Category: Software engineering career tips

What If We ______ Like We Hire Programmers – What Questions Are Appropriate?

Programmers often experience a high degree of frustration during the interview process, and one primary source of annoyance is how the programmer perceives the line of questioning or exercises.  In a buyer’s market where supply exceeds demand, hiring managers will often be a bit more selective in evaluating candidates, and talent evaluators may request or require more specific skill-sets than they would if the talent pool were deeper.  These tactics are short-sighted but deemed necessary in a crunch.

I recently stumbled on two articles with an identical theme.  “If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers” was written in 2004, and “What If Cars Were Rented Like We Hire Programmers” was posted very recently.  The tl;dr of these posts is essentially that programmers being interviewed are asked incredibly esoteric questions or are grilled about experience with irrelevant topics (wood color for carpenters, car wiring for car renters).  The comments sections on Reddit and Hacker News are a mix of agreement, criticism, and various anecdotes about interviews that reflected the articles’ theme.  No analogy is perfect.

There are surely companies that are ‘doing it wrong’ and asking questions that will reveal little about a candidate’s potential as an employee, but I’m getting the sense that many candidates are starting to claim that even appropriate lines of questioning and requests are now somehow inappropriate.  More importantly, it appears that candidates may not understand or appreciate the true value of certain questions or tasks.

To continue the carpenter analogy, let’s look at the types of questions or tasks that would be both useful and appropriate in evaluating either a carpenter or a programmer (or anyone that builds things) for potential employment.

  • Overall experience and training – No one will should argue these.
  • Experience specifically relevant to the project at hand – This is where we may first see some candidates crying foul, particularly if the relevancy of the experience is judged predominantly by the level of experience with very specific tools.  Learning a new programming language is probably not equivalent to learning how to use a different brand of saw, but engineers can sometimes be overconfident about the amount of time required to become productive with a new technology.  The relevancy of experience factors into a hiring decision most when project delivery is valued over long-term employee development.
  • Answer some questions about your craft – When hiring managers ask questions, candidates should keep in mind that there can be a few reasons why a question is asked.  Obviously, one objective may be to truly find out if you know the answer.  However, sometimes the interviewer asks a difficult question simply to see how you may react to pressure.  Another possibility is that the interviewer wants to reveal if you are the type of person who may confidently give a wrong answer to try and fool the interviewer, if you are more likely to admit what you do not know, and to evaluate your resourcefulness by how you would research a problem with an unknown answer.  A genuinely, laugh-out-loud stupid question may be asked to see how well you may deal with frustration with a co-worker or an unruly customer.  Lastly, the interviewer may simply want to see your method of approaching a tough question and breaking it down.  Candidates that are quick to complain about being asked seemingly minute or irrelevant details often overlook the true purpose behind these exercises.
  • Design something – I’m always amazed when candidates call me in a state of shock after being asked to do a whiteboard exercise in an interview, as if these types of requests were either unfair, insulting, or a ‘gotcha’ technique.  Anyone who builds things should be somewhat comfortable (or at least willing) to either visually depict a past design or attempt to design a quick solution to a problem on the spot.
  • Show us how you work alone – Assigning a short task for someone to complete either in an interview setting or at home before/after an interview is absolutely an appropriate request, which candidates can choose to accept or deny.  It is both only an opportunity to demonstrate skills and to further express your interest in the position by being willing to invest time.  Providing a bit more than the minimum requested solution is a valuable method to differentiate yourself from other candidates.
  • Let’s see how you work with a team – As candidates are often hired to build things collaboratively, a short pairing exercise or a group problem-solving activity could be the best way to efficiently evaluate how well one plays with others.
  • Show us some samples – Professionals who build things have the unique interviewing advantage of actually showing something physical that they have built.  A carpenter bringing a piece of furniture to an interview should be no different than an engineer offering a past code sample.  Companies are increasingly using past code as an evaluation tool.
  • References – At some point in the process of evaluating talent, asking for references is a given.  Being unwilling or unable to provide references can make someone unemployable, even if all other tasks are met.

If you go back and reread the articles about the carpenter and rental car interviews, you may have a new perspective on the reasons some questions may be asked.  Think back on some interviews that you have had, and consider whether it’s possible that the interviewer had ulterior motives.  It’s not always about simply knowing an answer.

If you found this article useful, you might find my ebook Job Tips For GEEKS: The Job Search very helpful.  You can also follow Job Tips For Geeks on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter.

Interview Prep For Geeks

Failing an interview due to a lack of qualifications is forgivable, but it is tragic when highly qualified candidates do not get an offer due to being unprepared. With the amount of information freely available today, the time and effort required to prepare for an interview is extremely low and a relatively small investment to make in your career.

Typically a candidate will have at least two or three days advance notice to do some research and prepare for any interview. Here is a checklist of things for technologists to investigate to be sure you are ready for what will come your way.

