When engineering candidates come onsite, we usually schedule them so that they jump right into technical interviews, rather than having a meeting with a recruiter first. It's expected that they will have talked to the recruiter over the phone already, and given limited HR resources, it makes more sense for the candidate to get a wrap-up meeting than an intro meeting.
Today, I was the first person on an interview schedule, and apparently the candidate thought I was an HR person, until I started asking him technical questions. Envision this:
| me: | How was your flight? Did you come in yesterday? |
|---|---|
| him: | Good, yeah I got in yesterday evening. |
| me: | So, do you want anything to eat or drink? |
| him: | Sure, I'll have a coffee, thanks. |
| me: | Here you go. Okay, so how would you reverse a linked list? |
| him: | Eh?? |
I'm not sure what to take away from that experience. Maybe I should stop making small talk with candidates. Maybe I should make sure to wear clothes with big MIT logos. Or maybe I should just be amused.
1 comment:
Introduce yourself! My first words to a candidate are usually:
"Hi! My name is ______, and I'm a software engineer on the ______ team. I've been here at ______ for about ______ years/months."
This helps set the context of the interview for the candidate.
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