Non-core interview questions

* attention, this is a very controversial and subjective text *

Sometimes interviews can turn into a boring routine and this can badly affect the impression from the candidate, and the candidate's impression of you. For me, interviews have always been an opportunity to learn something new along with the process of assessing a candidate’s knowledge for a particular position. But after all, apart from the highly specialized issues, I also want a candidate to learn a little more. As a rule, HR-service deals with this, but besides the general characteristic, it is important to see how a person thinks and behaves in matters “not about the weather”.

These are some of the questions I ask in an interview to diversify it.

Explain to the child what code obfuscation is, in simple words, so that he understands.

I act as a child myself. Instead of “obfuscation code” there can be any concept, depending on the position. This question helps to see if a person can make the complicated simple. Often you have to communicate with people who are not in the subject of a project or technology in general, and maybe not familiar with computers. As a rule, this skill is most important for managers, but it also does not hurt for other positions. In this case, you often have to tell people not to be shy and not afraid to sound naive or stupid, because the condition clearly states what to explain to the child.
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Strange as it may seem, but managers usually stall, and developers themselves are much more creative and enthusiastic about explanations. I remember two answers:

Obfuscation : “ Imagine that you wrote a note to Mashka in the next sandbox, but so that no one could read it, you shortened all the words, threw out the vowels in a couple of words, replaced some words with a“ poker ”and removed punctuation marks. Everything turned out - no one could read the note ... Masha could not, too, and went to make cakes with Vanya . ”

SSL : “ You need to give apples to a friend, Dima, but around you are bullies who also want apples. Then, instead of passing Dime apples on the street, you enter the house and you give him the apples inside. Then you go out, you are happy, Dima with apples, and the hooligans do not know anything . ”


One of our interview rooms. Nothing extra.

Imagine that you have 1 minute while the CEO of our company is waiting for your drink at the bar. You are not familiar, but you saw him and you need to not miss the chance. Try to interest him so that he will offer you to join his company at the table.

This question was once asked me, and, to be honest, he confused me. This is quite a provocative question and I asked him, as a rule, senior to candidates for managerial positions. There is no clear right answer, it is important here what the candidate will generally do for a minute, what to say and how. 4 out of 5 people get lost, begin to blush, and with them, and I begin to blush because I put them in an awkward position, and here we are, the two of us are sitting red as beetroot and are silent for a full minute, sweating. 1 out of 5 is really trying to get interested in his candidacy, and even this is already excellent, because he is trying to navigate in a very narrow framework, even though he has almost any means available to solve this issue. This is what is important - whether a person will be able to apply complete freedom of action in the solution of one specific task, or will he immediately be lost and give up, saying " I do not know what to say ." The attempt is important.

You have a choice: a million dollars right now, or every subsequent working day for 4 years, you will receive $ 2 more than yesterday — first 2, then 4, 6, 8, 10, and so on. Which option is more appealing to you?

The question helps to see if a person is impulsive in making decisions or not, and in fact the question consists of two parts. Very often they answer that they would take a million and invest it, but if you ask the candidate afterwards “what would you invest in?”, Then a gap occurs. As a rule, people have a very schematic idea of ​​investments and deposits and therefore are lost, answering " I do not know ." You can rephrase this question in more close to reality: " You have a choice: 20 people in a team right now or every week +2 ". Would you, by the way, choose?

A couple of times the candidates answered very clearly and point by point, what they would spend a million on and agreed that the money would run out very quickly - this is a normal point of view, I respect it. But most of all I liked this answer: " I would choose the second option, because then I will know exactly how much money I have in my pocket on any day of my life for 4 years - this is great knowledge ."

Interview me.

The most important question is the request, because this way I find out that a person is interested in work, that he cares in his own field, be it before PHP or testing. Someone asks about technologies, some particular cases with which he came across, and someone asks questions about office life, bonuses, games, and so on. Practically everyone uses this chance to learn something not from HR'a, but from the one who interviews them.

The funniest question I was asked was, perhaps, this one: “ Do you have beautiful girls? I’m married, I don’t need temptations . ”

And finally, the question that I ask the very first, regardless of position:

Why are you here today?

In some ways, this question is similar to the favorite question of HR psychologists “ tell about yourself ”. Strangely enough, but many people stumble on this question and cannot go and formulate the reason why they are sitting opposite or next to me. I first heard this question in an interview conducted by my colleague, and I liked his simplicity.

In response, I expect to hear any reason that prompted a person to come for an interview or even look for a new job. There is no right answer here and for me this question is an indicator of the fact that a person has a certain goal, and not just came to drink a cup of coffee with me. This may be a story about what does not suit the current place or why, along with other companies, the person sent a resume to us.

The most memorable answer to this question was the following, heard from a web developer, also about women: “I started dating a girl, I was sorely lacking money, something more stable than freelancing was needed .”

I am not a HR, but a technical director, but I believe that the technical part of the interview can also be varied, so that the candidate is fun and leaves happy even if it does not suit us. You can draw on the blackboard, you can search for bugs in the live code, and once in the office my cat lived in the interview room for a couple of days and it was the most interesting experience during the interviews.

PS Dear HR, a huge request, do not take these examples as necessary to use. This is just a personal experience and it is worth using it in a very careful dosage. These questions do not exclude people, they are in order to give an idea not only about the level of human knowledge. They are mixed with technical issues and are not decisive.