  • Company intel – Learn as much as you can about the company, and try to have at least one minute of material memorized to answer the “What do you know about us?” question. Be prepared to present on the company history, the products or services the company provides, details on the business model, and the industry itself (competitors, health of the market, etc.). For technologists, the ability to give an eloquent response to the “Describe what the company does” question is a huge asset that should not be overlooked and could be a significant factor in your success. Gathering substantial information on a young company’s funding status or finances might be difficult, but there will generally be at least some info in press releases from venture partners.
  • Tech environment – Get specific details about the technical environment by doing some basic web research, reviewing any available job descriptions or LinkedIn employee profiles, and talking to your recruiter or any appropriate company contacts you may have. What frameworks, languages, databases, operating systems, and hardware are they using? Even if the details aren’t all entirely relevant to your interview, it will show that you are taking this process seriously. Look up any buzzwords or acronyms you don’t recognize so you can at least discover if you may have experience with a related item (“I haven’t worked with ______, but I’m familiar with ________ which appears to be a similar tool/language”).
  • Tech moves – Knowing the company’s current tech details is valuable, but knowing about some of the company’s technical history will show great initiative while also providing potential insight into how the company views technology and makes tech decisions. Has the company made significant changes to their stack, and if so, why? Are they heavily invested in open source? Do they seem closely linked to a specific vendor? Does the company have an engineering blog or a company GitHub account for you to explore that might contain this information?
  • Interviewer intel – Insight into the technical background and past employers of the individual(s) you will meet is a great advantage, as you may have some similar history. Personal GitHub or Twitter accounts? Technical blog posts? A LinkedIn or web search of the interviewer(s) might turn up some helpful details to use during the interview, as long as you use the info wisely. Showing that you did some research displays initiative, as long as you respect personal space.
  • Confirm the basics – Where are you going and who should you ask for when you get there? Who are you meeting with and what is his/her/their role in the company? What is the preferred dress code? (NOTE: Some companies actually ask that candidates dress more casual, so be sure to ask)
  • Prepare questions and anecdotes – Most interviews will provide you with at least a brief opportunity to ask questions. Although you ideally want to have these memorized, it is generally a good idea to have some questions listed so you don’t forget them under possible duress. There are also some fairly standard questions in the “tell me about a time when…” family which are commonly answered with anecdotes. Give some thought to past challenges, failures, and successes, and especially what lessons you learned from each project.
  • Documents – Some companies may ask you to fill out an application and other relevant documents before the interview. Find out if this is the case and if so get those completed before interview day. Make sure to print out at least three copies of your resume and one copy of your list of questions. Think about who you will list as references if asked on the application, and have their info (name, email) available.

Keep in mind that making a solid impression in an interview is something that can make a huge impact down the road, whether or not you get the job. Interviewers remember candidates who impressed, and they absolutely will remember those who crashed and burned as well. Do your homework and take interviews seriously, not just for the sake of getting this job but for opportunities later in your career.

Things Great Engineers (almost) Never Say

My job as a recruiter of software engineers and my 12 years as a user group leader have provided me the opportunity to speak with many talented technologists since entering the business in 1998, and through my interactions I’ve been able to notice several behavioral patterns shared by those that are considered to be the most skilled.  To develop a profile of a candidate I ask many questions that can lead to a variety of answers, and I pay close attention to responses.  Beyond behaviors, there are things that you hear in conversations with less skilled engineers that you don’t hear in talks with the best.  Here is a list of quotes I sometimes will hear, but that I almost never hear from the engineers that are most coveted.

  • “I’ve used _____ but I have no idea how it works” – Great engineers gained their skills through probing and curiosity.  They go ‘under the hood’ of the products they use just to understand how things work, even if that information will never be very useful to them.  It is unclear whether this need to dig deeper is a choice or a compulsion, but it seems that it is a trait of the best talent.
  • “______ works, I just don’t know how to explain it” – Not only do the greats know how things work, but most of them derive genuine pleasure in telling others why and how things work.  This is often true even if the other person doesn’t care to know.  Over the course of my career I’ve listened to engineers talk for thousands of hours, and in almost all cases my conversations with the most talented go much longer.  I actually made a point of scheduling an extra fifteen to twenty minutes on my calendar when I will be speaking to someone who appears to be great on paper, as I know that the person will go deep into some technical details and nuances that will come up in conversation.
  • “I will need ______ (tool/condition) to complete this task” – The masters of development will have the ability to improvise and adjust on the fly to arrive at a solution in non-ideal conditions.  When you hear of engineers being compared to MacGyver they are speaking of this very rare skill.  Greats will figure out a way based on minimal resources and will be aware of alternatives to their first choice of tool.
  • “I’ve learned all I want/will ever need to know about ________ “ – Continuous learning and improvement is probably the most obvious differentiation between the good and the great.  They don’t just get to a high level and then rest.  The best engineers understand that industry progress causes them to never stop learning, and if they are not gaining enough new knowledge in their day jobs they will invest the time to learn during off hours.
  • “There is no solution” – The greats will continue looking at a problem different ways to come up with an answer instead of conceding.  This characteristic can be both a blessing and a curse.
  • “I hate programming” – At times a great engineer will hate their job or employer, but their love of solving problems with code is what brought them to this skill level.
  • “I’m an expert in _____” (when it’s not true, and even sometimes when it is true) – The strongest engineers have no need or desire to lie or exaggerate the depth of their skills.  Much of the great talent will be reluctant to say they are an expert in anything, as they are aware others could know more.
  • “I don’t understand the business” – The stronger engineers will always want to know how their code impacts the employer and is able to describe their contribution and value to the organization.
  • “I don’t pay particular attention to industry trends” – Being both great and relevant (in demand) is only possible if you keep an eye on where the industry is headed.  When speaking to talented engineers, the topic of which new technologies are actually viable and which are a passing phase will often come up.

