Practice This

I am not HR specialist but sometimes I am asked to conduct professional interview. I use Joel On Software simple technique – The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing -  for this purpose which Joel summarizes as follows:

• Introduction
• Question about recent project candidate worked on
• Impossible Question
• C Function
• Are you satisfied?
• Design Question
• The Challenge
• Do you have any questions?

During the interview course I try to simulate different situations from my day-to-day practice with the customers and see how the candidate behaves and reacts. What I am looking is base knowledge of the subject, soft skills, and the ability to maneuver unexpected situations. I really appreciate when the candidate demonstrate depth and breadth knowledge but soft skills are very important. On other hand good behaviors cannot replace subject matter expert.

Above categories help me quickly identify both technical and soft skill of the candidate.

“You’re only as good as the people you hire.” – Ray Kroc