Category Archives: interview

Authenticity Works for Interviews

I read a lot about speakers practicing authenticity. (Huh?) All the suggestions seem reasonable, yet contrived to me: act interested in your audience, use your current location in your speech, remember to thank people at the end of your speech. … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Good Interviews Are Conversations

I was reading, Nervous about an interview? Try this! and thought, hmm, I’ve said something like that before, haven’t I? I have, but in slides (for my Hiring for an Agile Team tutorial and workshop and in my other workshops) … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Building Rapport with Personal Conversation

One of the most important things to do in an interview is to build rapport. I led a session last week at AYE, focused on conversations (not specifically interviews). One of the more memorable things I said is that you … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , | 6 Comments

5 Questions to Never Ask in an Interview

At Agile 2009, I had some informal discussions with hiring managers about how to hire for their agile teams. I’m considering writing an ebook. If you think that’s a good idea, please leave me a comment or send me an … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Handshakes are Important

When I was about 8 or 9, my father taught me to shake hands. “No limp  fish!” he explained as he taught me to grip the other person’s hand making sure our thumbs met. (I really hate it when men … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged | 8 Comments

Why Do You Want This Job?

Now that it’s a hiring manager’s market, I’m hearing that a number of interviewees are hearing questions such as “Why do you want this job?” or “Why Should I Hire You?” Hiring managers: that’s a shorthand question. You know what … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

How Do You Hire for Innovation?

I was working with a client recently, and one of the managers declared, “What we really need are a bunch of innovators. All of our open reqs–let’s hire some innovators.” Well, there’s a little bit about creating an environment in … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Hiring for an Agile Team: Possible Questions

Way back in November, I taught a half-day tutorial called “Hiring for an Agile Team” at Agile Development Practices. The participants had several questions I thought you might find useful. Several participants wanted to know how a candidate would deal … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Defining Fake Auditions

George asked in a comment what a fake audition was. Finally, I’m ready to discuss this. (Sorry for the delay, George.) A fake audition is when the audition is incongruous with the situation. In the situation described in A Second … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Questions From the Debates

I’ve got election fever, I admit it. In the VP debate last week, the moderator asked a useless question: “What  is your achilles heel?” (I’m probably paraphrasing the question.) Both candidates treated it as the weakness question, and didn’t answer … Continue reading

Posted in interview | Tagged , | Leave a comment