The Interview Process

What never ceases to amaze me is how many young engineers don't realize that a job interview is a bi-directional process. While it is true that the man with the gold makes the rules and you are attempting to convince the man to throw some of the gold your way, it is equally true that (assuming you are a good engineer who takes his role seriously) you are getting ready to contribute something more valuable than gold; namely your time. In fact in many cases you are bargaining more than half of your waking life for some of the gold and given that time is more valuable than money, the prospective employee is often dealing from the incorrect position.

It is often the case that companies during the interview process look for such intangibles as culture fit, aptitude, character references, credit scores, biological tests and a background check. It can be a long and difficult process which is OK, but in many cases it is a uni-directional process which is not OK. The prospective employee at every step during the interview process should be asking such questions as 'do I want to work here', 'how good is this company', 'does this company share my core values', 'has this company been a good corporate citizen', 'is this employee I have been subjected to someone I would enjoy working with', etc. It is also fair to request the same information from a company they have requested of you.

If a company requests a credit score from you, it should be fair to request a financial statement from the company. If a company requests a list of three references from you it should be fair of you to ask for a list (and associated contact information) of three former employees from the company, after all, if the company can't provide three former employees who have positive things to say about the company or if all former employees are happy to be former employees that says something.

Whenever I interview with a company for a position which is a replacement position (IE I am replacing someone who left as opposed to a newly created position) and they ask me why I left my previous job, after I answer their question I usually ask why the individual who I am replacing left. In a lot of cases the company will want to know why I have changed jobs so frequently (the average life expectancy of a software engineer by the way is somewhere around 18 months) and after I describe why I left various positions they are interested in, I typically request of them the average stay of an engineer while in their employ. Though the interviewer is usually surprised by this sort of thing, I am sure they are no less surprised than I am when they ask me for such strange things as a background check or a credit score; after all, what could my credit score possibly have to do with my job performance, but the average term of their former employees is relevant for me to deduce what my anticipated employment term would be with them.

Anyway, my point is that the interview process is a bi-directional process, look before you leap, ask the same of a company that it asks of you and don't give away the farm because your life is more valuable than money and in many cases it is piece of your life you are exchanging for gold.