Ask HN: What was your best interview experience?
I am currently at an early stage startup, and we're having trouble acquiring talent after many final-stage interviews. One of our recent candidates gave us great feedback saying that they did not feel as engaged with our team during the interview process when compared with other companies.
What are that great experiences that you had when interviewing with companies?
6 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 30.9 ms ] threadThat is, no: grilling, brain-teasers, "culture fit" tests; no pre-loaded, condescending "lemme see how dumb/smart this guy is -- because I can tell" vibe -- or other head games of any sort. And for that matter, no "script".
But rather, simply: "Let's look at / talk about your work. How can you help us with our work? BTW, I'm liking the way this conversation is going -- when might you be available?"
To keep things simple: roles/projects opening with discussions following the above model are pretty much the only ones I am interested in pursuing, these days.
Give a general overview of your company first and why you need to hire before asking questions.
Don’t ask for a generalist because that just seems like you don’t know what you want to hire.
Be prepared for the meeting. You can tell a lot about an employer on what they say. Are these questions well thought out? Or is he/she just winging it?
Don’t assume candidates don’t have options and would do anything to work with you. You aren’t Elon Musk.
Be punctual.
And most importantly, be polite even if you don’t think that candidate is right for you. I always warn others if I had a bad experience at a company.