When tech candidates interview for a position, they often wonder if they gave the hiring manager the correct information, or answered the questions in a concise and compelling way. For most hiring managers, things are much more clear-cut: when it comes to interview answers, here’s what they want from tech candidates.
Describing a Challenging Project in an Interesting Way
Describing a complex and challenging project in an exciting way is by far the most important evaluation criteria for tech hiring managers. They not only pay attention to the specificity of an answer; they are assessing the candidate’s level of passion. “’Don’t make your story too dry or too technical,’” is how Glenn Pitchford, IT director for Permian Basin Community Centers, advises job candidates. “The way a candidate describes a project he’s most proud of tells me how he feels about his accomplishments and his level of enjoyment and job satisfaction.” What makes a compelling story? Hiring managers, and even technical evaluators, want to see if tech candidates can solve real problems, noted Ron DuPlain, a practicing software engineer and former CTO who serves as partner and recruiter for Myth Talent. “Provide just enough context for others to get it, then let yourself go deep in discussing the engineering challenges,” DuPlain added. He suggests that tech candidates address the following questions:- What was the genesis of the project?
- Did you start with a clear set of requirements, or just a simple objective statement?
- Who was on the team, and what was your role?
- What problems were you solving, and how did you solve them?
- How did you collaborate within the team?
- How did your work impact the success of the wider team?
- What methods did you use to put the project into production?
- How did you evaluate what you built?