If you find yourself using any of these lines on a regular basis, give some thought to why.  Quoting one of these lines in a job interview could be a serious mistake.

TALK! It’s An Interview, Not An Interrogation

Several times a year I will get a call or email from a hiring manager telling me that an interview never really ‘went anywhere’ because the candidate seemed either unwilling or unable to dive very deep into technical topics.  It can be impossible for an interviewer to accurately gauge whether the cause was a lack of tech skills or just an inability to communicate those skills, but it really makes no difference as the end result is a rejection.  This observation is probably a bit more prevalent during phone screens, where the parties do not have the advantage of proximity and body language to assist.

Whenever I hear feedback like this from clients, I imagine what the interview may have sounded like:

INTERVIEWER:  Have you worked with Ruby on Rails before?
CANDIDATE:  Yes, I have.
INTERVIEWER:  Could you elaborate on that a little bit?
CANDIDATE:  Yes, I could.
INTERVIEWER:  (VISIBLY ANNOYED)

It brings to mind the old joke (which of course reinforces gender and programmer stereotypes):

A wife asks her computer programmer husband, “Go to the store and get a gallon of milk, and if they have eggs get a dozen.”  A short time later the programmer returns with twelve gallons of milk.  She asks, “Why did you get twelve gallons of milk?” and he responds, “They had eggs.”

In the short two question interview scenario above, the candidate is answering the questions being asked, and the candidate is providing all the information that was being requested.  If you look at the questions in a literal manner (as many engineers tend to do), this candidate may not feel he/she is being dodgy at all.  Just as the programmer in the joke did what his wife asked (by his literal interpretation).

Let’s now look at a brief example of a police interrogation:

INTERROGATOR:  Where were you on the night of the 8th?
SUSPECT:  At home.
INTERROGATOR:  Were you by yourself?
SUSPECT:  No
INTERROGATOR:  Who was with you?
SUSPECT:  My husband.
INTERROGATOR:  WHO WAS WITH YOU??!!
SUSPECT:  My lover!  (CUE SCARY MUSIC)

These answers provide the minimum amount of information the interrogator requested, and a lawyer will probably advise you to keep your answers short and precise during questioning.  The interrogator’s job is to get a suspect to say something that he/she does not want to reveal.

A job interview is not an interrogation, and it is important for candidates to be sure they are not treating it as such.

Keep in mind that interviews, particularly in technology settings, can be awkward situations for participants on both sides of the table.  Most interviewers are at least slightly uncomfortable being placed in a room with a complete stranger for the sole purpose of judging him/her in order to reach some conclusion about whether he/she should be hired, a decision which could greatly impact the life of at least one party (the candidate) or even both parties (if the hire is made).  If an interviewer gives even a small consideration that this stranger may have a family that depends on the income that the job would provide, the potential for an awkward exchange is even more likely.

Most interviewers want to get a dialogue flowing, where the discussion will allow them to evaluate your technical and interpersonal skills.  They want to control and moderate the conversation, but they would like to listen more than they speak.  The candidate’s ability to communicate his/her thoughts will be apparent after a few questions.  At some point most interviewers have to ask themselves, “Would I want to work next to this person every day for several years?”  If the candidate answered their questions in a fashion resembling the Candidate or the Suspect in the samples above, the answer is always “No”.

Some candidates may argue that they have answered the questions as asked, and that if the interviewer wanted more details he/she should have inquired for them specifically (“Tell me about Ruby on Rails experience.”).  This is a valid observation, but it doesn’t solve the problem.  It’s purely a function of conversational English, and it is one reason that chatbots with artificial intelligence may give answers like our Candidate did in the example.

