Neither I am talking about my first ever interview here nor I am planning to change my job. Stop running your wild imaginations. I am going to talk here about my first experience of being on other side of table. Yes, my first job interview as interviewer rather than seeker.
We had open house for USC and I had to interview 5 candidates on-site on a single day. We (our team) had to plan about this well in advance as it is not easy to judge some one within 45 minutes of meeting and it is even more difficult when you have to interview 5 candidates on single day. We planned, all in advance on Who is going to grill on which topics, so that we make sure we do not repeat the questions. I was given responsibilities of chalking out the questions for technical quiz, which I happily accepted. In addition I had to be ready with "good" questions for my share of on-site interviews, I was supposed to test candidates on my favorite topic i.e. Algorithms and Data Structure. Data Structure and C..are you kidding?? I was sure, I was going to have heck of a day!
Well, to say truth I was very disappointed with the quality of students. Oh boy..can you imagine Master's students who are not able to contemplate the idea of Stack and Strings in C. I was shocked to see candidates scrambling when told to write a simple C program to reverse a C string after being told C is their favorite language.
Here are some of the excerpts from my first interview -
Me: Tell me about yourself?
Candidate: Started with usual stuff...and ended with "I have an OCP (Oracle Certified Professional)
Me: Shouldn't you be looking for job as DBA?
Candidate: In short..I am interested in working as Software Engineer.
I followed with some technical question starting from Data Structures, C to OS and XML. None of the answers were acceptable. And then he says "Sir, I would prefer if you don't ask me questions on Algorithms and Data Structures"
Wow..I could not believe myself hearing this and that too from student pursuing his Master's degree in Computer Science on on-site interview!
I thought may be he is more of DB guy as he had Oracle's Certification. So I start asking him DB related question. And then he says something that was incomprehensible
"Sir, actually I would have preferred you not asking me question on Programming and DB. I think there is some kind of confusion. I am not interested in job as software engineer. I would rather like to interview for QA position."
Are you kidding? Do you think we are stupid to allow you to waste valuable time of our colleague? I wanted to say him that rather we would make sure that you do not get chance to waste a second of ours for your lifetime. And all I could do was pity for that guy's father for wasting fat bucks on his fees at USC.
To add it more, I gave thumbs down for each one of candidates I interviewed. Nor was I tough nor did I do that as an aftermath of first interview. It is just that I did not see anyone fit for the job position. And yes, none of them were hired..and I know most of you would agree with me on the outcome ;)
Current Mood: Satisfied
Current Song: Purani Jeans by Ali Haider
8 comments:
I have taken interviews before and it has always happened with me that I expected more from the candidates than probably what I knew when I was a potential candidate myself for that job..thats strictly a personal observation though..and ofcourse..there were a few outright morons...
I think it is more on the way the candidate tries to solve the prob that I would give points... but apne ko puchta kaun hai.. :)
Sahiye Bidu...bada aadmi ban gaya hai...Interviews le raha hai bachhon ke. Majja aa raha hoega.
Victim: Believe me, I was not expecting high from those candidates. I knew where I stood in interviews when on other side. And yes, I was looking for the methodology rather than exact solution. Neways ;)
Mrinmayee: Bada aadmi to nahi..but that was very worthy experience. Now I know how ppl on other side of table catch the bluff. I would be very careful during my interviews as interviewee..
comments bole to...i will say...what u did was rite..but i think if you would have done the same think in India u would have ended with least one candidate...
Koi desi baccha / gori bacchi nahi the kya? ;)
Hey... didn't notice you were back on blogger! :)
This experience seems interesting...
Sumit: bole to..tera comment dekh ke aacha laga..but I don't agree that necessarily I would have landed up with atleast one candidate if in India [;)]
Mrinal: Desi baccha/bacchi aur chinku tha...no gori[:(] ..nahi to mera count zero nahi hota..he.he..
Priya: Yes, I am back but lets c how long I keep up to it..
bahut dino baad tera blog pad kar accha lag... waise as u know maine aaj tak koi intw nahi diya so i cant comment on that:) but seen people get nervous and cant able to ans the simple ques... so really its difficult job to judge people in such a small time... but if u dont perform at the rt time and rt place then all ur skills are wasted so u cant give execuse of being nervous u have to come out of that and do it...
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