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<p align="center"><b><font size="5">How To Interview And Hire Dave (A |
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Step-By-Step Guide)</font></b></p> |
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<hr> |
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<p><b><u>Bookmarks (To This Page)</u></b></p> |
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<ul> |
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<li><a href="#introduction" target="_self">Introduction</a></li> |
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<li><a href="#marry_supermodel" target="_self">What It Takes To Marry A |
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Supermodel</a></li> |
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<li><a href="#req_interviews" target="_self">My Requirements For Interviews</a></li> |
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<li><a href="#step_by_step" target="_self">The Step By Step Hiring Process</a></li> |
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</ul> |
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<hr> |
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<p><b><u><a name="introduction"></a>Introduction</u></b></p> |
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|
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<p>The interview and hiring process is flawed, especially when it |
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comes to evaluating and hiring top performers. I do not participate in the process without some restrictions. |
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Most of the restrictions come about in reaction to specific abuses I've encountered by |
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employers.</p> |
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|
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<hr> |
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<p><b><u><a name="marry_supermodel"></a>What It Takes To Marry A Supermodel</u></b></p> |
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<p>There is no employer in existence that can keep up with me. I've made |
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original contributions to number theory and real-time analysis; and I have <i> mastered</i> small embedded software development. I've made a career out |
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of innovation and out of solving difficult problems that have plagued embedded |
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control work for decades. I've turned down |
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interviews with <a href="http://www.ibm.com" target="_blank">IBM</a>, <a href="http://www.hp.com" target="_blank">Hewlett-Packard</a>, |
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<a href="http://www.cisco.com" target="_blank">Cisco</a>, and others; for the |
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simple reason that they failed to impress me during an initial phone contact. It is |
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the same game in any organization--defective supervisors and managers |
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who make administrative and technical messes and then saddle engineers with |
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their own negligence; all the while not learning from mistakes and not taking |
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responsibility for their actions. I've not yet encountered an organization that |
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develops embedded software that can even meet the most basic of |
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goals--administrative neatness. All prospective employers are guilty until |
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proven innocent.</p> |
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|
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<p>The typical interview is a mixture of two elements:</p> |
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|
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<ol> |
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<li>Tedious technical questions from interviewers who are not technically |
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mature enough to parse a competent reply.</li> |
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<li>Questions designed to gauge how well I would adapt to mediocrity.</li> |
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</ol> |
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<p>Life is too short for <i>either</i> element, but (2) is particularly |
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annoying. (2) usually comes from supervisors and managers, and it is the |
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same old old set of <i>give us more time</i> attempted deceptions. My |
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message to the individuals who are posing questions in category (2) above is |
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simple: <i>Why don't you spend 1-2 extra hours per day trying to <b>change</b> |
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the situations you warn interview candidates about?</i> My personal |
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interview process is designed to weed out those employers who are not truly |
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interested in performing or competing.</p> |
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|
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<p>I define the following numerical ranking of employers:</p> |
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|
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<div align="center"> |
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<center> |
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<table border="0" width="60%"> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="21%" align="center"><b>+1 (Positive)</b></td> |
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<td width="7%"> </td> |
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<td width="151%"> An employer who can teach me new skills or give me new insight.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="21%" align="center"><b>0 (Neutral)</b></td> |
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<td width="7%"> </td> |
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<td width="151%"> An employer that cannot teach me new skills or give |
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me new insight, but will not interfere with my productivity or my |
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ability to contribute to the organization.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="21%" align="center"><b>-1 (Negative)</b></td> |
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<td width="7%"></td> |
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<td width="151%">An employer that will interfere with my productivity or my |
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ability to contribute to the organization.</td> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
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</center> |
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</div> |
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<p>No existing organization is <b>+1</b> on the scale above. I make |
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this statement because I'm truly visionary and no employer to date has been able |
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to keep up.</p> |
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<p>It is not appropriate for me to think about an employer in terms of |
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self-actualization or what I might learn on the job, <i>because no employer has |
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anything to teach me</i>. The most I can hope for from an employer is an |
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environment where my performance is not diluted. </p> |
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<p>I rate work environments nearly exclusively on how profoundly the employer |
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will limit my productivity and my ability to make a competitive contribution to |
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the organization. <b>The way to marry a supermodel (me) is to convince me |
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that you can provide an environment free of performance obstacles.</b></p> |
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<hr> |
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<p><b><u><a name="req_interviews"></a>My Requirements For Interviews And The |
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Hire Process</u></b></p> |
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<p>I've found through experience that employers are capable of a lot of unproductive |
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behavior at interviews.</p> |
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<p>The most common difficulty I encounter at interviews is that <i>the |