So, I’ll just keep talking and talking to solve the problem?  NOPE.  There is also the possibility that if a candidate answers every question with a long-winded response, he/she may be rejected for not being able to provide succinct answers.  Managers are often unwilling to hire someone who they feel is unable to express themselves efficiently, and in the case of software engineers you may hear, “Being that chatty, I can’t imagine what his/her code (comments) looks like!‘

How do I appear to be open, honest, and transparent without sounding chatty?  How do you avoid being labeled as unable or unwilling to answer interview questions?

  • Don’t take every question literally – Remember that a good interviewer is trying to engage you in a dialogue and an exchange of ideas.
  • Pause before answering – Some candidates seem programmed to immediately start talking after a question is asked, and then find that they haven’t really answered the question.  Taking a moment to reflect on the question and to organize your thoughts gives the appearance that you are making an effort to supply a strong answer and that you are not impulsive.  A little white space does not have to be an uncomfortable silence.
  • Pause after answering –  If the interviewer does not respond with a follow-up after a few seconds, he/she may be waiting for you to go deeper.  Ask if he/she is satisfied with your answer and offer to continue with more information if necessary.  “Would you like some more details on that?“
  • Ask questions to clarify what type of answer is expected – If you are asked a question where there could be both an acceptable short answer (yes/no) or a longer answer (details), give the short response and offer the interviewer more.  “Yes, I have used Ruby on Rails.  Would you like me to discuss my experience further?“
  • At the end of the interview, ask the interviewer if they have any other questions that will help them make their decision. Invite them to contact you in the coming days if any additional information is required or if they would like any clarification on the answers you provided.

Go into the interview with the goal of having a conversation which should put the interviewer at ease.  Be willing to follow the interviewer into any direction the discussion may take, and ask questions so you know that you are on the same page.

If you found this post useful, you may find my ebook Job Tips For GEEKS: The Job Search even more helpful.  You can follow Job Tips For Geeks on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Overqualified is Overdiagnosed

I’ve been inspired by comments on prior articles to discuss the sensitive topics of ‘overqualification’ and ageism. My Why You Didn’t Get The Job and Why You Didn’t Get The Interview posts were republished on a few sites, resulting in some active debates where at some point a participant states that the real reason that they weren’t hired was that they are overqualified for all the jobs out there, or they were victims of ageism. In my opinion and experience recruiting in the software engineering world, the term overqualified is used too widely by companies (and then inaccurately cited by rejected candidates), and  claims of alleged ageism are often something else entirely.

Before we begin, I acknowledge that companies want to hire cheaper labor when possible, and some shops care less about quality products than others. And for the record, I’m over 40.

By saying you are overqualified for jobs, what are you really saying? “I am more skilled or more experienced than the job requires.” That feels kind of good, doesn’t it?

SPOUSE:  How did the interview go?
JOB SEEKER:  I didn’t get the job.
SPOUSE 1:  Oh, I’m sorry.  What happened?
JOB SEEKER:  Unfortunately, it turns out my skills are simply too strong.

Of course rejection hurts, but to tell your spouse (and yourself) that you were turned down because you were too skilled or too experienced is much less bruising on the ego than the alternative. For companies looking to eliminate candidates, using the word overqualified may take some of the sting and fear of retribution out of the rejection. But is it true?

Think about this scenario for a second.  You are trying to hire a software developer and you estimate that someone with say five years of experience should be able to handle the duties effectively. A candidate is presented with fifteen years of experience that has all the attributes you are seeking. This person should theoretically perform the tasks quicker and even take on some additional workload. Do you really think a company would not hire this person simply because he/she has those additional years of experience? I would argue that is rarely the case.

Question:  Is ‘overqualified’ a code word used by managers/HR to mean other things?
Answer:  ALMOST ALWAYS

What can overqualified actually mean?

(listed in order from most likely to least likely, IMO)

  • Overpaid/over budget – If your experience > what is required, it generally becomes a problem when your salary requirements are above what is budgeted. It’s not that you are classified as overpaid in your current role, but that you would be overpaid for the level of responsibility at the new job. I list this as the most likely culprit because I often see companies initially reject a candidate as overqualified, then hire that same person because of a lack of less experienced quality talent.
  • Stagnant – Candidates who have worked for many years as a developer in a technically stagnant and regulated environment will often not thrive in less regulated, more technically diverse firms. The conventional wisdom, right or wrong, is that you can’t release the zoo lions back into the jungle once they’ve been tamed.
  • ‘Overskilled’ – If your skills > what is necessary for the job, an employer may fear that the lack of challenges provided will bore you into looking for more interesting work in the future. Hiring a tech lead to do bug fixes could lead to a short stint. There is emerging evidence that shows skilled workers do not exit less challenging jobs quickly or in high numbers, but hiring managers are not quite ready to abandon the traditional line of thinking.
  • Threatening – If your experience > those conducting the interviews, there could be some fear that you could be a competitor for future opportunities for promotion. If a start-up is yet to hire a CTO, the highest geek on that firm’s food chain may be jockeying for the role. This may sound a bit like a paranoid conspiracy theory, but I genuinely believe it is prevalent enough to mention.
  • Too old – Ageism is a real problem, but in my experience in the software world, ageism is also widely overdiagnosed by candidates who think the problem is their age when in actuality it is their work history. Most of the self-diagnosed claims of ageism that I hear are from candidates who spent perhaps 20+ years working for the same company and have not focused on keeping their skills up to date (see stagnant above). I can’t say that I’ve ever heard a claim of ageism from a candidate that has moved around in their career and stayed current with technology. The problem often isn’t age, it is relevance.

