On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 9:09 AM, koczyslaw bydlak <[email protected]>wrote:
> I disagree about lunch interview. for me that is forcing person into a > situation that might be uncomfortable for him. at my current work > place half of the people makes food themself (its cheaper and > healthier). plus as interviewee you don't have a choice. if someone > ask you is "could we do lunch interview?" - can you really say "no"? > you can, but it might cost you the job and you might not get that job, > because you're "not a team player". > > plus being stressed when you are eating is not healthy. I bet it must > be uncomfortable for everybody - its like doing anything first time. > everybody is used to normal interview process and that is hard enough. > we CANNOT prepare for a interview. I was once asked how MsSQL database/ > index files are stored (or something like that). not knowing what you > will be asked is stressful. > > P.S. maybe I'm a little sensitive about job interview, but I just had > one too many. most of them are with morons as interviewers (my > impression). I can only remember few good ones (where I and > interviewer learn something from each other). > This might be part of the problem. An interview is *not* for interviewer and candidate to learn from each other. If you go in with this expectation, you will be disappointed. The people who interview are not here to teach you anything, they are trying to recruit the next member of the team they spend forty hours a week working with. It's a big deal and they need to make sure they are not hiring the wrong person, because such a mistake will have an impact on both their professional and personal lives (working with people you don't like or don't respect will have a negative impact on your mood when you come home at night). That's their only goal. Your only goal should be to impress them. That's it. Not trying to learn from them, not trying to teach them anything, just answer their questions the best you can. As for the lunch thing, as Robert pointed out, interviewing someone is not just about testing their technical abilities but assessing their social fit as well. I would never hire a superstar programmer if I can't enjoy chatting over coffee or lunch with them. The topic doesn't really matter, it might be 100% code or the latest episode of "Dancing with the stars" for all I care, but we both need to be comfortable and feel that the conversation is flowing naturally. Whether you realize it or not, you *are* being interviewed socially every time you are asked questions, and the setting can be either during the technical session on the board (if there is no lunch in the schedule) or in a more relaxed environment such as around a lunch table. There might be a cultural disconnect here and I can't say I'm familiar with the way this is done in Warszawa, but if you end up interviewing with American or American-flavored companies, you should really try to learn to relax and give a good performance while having lunch with potential future coworkers. -- Cédric -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