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interviewer is not technically mature enough to interview me or to understand my |
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responses to questions</i>. Typically, interviewers will pose questions |
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reflecting a lack of insight into the nature of problems or will pose reasonable |
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questions but not be technically mature enough to understand my responses. |
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I've not yet found a completely effective way to avoid the effects of a gap in |
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technical maturity which is too large.</p> |
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<p>My interview requirements, which come directly from unproductive behaviors by employers, are enumerated below.</p> |
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<div align="center"> |
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<center> |
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<table border="2" width="100%"> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="50%"><b><u>Requirement</u></b></td> |
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<td width="50%"><b><u>Potential Undesirable Behavior</u></b></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="50%"><b>All items representing significant interview expense (airfare, rental |
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car, hotels, copies of books or papers, etc.) must be purchased in advance by the prospective |
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employer or I must be reimbursed in advance.</b></td> |
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<td width="50%">I've encountered employers where it was difficult to |
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obtain reimbursement. I choose not to take the risk that sooner or |
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later, I will encounter an employer where it is <i>impossible</i> to |
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obtain reimbursement.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="50%"><b>A hiring decision must be made based on only one day of |
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interviews (there will be no second round of interviews).</b></td> |
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<td width="50%">I've had employers ask me in for interviews when they had |
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already decided to hire another candidate but "<i>just wanted to be sure</i>" |
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(this is like asking another girl out on the day before your |
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wedding). I've also quite often had employers fail to disclose in |
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advance the number of interviews required, leading to a situation where |
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I keep receiving phone calls with the message of "<i>... there is one |
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more person who'd like to meet you before we make a decision</i>". |
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Restricting the interview process to one event prevents abuse by the |
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employer. </td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="50%"><b>Interviews in total may not span more than 4 hours.</b></td> |
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<td width="50%">I've been through interviews that lasted the entire |
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day. Typically, each interviewer had a 1-hour slot, and would ask pretty much the same questions as every other interviewer. |
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This is unproductive. In general, the maximum number of |
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individuals that reasonably have a need to meet me are: |
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<ul> |
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<li>A representative from HR.</li> |
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<li>My potential colleagues.</li> |
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<li>My potential boss.</li> |
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<li>My potential boss' boss.</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p>That can all be squeezed into 4 hours or less. The easiest way |
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to do this is to combine the interviews of all potential colleagues or |
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combine the interviews in other ways.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="50%"><b>Interviews must not include lunch.</b></td> |
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<td width="50%">I do not believe that a lunch with a candidate has any |
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value in evaluating the candidate's fit with a particular job or a |
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particular company.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="50%"><b>Reference checks must be made <i>after</i> a decision |
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to hire.</b></td> |
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<td width="50%">I've had problems in the past with recruiters and |
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prospective employers wasting a lot of my references' time by checking |
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references too early in the hire process. Some reference checks |
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have been quite invasive (20+ minutes of questions). |
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<p>For this reason I require that reference checks be the absolute <i>last</i> |
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step in the process. |
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<p>I would also add that reference checks have a limited value in |
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evaluating top performers such as me. Some employers in the past |
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have placed undue emphasis on the opinions of previous |
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supervisors. Since all supervisors I've encountered in the past |
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are substandard performers, the opinions they would give are |
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predictable. One could expect statements like "<i>He couldn't |
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accept mediocrity</i>" or "<i>He was uncontrollable</i>". |
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The true meaning of those statements is "<i>He was not satisfied |
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with my performance, and in some cases discussed it with me frankly and |
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asked me to work a bit harder</i>". The opinions of past |
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supervisors are meaningless.</td> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
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</center> |
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</div> |
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|
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<hr> |
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<p><b><u><a name="step_by_step"></a>The Step By Step Hiring Process</u></b></p> |
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<p>The steps below, in the order listed below, are required of prospective |
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employers. Many employers are unwilling to follow the steps below, and |
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have even described me as arrogant or unemployable. What can I say? |
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Not everybody gets to marry a supermodel!</p> |
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<div align="center"> |
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<center> |
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<table border="2" width="100%"> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center"><b><u>Step Number</u></b></td> |
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<td width="44%"><b><u>Step</u></b></td> |
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<td width="45%"><b><u>Detailed Description Or Rationale</u></b></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">1</td> |
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<td width="44%">The recruiter or prospective employer must e-mail or FAX |
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me a job description.</td> |
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<td width="45%">I do not go to interviews or proceed further into the |
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process unless I understand what I would be expected to do on the job.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">2</td> |