Some of the best and most accomplished/successful software engineering professionals that I know are over 50, which is older than some of the candidates I hear claiming possible ageism. One trait that the overwhelming majority of these engineers have in common is that they didn’t stay in any one place for too long to stagnate. I don’t think that is a coincidence.

If you are an active job seeker that is continuously hearing that you are overqualified, what can you do to improve your standing?

  1. Rethink – Try to investigate which of the meanings of overqualified you are hearing most often. Is your compensation in line with what companies are paying for your set of qualifications? Do you present yourself in interviews as someone who may become easily bored when your work is less challenging? Are you making it clear in interviews that you want the job, and you explain why you want the job?
  2. Retool – Make sure your skills are relevant and being sought by companies. Invest time to learn an emerging technology or developing some niche specialty that isn’t already flooded.
  3. Remarket – Write down the top reasons you think a company should hire you, and then check to see if those reasons are represented in your job search materials (resume, email application, cover letters). Find out what was effective for your peers in their job search and try to implement new self-promotion tactics.
  4. Reboot and refresh – Take a new look at your options beyond the traditional career paths. Have you considered consulting or contracting roles where your guidance and mentoring skills could be justified and valued for temporary periods? Are there emerging markets that interest you?

Terms like ‘overqualified’ and ‘not a fit’ are unfortunately the laziest, easiest, and safest ways that companies can reject you for a position, and they almost always mean something else. Discovering the real reason you were passed up is necessary to make the proper adjustments so you can get less rejections and more offers.

Blind Dating for Geeks: Questions Candidates Should Ask (and when to ask them) During Interviews

After a few ‘Questions Candidates Ask In Interviews’ themed articles appeared in my Twitter stream, I was reminded of an article I wrote two years ago called ‘Best Questions To Ask The Interviewer, And When To Ask Them‘.  I think one key element missing in the new articles is the ‘when to ask them’ detail that I feel is incredibly important.  Also, being that JobTipsForGeeks is aimed at technology professionals, there are some nuances that do not apply to other industries.

Why is the timing of when the questions are asked important?  An interview is nothing more than a blind date, with the goal on both sides being to find out if you want to start seeing each other in a somewhat committed fashion.  You want to discover as much as you can about the other party, but first you have to set a positive tone and build trust. We surely would want to find out if our blind date is, say, a serial killer – but leading off with the ‘Are you a serial killer?’ question would seem rude, and we probably wouldn’t get an honest answer anyway.

Below is a list of the best questions to ask in chronological order.  Please keep in mind that you would need to restart from the beginning for every new person that you meet in situations where you meet with multiple participants individually.  You may not be afforded the opportunity to ask all the questions based on time constraints, so use at least one question from the first section for each person and try to use all the questions at least once at some point in the process.

Setting a positive interview tone
OR
Cocktails and light conversation

Question: “What is your background and how did you come to work for COMPANY?”
Reason to ask it:  Most people genuinely like to talk about themselves (those that do not share this trait will probably not be in the interview), so give them a chance to do so. Don’t be afraid to toss in some remarks and perhaps a follow-up question regarding their background if appropriate.  You may learn that you have some shared history with this person that could give you a potential ‘in’.

Question: “What do you like best about your job and about working for COMPANY?”
Reason to ask it: This question serves two purposes. First, it gives the employee the opportunity to speak well of the company, which again will give an initial positive vibe to your dialogue. Secondly, what the employee chooses to say they like best can be quite telling. If their answer is ‘environment’, ‘work/life balance’ or ‘the people’, that is a universal positive. If the response is ‘the money’ or ‘vacation time’, you may want to dig deeper to find out why.

BONUS Question:  (If possible, find a fairly recent newsworthy item about the company that is both appropriate and positive, and ask an insightful question about it)
Reason to ask it:  This shows that you have done your homework before the interview and that you want to be taken seriously as a candidate.  This is something that you want to fully research to prevent making a huge mistake that would make recovery impossible.

