The Job Interview... Oh, joy...😕

The job interview... this has to be one of the most aggravating and agonizing processes I think I have encountered since, say, do it yourself appendectomies. 

Some fun facts:

As an electrical engineer with 40+ years of hardware and software experience, you can imagine I have acquired a great deal of knowledge. I've spent the majority of that time running my own business, often with others working for me, and with almost a decade of that time with another business partner.

In that time I have managed projects, teams and even entire divisions for other clients. I have played the role of architect, designer, engineer, troubleshooter, marketer, sales person, and after market support. I've also had to play therapist and even referee to employees, contractors, vendors and even clients. It's been quite a ride.

So you can imagine how infuriating it can be, when sitting in front of a group of bored thirty somethings with no clue how to conduct an interview, asking me for the umpteenth time to explain a C++ object, or some other dumb-ass question which tests nothing about the actual task at hand.

Other times it almost seems that the interviewer treats the process as mortal combat, there prove themselves as the great knight on their steed. "Tis I, the great champion of antiquated .NET threading patters, who wishes to test your long term memory! I shall show you how inferior you are to me, ha ha!"

Then there are the gate keeper 150 question essays, which of course are now online and timed! Or, and these are my favorites, the "demonstrate for us how you would solve this problem, on demand, in 10 minutes. Dance, monkey, dance!"

I'm not suggesting that basic skills assessments are necessary - on the contrary, I've used those myself when I interview others for open positions I wish to fill. I am suggesting that the person in question conducting the interview do some basic pre-interview preparation, and have the decency and maybe bring some enthusiasm to the table (and to the conversation).

The problem though runs much deeper, because if you only look at the immediate question of "why is everyone leaving?" or "we need to fill open slots?", you aren't looking deep enough.

So pull up a chair to the fire, and let me clue to you in to what's really going on. Here are the issues in no particular order:

1. Budget - Companies are simply not budgeting enough money:
      * Time to do the project properly, including design, architecture, implementation, and oh yes, testing.
      * Budget for proper equipment
      * Budget for enough staff
      * And most importantly, budget to pay your engineers what they are worth!

2. Skill - Here there are several problems:
      * Companies are afraid to take the time to find the right people.
      * Companies are afraid to terminate non-performing people and toxic employees
      * Companies are unwilling to pay for the right people with the proper skill set (see #1)

3. Interview Competency - Companies treat the interview process as either a necessary evil, as an afterthought, or as something they hate to do but have no choice (like a colonoscopy). With that attitude, you attract that which you project.

4. Presentation - People tend to assume that the in person/Zoom is somehow some qualifier, but honestly, this is your chance, as an organization, to sell yourself and what you have to offer. Companies treat their interview process as if they are some gift to be admired, and if the applicant is lucky, to suckle from. Bullshit! If you want employee (or contractor) retention, you need to sell it! When I say sell it, I don't mean late night ambulance chaser law-firm sell it, I mean real tangible reasons why anyone would give up 1/3 or more of their lives spent with you!

Everything here would seem obvious, and a recipe for success. Yet I can't count the number of times I've encountered ill equipped, unprepared, indifferent or otherwise unqualified interviewers who only served to leave a bad impression of the employer they represented.

They are you billboard, your advertisement. Would you send your sales team out into the ether to do this? I would hope not... then again, the world believes that vaccines and 5G cause baby sharks to explode on the shelves of your local Wal-Mart.