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<td width="44%">I must be assigned a liaison with the prospective employer |
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(typically an engineering manager or an HR representative), and I must |
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be provided with contact information (phone number and e-mail |
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address). All subsequent contact (travel arrangements, interview |
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arrangements, questions, etc.) must occur through this liaison.</td> |
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<td width="45%">I've found from experience that dealing exclusively with |
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recruiters leads to information filtering problems. I deal with |
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employers directly.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">3</td> |
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<td width="44%">I must be advised of the job title, and it must be |
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acceptable.</td> |
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<td width="45%">Any job offered must be as a senior engineer, a technical |
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specialist, or above. I had to turn down one job in the past |
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because the job title was not acceptable.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">4</td> |
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<td width="44%">I must agree with the prospective employer on the salary |
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range.</td> |
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<td width="45%">In the past, I had to turn down one job because the |
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recruiter had indicated one salary range but the employer had in mind |
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another (with apparently no communication between them).</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">5</td> |
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<td width="44%">I must obtain permission to maintain a *nix server within |
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the company (usually, near my desk).</td> |
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<td width="45%">I have a unique mechanism for storing information and |
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collaborating with bosses and colleagues. I maintain all my |
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project notes and other materials (I've gone nearly paperless) on a *nix |
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server which I administer, and this is also the mechanism I use to share |
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information with bosses and colleagues. The server normally |
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includes a search engine. Usually, permission involves only a |
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short conversation or e-mail exchange with the company's IT |
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manager. I don't work in environments where I am not allowed to |
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maintain a server, because it impedes my ability to organize and share |
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information.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">6</td> |
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<td width="44%">The prospective employer must complete my online software |
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maturity questionnaire and e-mail me the results.</td> |
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<td width="45%">I'm interested in the technical maturity and desire to |
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compete of the prospective employer. A low score on the |
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questionnaire does not necessarily mean that I would exclude a |
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prospective employer from consideration; but it means there would need |
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to be a very persuasive pitch from the prospective employer to convince |
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me that the employer really wants to reform.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">7</td> |
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<td width="44%">The prospective employer must e-mail me the organization's |
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coding standards document for analysis.</td> |
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<td width="45%">I've found that coding standards documents (or the lack |
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thereof) are the single best indicator of an employer's level of |
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technical maturity. I examine these documents in advance.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">8</td> |
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<td width="44%">I will make a decision about whether to move forward.</td> |
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<td width="45%">For the vast majority of employers, I choose not to pursue |
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the opportunity. Usually, the process stops at this step. |
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The normal reason I choose not to pursue the opportunity is that the |
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employer has failed to convince me that they desire to compete.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">9</td> |
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<td width="44%">Interviews.</td> |
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<td width="45%">Please see my <a href="#req_interviews" target="_self">requirements |
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for interviews</a>, above.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">10</td> |
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<td width="44%">A verbal commitment to hire, subject to reference and/or |
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background checks.</td> |
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<td width="45%">If the employer wishes to hire me, they must offer a |
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non-binding statement of intent to hire (a casual e-mail is acceptable), |
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subject to reference checks and background checks. (This allows me |
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to avoid burdening my references unless there is true intent to hire.)</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">11</td> |
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<td width="44%">Reference checks, background checks, drug tests, etc.</td> |
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<td width="45%">Only at this point in the process will I provide |
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references.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">12</td> |
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<td width="44%">Decision by prospective employer about whether to hire.</td> |
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<td width="45%">The employer must make the final decision about whether to |
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extend an offer.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">13</td> |
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<td width="44%">Letter of offer.</td> |
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<td width="45%">The employer may extend a written offer.</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<td width="11%" align="center">14</td> |
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<td width="44%">Decision by me about whether to accept the offer.</td> |
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<td width="45%">I will make a decision about whether to accept the offer.</td> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
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</center> |
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</div> |
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|
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<hr> |
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<p align="center" style="margin-top: -2; margin-bottom: -1"><font size="1">Sound |
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credit: <a href="http://www.rleeermey.com" target="_blank">R. Lee Ermey</a>.<br> |
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This |
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web page is maintained by <a href="mailto:dtashley@users.sourceforge.net">David |
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T. Ashley</a>.<br>$Header: /cvsroot/esrg/sfesrg/esrgweba/htdocs/authindiv/dtashley/hiring_dave/index.html,v 1.5 2003/05/11 07:11:27 dtashley Exp $</font></p> |
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