Discovery
OR
Gentle interrogation of your date during dinner

Question: What are the biggest challenges you face?
Reason to ask it: The reason for using the word ‘challenges’ is that it does not have a negative connotation, whereas asking someone for the ‘worst’ element of their job will not give a positive impression.  The answer here will start to create an image of what this company is going through today and what the landscape is for tomorrow.  At a start-up, you may hear answers about financial challenges, limited resources and a fast pace.  Some industries are known for heavy regulation getting in the way of progress.  This is all valuable information.

Question: What would the typical day be like for me at COMPANY?
Reason to ask it: You may get an answer that gives you tangible insight into work/life balance (‘I usually get home in time to watch Jimmy Fallon’), how much of your day may be spent coding or doing other duties, how many meetings you may be pulled into, etc.

Question: What was your career path here and what is a typical career path for my role at COMPANY?
Reason to ask it: Find out if they promote from within and if there are separate technical and non-technical/pure management tracks.  Will you be forced into a management role?

Question: How would you describe the environment?
Reason to ask it:  Asking an open-ended question like this could lead in several directions.  You should be able to ascertain if it is cut-throat or cooperative, how much support is given to technologists, and whether you will be expected to work with teams or as a solo entity.

Question: Management styles? Development processes and methodologies in place?
Reason to ask it:  Engineers preferences for structure vary greatly.  Be sure to drill down to get the best understanding of whether their practices are aligned with your views.

Question: Tech stack?
Reason to ask it: If their answer is a list of products and technologies that are severely dated, it could mean the company doesn’t invest in or even investigate the latest and greatest.  Conversely, if they seem overly concerned with bleeding-edge, perhaps they are making tech decisions based on cool factor more than quality.  Be sure to listen for what can be telling patterns, such as an abundance of tools from a particular vendor or a wide variety of open source tools.  This question also gives you an opening to discuss your experience (and preferences) relevant to their stack.

Question: Why is this position open?
Reason to ask it: Growth or promotion are the two most desirable answers. Perhaps this position is a launching board into higher level positions, or maybe it is a dead-end that will burn you out.

Closing the deal
OR
Last call and the drive home…

Question: What qualities/background do you think would be key to making someone successful in this position?
Reason to ask it: During that last set of questions, some negative topics could have surfaced.  This gets things back on the positive side before the end, as well as giving you more info on whether you would be hitting the ground running or may require some learning curve. (NOTE: This question could also be used as an ice breaker early on)

Question: What projects are just getting ramped up or are on the horizon?
Reason to ask it: Interviewers will enjoy discussing new endeavors that they think you will find most interesting. If they talk about fixing bugs and maintenance, chances are that is what you will be doing in this job for the foreseeable future.  Ideally, the interviewer’s excitement should be palpable.

Question: Where do you see yourself in five years here at COMPANY?
Reason to ask it: This question is generally asked of candidates, so turning that around should provide insight into how he/she really feels about the firm and their prospects. Again, it lets the interviewer talk about himself/herself again in a positive fashion, and if the interviewer has a sense of humor expect an attempt to use it on this question.

The Conclusion
OR
Goodnight

Question:  Is there anything else I can answer for you or any more information I can provide to help you in your decision?
Reason to ask it:  It shows you are forthcoming and trying to be helpful.

Question:  I am very interested in this opportunity (or similar sentiment).  When do you expect COMPANY might be making a decision?
Reason to ask it:  Showing interest is vital, and asking about their timing could lead to information on other candidates.  It also may prompt them to ask about your availability to start, which is an obvious buying sign.  You want to do this is with as little pressure as possible.

Close by thanking the interviewer for taking the time to speak with you and tell him/her that you look forward to the next steps.  Good luck.

Why You Didn’t Get the Interview

After reading the tremendous response to Why You Didn’t Get the Job (a sincere thanks to those that read and shared the post) I realized that many of the reasons referenced were specific to mistakes candidates make during interviews. At least a handful of readers told me that they didn’t get the job because they didn’t even get the interview.

With a down economy, most of us have heard accounts of a job seeker sending out 100, 200, perhaps 300 résumés without getting even one response. These anecdotes are often received by sympathetic ears who commiserate and then share their personal stories of a failed job search. To anyone who has sent out large quantities of résumés without any response or interviews, I offer this advice:

The complete lack of response is not due to the economy.  The lack of response is based on your résumé, your experience, or your résumé submission itself.

My intent here is to help and certainly not to offend, so if you are one of these people that has had a hard time finding new work, please view this as free advice mixed with a touch of tough love. I have read far too many comments lately from struggling job seekers casting blame for their lack of success in the search (“it wasn’t a real job posting”, “the manager wasn’t a good judge of talent“, etc.), but now it’s time to take a look inward on how you can maximize your success. I spoke to a person recently who had sent out over 100 résumés without getting more than two interviews, and I quickly discovered that the reasons for the failure were quite obvious to the trained eye (mine). The economy isn’t great, but there are candidates being interviewed for the jobs you are applying for (most of them anyway), and it’s time to figure out why that interview isn’t being given to you.

If you apply for a job and don’t receive a response, there are only a few possibilities as to why that are within our control (please note the emphasis before commenting). Generally the problem is

  1. a mistake made during the résumé submission itself,
  2. problems with the résumé, or
  3. your experience

Qualified candidates that pay attention to these tips will see better results from their search efforts.

Your Résumé Submission

Résumés to jobs@blackholeofdeath – The problem here isn’t that your résumé or application was flawed, it’s just that nobody has read it. Sending to hr@ or jobs@ addresses is never ideal, and your résumé may be funneled to a scoring system that scans it for certain buzzwords and rates it based on the absence, presence and frequency of these words.  HRbot apocalypse…
Solution – Do some research to see if you know anyone who works/worked at the company, even a friend of a friend, to submit the résumé. Protip:  Chances are the internal employee may even get a referral bonus. LinkedIn is a valuable tool for this. Working with an agency recruiter will also help here, as recruiters are typically sending your information directly to internal HR or hiring managers.

Follow instructions – If the job posting asks that you send a cover letter, résumé, and salary requirements, this request serves two purposes. First and most obviously, they actually want to see how well you write (cover letter), your experience (résumé), and the price tag (salary requirements). Second, they want to see if you are able and willing to follow instructions.  Perhaps that is why the ad requested the documents in a specific format? Some companies are now consciously making the application process even a bit more complicated, which serves as both a test of your attention to detail and to gauge whether applicants are interested enough to take an extra step. Making it more difficult for candidates to apply should yield a qualified and engaged candidate pool, which is the desired result.
Solution – Carefully read what the manager/recruiter is seeking and be sure to follow the directions exactly. Have a friend review your application before hitting send.

Spelling and grammar – Spelling errors are inexcusable on a résumé today. Grammar is given much more leeway, but frequent grammatical errors are a killer.
Solution – Have a friend or colleague read it for you, as it is much more difficult to edit your own material (trust me).

Price tag – As you would expect, if you provide a salary requirement that is well above the listed (or unlisted) range, you will not get a response. Conversely and counterintuitively, if you provide a salary requirement that is well below the range, you will also not get a response. Huh?

Suppose you want to hire someone to put in a new kitchen, and you get three estimates. The first is 25K, the second is 20K, and the third is 2K. Which one are you going to choose?  It’s hard to tell, but I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to use the one that quoted you 2K. Companies want to hire candidates that are aware of market value and priced accordingly, and anyone asking for amounts well above market will not get any attention.
Solution – Research the going rate for the job and be sure to manage your expectations based on market conditions.  Another strategy is trying to delay providing salary information until mutual interest is established. If the company falls in love, the compensation expectation might hurt less. There is some risk of wasting time in interviews if you do not provide information early in the process, and most companies today will require the information before agreeing to an interview.

Canned application – By ‘canned’ I am referring to job seekers that are obviously cutting and pasting content from previous cover letters instead of taking the time to try and personalize the content.
Solution – Go to the hiring firm’s website and find something specific and unique that makes you want to work for that company. Include that information in your submission.  If you are using a template and just filling in the blanks (“I read your job posting on _____ and I am really excited to learn that your company _____ is hiring a ______”), delete the template now. If you aren’t willing to invest even a few minutes into the application process, why should the company invest any time learning about you?

Too eager – If I receive a résumé submission for a job posting and then get a second email from that candidate within 24 hours asking about the submission, I can be fairly sure that this is an omen. If I get a call on my mobile immediately after receiving the application ‘just to make sure it came through‘, you might as well just have the Psycho music playing in the background. Even if this candidate is qualified, there will probably be lots of hand-holding and coaching required to get this person hired. Reasonably qualified candidates with realistic expectations and an understanding of business acumen don’t make this mistake.
Solution – Have patience while waiting for a response to your résumé, and be sure to give someone at least a couple/few days to respond. If you are clearly qualified for a position, you will get a reply when your résumé hits the right desk. Pestering or questioning the ability of those that are processing your application is a guarantee that you will not be called in.

Your Résumé

Your objective – If your objective states “Seeking a position as a Python developer in a stable corporate environment“, don’t expect a callback from the start-up company looking for a Ruby developer. This applies even if you are qualified for the job! Why doesn’t the company want to talk to you if you are qualified? Because you clearly stated that you wanted to do something else. If you put in writing that you are seeking a specific job, that information must closely resemble the job to which you are applying.
Solution – You may choose to have multiple copies of your résumé with multiple objectives, so you can customize the résumé to the job (just be sure to remember which one you used so you bring the correct résumé to the interview). As there may be a range of positions you are both qualified and willing to take, using a ‘Profile’ section that summarizes your skills instead of an ‘Objective’ is a safer alternative.

