People forget that they will probably spend as much, or even more, time
with the "team" than they will with their spouse. It is very important that
there is a good fit because otherwise, everyone will feel tense or
irritated and that can make the work experience less than ideal.

On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 11:24 AM, Matthew Farwell <[email protected]>wrote:

> I agree with what you say Cedric.
>
> When you interview someone, you need to know if they would be able to do
> the job *and* if they would fit in with the current team.
>
> And this *goes both ways*. Me, as interviewer, I'm seeing if the
> interviewee will fit in with the team and could do the job. You, the
> interviewee are seeing if you want to do the job and if you want to work
> with these people.
>
> Now, when I do an interview, I want to meet the team. And why not? I'm
> going to live quite a lot of my life with them.
>
> Previously, when I was the interviewee, my focus was on 'passing the
> interview'. Now, it's still the same, but now *they* are being interviewed
> at the same time. They have to pass the interview as well.
>
> So I am pleased to eat lunch with the team. I *want* to meet them and talk
> to them.
>
> Matthew Farwell.
>
> Le 16 novembre 2011 18:47, Cédric Beust ♔ <[email protected]> a écrit :
>
> 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.
>>
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www.robertcasto.com
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