The interview questions you think are stupid. But really not

How many times did you have the opinion that you asked anything, but not what you should have? Maybe you just did not understand the questions. And that's why.

Let's remember the famous question about the penguin.

Now a penguin in a sombrero will enter this door. Why did he come and what will he say?

Although more about this later.
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What for?

What is the deep meaning of the interview? Why do they spend it? You did a test assignment. Good, clean code, correctly commented. About OOP and patterns are not forgotten. Already one foot in the company. So?

Here it is! A cherished letter from the employer! What? Call for an interview? Hm Probably they want to give a subjective assessment. Is adequacy centered? How will adequacy be assessed? Or a mindset? Well, of course, they will ask standard questions.

- “Who do you see yourself in three years in the company?”
- “How would your colleagues characterize you?”


Chasing away all these questions in my head, which are repeated from interview to interview, of course, you will think in advance about the answer options, which is better to say. How not to get confused in the testimony. Yes, and the answers somehow already lined up in line and wait.

It is clear that having come to a small company, where the recruiter, or rather, the technician, conducting the interview, understands little about what to ask and how. Undoubtedly, this is a good specialist in his field, but this is usually not enough.

Preukrasim? Kaesh great experience with people. And difficult puzzles click like nuts. And generally mekamozg inklyuded! So direct and answer!

Will this be true? Or half the truth? Or insolent lie? Will you really continue this company in three years? Or will you start in a month, and take a couple of valuable shots?

Of course, an experienced recruiter will be able to create a psychological portrait. Yes, and non-verbal signs will be difficult to hide in the process of his narration. There are many ways to do this, very sophisticated and fairly accurate. So why all this?

I want to share a story about how being a techlid in one of the startups. Having absolutely no experience (as well as desires) in the field of recruiting, I managed with a high degree of certainty to compose portraits of applicants. And as a result, to assemble an excellent team with excellent specialists.

And what is the trick?

Need to arrange a gap patterns and the brain! Get to the darkest corners of consciousness, asking between the questions "the very questions."

It was a long time ago in a distant section of the habr. It seems last Friday, the year before last. Even before the epic separation and reunification of the habr. But even before the rebranding. There was a publication. With unusual questions that are asked in large and interesting companies.

These questions I began to ask. Slowly thinking about the secret meaning. What are they for?

Well, for example, give a few.

Let's remember the question about the bear?

It is worth the house. All the walls of the house are turned to the north. What color is the bear behind the walls of the house?

Ah this question? Well, it already was. Disagree!

And let's take it a little deeper. What is this question about? What exactly do you want to know from the answer?

Amazing This is a quick IQ test.

A person with a low level of intelligence generally finds it difficult to answer it.

With the middle one, he will understand that it is happening at the pole and say that the bear is white! And this will calm down. And there will be the majority.

But this question was asked for a reason. His goal - the search for "the very" among the hundreds. This question has another level. In the darkest corner of his lurking really the right answer. Try to check yourself and find it.

Well, how was it?


Heard this answer? Need to grab - this is a genius!

But in fact - not yet. It is possible that the answer was read on the Internet.



Let's go further!

The famous question from Google, read on Habré.

How much does it cost to wash all the windows in Samara?

The author of the article even gives the "correct answer" - $ 3 per window. But in reality - no! The author did not enter into the essence of the issue. And as a matter of fact on it my interview would immediately end.

What is this question about?

In fact, this is an attempt to figure out the mindset. Who is it? Manager? Architect? Razrab? About how the search for a solution.

If a person is a manager, then he begins to talk about recruitment, costs, deadlines / stuff. If this is a performer, then he starts trying everything on himself. Actually I did not hear two identical answers. But each time it became absolutely clear what a person could do in a company.

Well, about the question about sambrero and the penguin, perhaps I will write next time.

As a result, large companies abandoned this practice. I also changed the company, which I regret every day. And the whole story has sunk into summer. But it was a very interesting and fascinating experience.