Spelling and grammar (again) – see above

tl;dr – To any non-geek readers, this means ‘too long; didn’t read‘. To my geek readers, many of you are guilty of this. I’ve written about this over and over again, but I still get seven page résumés from candidates. I have witnessed hiring managers respond to long-winded résumés with such gems as ‘if her résumé is this long, imagine how verbose her code will be‘. (Even for non-Java candidates!  #rimshot) Hiring managers for jobs that require writing skills or even verbal communication can be extremely critical of tl;dr résumés.
Solution – Keep it to two or three pages maximum. If you can’t handle that, get professional help.

Buzzword bingo – This is a term that industry insiders use to refer to résumés that include a laundry list of acronyms and buzzwords. The goal is to either catch the eye of an automated search robot (or human) designed to rate résumés based on certain words, or to insinuate that the candidate actually has all the listed skills. Software engineers are probably more guilty of this than other professionals, as the inclusion of one particular skill can sometimes make the difference between your document being viewed by an actual human or not. When candidates list far too many skills buzzwords than would be reasonably possible for one person to actually know, you can be sure the recruiter or manager will pass based on credibility concerns.
Solution – I advise candidates to limit the buzzwords on your résumé to technologies, tools, or concepts that you could discuss in an intelligent conversation. If you would not be comfortable answering questions about it in an interview, leave it off.

Your Experience

Gaping holes – If you have had one or more extended period of unemployment, hiring managers and recruiters may simply decide to pass on you instead of asking about the reasons why. Perhaps you took a sabbatical, went back to school full-time, or left on maternity leave. Don’t assume that managers are going to play detective and figure out that the years associated with your Master’s degree correspond to the two year gap in employment.
Solution – Explain and justify any periods of unemployment on your résumé with as much clarity as possible without going into too many personal details. Mentioning family leave is appropriate, but providing the medical diagnosis of your sick relative is not.

Job hopping – Some managers are very wary of candidates that have multiple employers over short periods of time. In the software world it tends to be common to make moves a bit more frequently than in some other professions, but there comes a point where it’s one move too many and you may be viewed as a job hopper. The fear of hiring a job hopper has several roots.  A manager may feel you are a low performer, a mercenary that always goes to the highest bidder, or that you may get bored after a short time and seek a new challenge. Companies are unwilling to invest in hires that appear to be temporary.
Solution – If the moves were the result of mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, or a change in company direction, be sure to note these conditions somewhere in the résumé. Never use what could be viewed as potential derogatory information in the explanation. Clearly list if certain jobs were project/contract.

Listed experience is irrelevant/unrelated – This could be a symptom of simply being unqualified for the position, or it could be tied to an inability to detail what you actually do that is relevant to the listed job requirements. I would suspect that most of the aforementioned people (that received no responses to 100 submission) probably fall into the unqualified category, as job seekers tend to feel overconfident about being a fit for a wider range of positions than is realistic. Companies expect a very close fit during a buyer’s market, and are willing to open up their hiring standards a bit when the playing field starts to level.
Solution – Be sure to elaborate on all elements of your job that closely resemble the responsibilities listed in the posting.  Instead of wasting time filling out applications for jobs that are clearly well out of reach, spend that time researching jobs that are a better match for you.

You are overqualified – The term ‘overqualified’ seems to be overused by rejected applicants today, as there is no real stigma to the term. It’s entirely comfortable for a candidate to say/think “I didn’t get the job because I possess more skills at a higher level than the employer was seeking“. When a company is seeking an intermediate level engineer, it isn’t always because they want someone earlier in their career than a senior level engineer (although in some cases this could be true). Rather, they want the intermediate level engineer because that is what their budget dictates or they expect that senior engineers would not be challenged by the role (and therefore would leave). There are also situations where companies will not want to hire you because your experience is indicative that you will only be taking this job until something better comes along. A CEO applying for a job as a toll collector will not be taken seriously.
Solution – Be sure that your résumé accurately represents your level of skill and experience. Inflating your credentials or job titles will always work against you.

Conclusion

The time you spend on your job search is valuable, so be sure to use it wisely. Invest additional effort on applications for jobs that you feel are a great fit, and go above and beyond to be sure your submission gets attention. As a general rule of thumb, you want to be sure that whoever receives your résumé will get it into the hands of someone who has a similar job to the one you want, not just someone trained to look for buzzwords. Employees that have similar experience will be the best judges of your fit. If you aren’t getting the response you want, do not keep using the same methods and expecting a different result.

coverpicsmallestIf you found this post useful, you may find my ebook Job Tips For GEEKS: The Job Search even more helpful.  You can follow Job Tips For Geeks on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.