valley.
Quote:
When it comes to nailing an interview, your personality may play a larger role than you think. According to a recent study conducted by TopInterview and Resume-Library, 70% of employers consider a candidate’s personality to be among the top three factors in deciding whether to extend a job offer. It’s substantially more important than education (18%) or appearance (7%). So, what personality traits will make or break your chances of landing the job? Employers reported that “overconfidence” was the most offensive. However, when asked which personality traits they find the most attractive, they rated “confidence” as the second-most important quality.
Seem a bit contradictory ? Over-confidence/arrogance: yep, seen that one cost a middle-level program manager candidate their chance at a very lucrative position. But, when someone has demonstrated, in their existing software achievements, very high skill levels ... how much does personality come into play ... once you rule out obvious deal-breakers like extreme behavior/conduct ? Of course, I speak of a time before Agile, Scrum: perhaps those "ideologies/religions" make interviewing, today, more focused on personality. ability to interact ? I hate that inevitable question about: "the time when you made a mistake ..." ! For marketers, I'd demand nothing less than perfect abilities to bs :omg:
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
Nobody wants to work with a dick who's an expert at (e.g.) C++ and is obnoxiously right most of the time. But many people want to work with an easygoing person who's a great teammate with good enough tech skills who's willing and able to become a C++ expert for the good of the team, if that's what's needed. The reality is that "many recruiters prefer candidates having all the desired soft skills (such as good communications) while missing some of the required hard skills (e.g. tech skills) rather than vice-versa. Hard skills training is a lot easier than soft skills training" which is a quote from my blog post on just this topic.
--- Jacob Share Job Search Expert JobMob
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Nobody wants to work with a dick who's an expert at (e.g.) C++ and is obnoxiously right most of the time. But many people want to work with an easygoing person who's a great teammate with good enough tech skills who's willing and able to become a C++ expert for the good of the team, if that's what's needed. The reality is that "many recruiters prefer candidates having all the desired soft skills (such as good communications) while missing some of the required hard skills (e.g. tech skills) rather than vice-versa. Hard skills training is a lot easier than soft skills training" which is a quote from my blog post on just this topic.
--- Jacob Share Job Search Expert JobMob
jakeshare wrote:
Nobody wants to work with a dick who's an expert at (e.g.) C++ and is obnoxiously right most of the time.
Glad to see you have an active fantasy life :omg:
jakeshare wrote:
Hard skills training is a lot easier than soft skills training
I can see why you're a recruiter.
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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jakeshare wrote:
Nobody wants to work with a dick who's an expert at (e.g.) C++ and is obnoxiously right most of the time.
Glad to see you have an active fantasy life :omg:
jakeshare wrote:
Hard skills training is a lot easier than soft skills training
I can see why you're a recruiter.
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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Congratulations on not being a recruiter ! I read your article up until I read:
Quote:
Why are soft skills important? A 1918 study – yes, over 100 years ago – by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford Research Center, found that “85% of a person’s job success is a product of interpersonal (soft) skills and that only 15% of his success is the result of technical knowledge (hard skills).” Does that still hold up today? It certainly feels right, give or take. What is true is that many recruiters prefer candidates having all the desired soft skills while missing some of the required hard skills rather than vice-versa. Hard skills training is a lot easier than soft skills training.
At which point I threw up :wtf:
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali