[Ilugc] How to get selected [Was Re: I got in Novell+anysuggestions]
- From: cheeni@xxxxxxxxxx (Srini RamaKrishnan)
- Date: Sat Sep 4 14:08:53 2004
On Saturday, September 04, 2004 1:15 PM, Kilaru Sambaiah wrote:
Because a very large number of candidates have perfected the art of
`preparing' for exams (both academic and companies') and the art of
giving the `right' answers to interview questions, while not all the
interviewers have perfected the art of detecting such `prepared'
responses.
Apart from the above, companies are intrested in hiring tool-smiths
than the person who knows howto do things and how things work.
You ask questions like how it works you will be less valued in the
market. That is the reason we get all crap software. Ask people why
we use database, they give crap answer than ACID properties. I
am sure many of the people doesn't question why database? Why XML.
I agree, not many who graduate from college to join a software house really
understand what they are doing. However, this is not all bad, a person who
can think for himself will have quite a tough time working in most large
(software) companies anywhere in the world.
For what it's worth, the famed Microsoft interview which spawned books such
as "How Would You Move Mount Fuji? Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle - How the
World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers" [1] is what I
would classify as a "form interview" [2]. In a "form" interview, the
interviewer comes armed with a form with many statements and "Yes" "No"
checkboxes next to each. The interview is usually so predictable that a well
prepared, or an astute candidate can if he/she so desires get selected
merely by answering the expected (not necessarily right) answers. Naturally,
I classify a "form" interview as the worst possible type of interview. [3]
The good interview is obviously one that accurately measures the capability
of an individual. Most companies need mindless grunts that do their bidding
unquestioningly, and the "form" interview is an excellent tool to find what
they are looking for (hence by weird logic the form interview too is a good
interview).
Cheeni
[1]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316919160
[2] Merely my opinion, after an interview with MS in Pittsburgh.
[3] It is another story that Robert S. McNamara got to be President of Ford
by using a form interview to his advantage. Ping me some time in person for
it, or watch "The Fog of War",
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001L3LUE ;
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- » [Ilugc] How to get selected [Was Re: I got in Novell+anysuggestions] - Srini RamaKrishnan