Interviewing Developers - Boulder Ruby May 2018

This was given at Boulder Ruby on May 16th, 2018 during Boulder Startup Week.

1. Interviewing Developers Marty Haught @mghaught
2. Disclaimer Not a definitive guide Based on our experience A work in progress
3. Background 20 years experience Small to medium teams, especially startups Interviewed 100+ engineers for clients, internally
4. Conducting an Interview
5. Diversity Be inclusive Examine every step of your process Culture add
6. Hiring team Hiring manager Members of the team that is hiring Visionary
7. Rubric List of desired attributes 1 to 5 scale Description to guide scoring Each team member scores
8. Job description Be clear what you’re looking for Informed by your rubric Should include who you are Not too long
9. Process Screening Call Technical Submission Technical Sessions Final Interview
10. Screening call 30 minutes Paint a broad picture of the candidate Sufficient non-technical and technical Should they move forward?
11. Format General background Technical review Overview of HCW Discussion about the position
12. Behavioral questions “Tell me about a time when…” Context (the situation) What they did (the action) Results (the outcome)
13. Behavioral follow-up Ask questions about specific parts Look for detail How much did they do themselves? (vs using ‘we’ too much)
14. Things to look for Why are they on this career path? Why have they left previous jobs? Where do they want to go?
15. Cover your company Vision Values Specifics on the position Expectations
16. Engagement What do they ask about? How do they react to the details of the company and position? Do they express any concerns?
17. Technical Submission Should mimic the kind of work you do What are you testing from the rubric? Timebox the task at 4-6 hours
18. Submit your code Inconsistent across candidates Can't determine how much time was involved Can't tell how much was their effort or design
19. Take home exercise Consistent across candidates Can test advanced coding abilities Can easily mimic real work What questions/clarification do they ask?
20. Review pull request Consistent across candidates Can test advanced coding abilities Can easily mimic real work What do they notice and take issue with?
21. Technical Sessions Vet key technical and non-technical skills Involve the technical members of the team hiring Goal to score the rubric
22. Sessions types In-depth technical question and answer Pairing sessions Whiteboard exercises Logic puzzles
23. Pairing session #1 Typically takes 2 hours Done on candidate’s computer Okay to help but candidate drives Review and extend technical submission
24. Pairing session #2 Different teammate pairs Focus on different skills than #1 Tackle small bug in open source
25. Final interview Cover remaining unknowns Explore career goals Talk in detail about position Anything else before the decision?
26. Making a decisions Compare rubric scores Long term potential vs immediate impact Culture add
27. Recent posts https://robots.thoughtbot.com/updating-our-technical-interview https://haughtcodeworks.com/blog/culture/hiring-remote
28. Interviewing well
29. Research the company What do they do? What are their values? Learn about the team your applying to Who’s interviewing you?
30. Grok the job description Imagine what the job actually entails What will the interviewers look for? How closely do you match that?
31. Write a cover letter Use your research and analysis Explain how you are a great fit Highlight strengths that match position
32. Healthy interviews are there to get to know you and see if you're a fit for their team.
33. Do’s Be yourself Dress for position you want Be professional Practice good nonverbal communication
34. Don’ts Be cocky Appear desperate Throw people under the bus
35. Provide answers Tell a story through your experience Be detailed and specific Be honest and say you don’t know
36. Bring questions What are their values? How will they support you through onboarding? Will you have a mentor? What will you be doing exactly?
37. Technical exercises Be prepared Show how you work Demonstrate you don’t give up
38. Follow-up Send a short and pleasant thank email
39. Thank you! Marty Haught @mghaught Feedback welcome!