Wait, What? Your Tech Interview Was Fun?
Sometimes, hiring teams in the tech industry do it right. These are some of my experiences, and what we can all learn.
Suppose you ask anyone to recall their most memorable job interview. In that case, chances are they will tell you a horror story. The interviewer was late and didn’t read the resume; they asked cliché questions that never had a correct answer; they insisted on showing off the one dark-skinned employee to convince you that “we care about diversity!”. I have often had experiences like those and have heard about them.
Would it surprise you that, according to Talent Board’s 2021 North American candidate experience report, resentment after the application process went up from 8% in 2020 to 14% in 2021? At the same time, the percentage of job candidates reporting “great” candidate experiences went down from 31% in 2020 to 30% in 2021. Talent Board’s benchmark research included 132 companies that completed the two qualifying rounds and 135,000 candidates that completed a survey. Tech companies comprised 11% of all organizations in the study, so results are probably skewed towards other industries. However, my experience of 20+ years and the number of anecdotes found online make me believe these results closely represent interviewing in tech.
In North America, job candidate resentment went up from 8% in 2020 to 14% in 2021.
The candidate experience involves the complete pipeline from submitting a resume to getting a rejection or job offer. Still, in this article, I will focus on the interview step. Employers achieve a positive face-to-face or phone interview when the candidate takes away something of value from the discussion and when candidates will be happy even if they don’t get an offer. You accomplish that when you prepare and genuinely conduct a meaningful conversation.
Not often do we hear or share positive interviews, so here are some of my experiences that serve as specific examples:
When I didn’t realize the interview had started.
From a job interview, I got my copy of Ready Player One, the #1 New York Times best-seller adapted to a film that grossed $582 million worldwide.
It was the end of 2014. One of the companies I was interviewing with was High Fidelity, at that time a stealth virtual reality startup from Philip Rosedale. Philip founded Second Life (SL), the highly popular metaverse built and released in the early 2000s and the subject of multiple documentaries, like Life 2.0.
By that time, I had been a Second Life user for years. I taught a games development class, conducted research, led the development of alternate reality games using SL’s scripting engine, and even on a personal level, I attended mental health support group sessions. So, I couldn’t contain my excitement at the prospect of talking to Philip for my final interview.
He welcomed me to his office, and I noticed how well he reacted to my enthusiasm. I didn’t feel a self-aggrandizing attitude or that he was uncomfortable. We immediately started talking about metaverse, immersive technologies, and their development. I asked a million questions, but he also took the time to ask and listen. It was a great, enjoyable, geeky conversation. After a while, I apologized for taking a long time to chat and not allowing him to start the interview. He replied, “we just had the interview.” I enjoyed talking so much that I didn’t realize he was interviewing me.
When we said goodbye, Philip asked if I had read Ready Player One. I replied no. He grabbed a copy from his bookshelf and gave it to me; “you should read it.”
I was happy and thankful for the experience. I had a meaningful talk with a metaverse pioneer and got a great book.
When they helped me improve my resume even though I wasn’t suitable for the job.
The interviewer kindly told me I was not a fit, but I could still ask any questions. I said, “since I know I won’t make it and want to keep applying, would you give me advice on improving my resume?”
And he did! He spent the rest of the time teaching me a different layout and why it would be more efficient, when to use and not use bold or italics, and even how to rewrite some parts to make them more understandable.
A frequent piece of advice I have seen in articles is to not tell the candidate about your decision until later in the process. But I appreciate it when they tell me immediately so I can save time and move on. And in this case, I additionally got a free resume writing class from a real-life employer.
When they gracefully rejected me.
The first time I applied to DreamWorks Animation (DWA), I had a phone interview with a tech lead in the geometry team. My mistake was not becoming familiarized with the animation industry pipeline and concepts, so I didn’t pass.
The recruiter called me to let me know I wouldn’t move forward; he was polite and didn’t rush. And I got a hand-written DWA postcard in the mail, which made my day.
The company didn’t just discard me but took the time to encourage me to apply again. Plus, the hand-written postcard was a unique gesture.
When the global head of recruitment, a woman, said something unexpected.
When I applied to Unity Technologies in 2015, my last interview was with Anne Evans, then the Global Talent Acquisition Vice President.
First: A woman! A woman was the global head of one of the most critical units. And secondly, Anne told me that one principle she made her employees follow is not to look for “cultural fit” when hiring; what they were looking for is “cultural add,” meaning how does this person expand and improve the workplace?
After that conversation, I wanted to work with such a talented woman that fights clichés. I have sincere professional respect for Anne. And the company wasn’t just saying “we care about diversity”; they showed me concrete efforts they’d made towards equality.
Writing this felt nice; it reminded me that positive interview experiences in the tech industry exist.
Some places work on creating a positive candidate experience. Talent Board’s 2021 benchmark found that the top 10 companies have 47% of candidates reporting a great experience, compared to 30% for all companies. And those ten companies had a resentment rate of 3%, compared to the average of 14%.
The Talent Board’s 2021 study had positive findings related to diversity and inclusion. Generally, women and people of color rated their candidate experiences more positively than older, male, or white/Caucasian candidates.
Fortunately, reports say the 2022 job market is favorable to candidates. Recruiters and hiring managers are more than ever putting considerable effort into providing a positive candidate experience because, as reported by CareerPlug in a 2021 survey of 500 people, 80% of job seekers say that candidate experience influences their decision to accept any offer.
In 2021, women and people of color rated their candidate experiences more positively than older, male, or white/Caucasian candidates.
In my experience working at many organizations, I have rarely seen mandatory training for conducting interviews. But a web search returns many resources to create a positive interviewing process and be a good hiring manager. I hope interview training becomes standard in every tech company.
Finally, for candidates, remember that valuable and positive job interviews exist, even though they are rare. And take note of what works and what doesn’t because you will probably take on the interviewer role in the future.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like the one about introvert networking.
