Killer interview techniques you should practice.
Also extra notes for dealing with hiring agents. I should be charging for this type of an article.
Hey Engineers,
You select your manager. Interview the interviewer technique. Control the interview process without seeming like you are trying too hard to do so.
The FlunkedIn Team
It’s been a long time since I posted, too much is going on. We recalled that in a post a while back we promised to give more details about the interview process and as an added bonus some instructions on how to talk to hiring agents and agencies.
Prior post: https://flunkedin.substack.com/publish/post/56955861
Since the interview happened at the Apple HQ in Cupertino California, and since this is where I solidified my interview skills (formally), I decided to write them down; or at the very least, to make sure to think about them a week before any future interviews.
My strategy for Apple was that of knowing about who is going to interview me (I read their LinkedIn profiles. I found their profiles by first asking for their full names of the hiring agent), and also the knowledge that Apple staff are, well, haughty and maybe rightfully so, pompous and arrogant. This gives me leverage because I look for dirt during and before the interview to make sure to get the interviewer at a weak point- everybody has a fear; a deficiency or a weakness, and punching into that weakness gives you leverage. To get dirt during an interview requires paying attention to the person opposite you. You need to notice if they are nervous, worried, confident, apathetic, happy, sad, etc. It’s psychological and the process can go in either direction, you can control it, or at least play with it and affect it to your advantage, or your loss.
Here is one question I asked a hiring manager Samir. In my reply to Samir’s questions I (a) did not answer his question, and (b) I asked him a counter question. You can name this technique how you like I call it turning the tables. Samir basically asked me how long I was in a certain position at Applied Materials, Inc. I ignored the question and I said, “so, you are new to Apple right I heard?” He said yeah I am a manager. I said, “how long have you been a manager?” Samir got a bit wobbly here, and said rather shyly, two years. I said, “oh…” like I’m not impressed, but kept my cool and then proceeded to answer his question. I think I did it just right without looking too cocky myself and Samir respected that I challenged him.
So try this method during your next interview. A perfect place to use this method is when during the interview the manager asks you if you have any questions. If they do not ask you, you can create your own time space by saying I have a question for you. Slam! Also: To pull this off you need to be (a) comfortable challenging and getting challenged in return. A good interviewer might also avoid your counter questions and say, “I’ve been here for a while, but can we go back to how long you’ve been at this position with your previous employer?” And, (b) you need to be comfortable within yourself to be able to challenge. Challengers have confidence within themselves; otherwise you cannot challenge.
ANTICIPATE AND LOCATE YOUR DEFICIENCIES. MOCK INTERVIEW.
The second thing is anticipate certain basic questions. Before going into an interview, practice pretending like you are interviewing some one else. Or, have your friend give you a mock interview you will quickly notice your deficiencies. Any time you feel uncomfortable or puzzled within yourself that is an indication of a fault, a deficiency, you need to check that out. Make sure to answer smoothly all questions, without too much hesitation.
CONFUSED?
If during an interview you find yourself confused or lost, ask for time and take 5-10 seconds to recall. You could say, “I lost my train of thought here”, now stop…and think. Try to recall your memory. If nothing, say “can’t recall let’s come back to this question later”. You can impress the interviewer by later saying, “ I remember what you asked just a second ago, so…” , and begin to answer the forgotten question. This kind of talk give a natural feeling to the interview, and it makes it easier for both parties to converse.
HIRING AGENTS AND AGENCIES.
Do this. You get a call from a hiring manager. Pick up the phone and listen to the introduction. Then say, “I’m sorry, this is not a good time can I call you back in 1-2 days? I’m about to get on a zoom call with another hiring manager” Listen to the caller then say, “okay thank you I will call you back, or if you don’t hear from me please reach out”. This creates a feeling like you are in control. Hiring managers look for weakness as well. If you act like this agents is your life boat, they got you. They have power over you and you need to come back from this position so you can have power over the hiring agent.
Second, do NOT negotiate on the phone or in the emails. Hiring mangers sometimes want to hire a person for a small role, but they know the role is not attractive, so they write a colorful job description, but during a phone call or email they will slip in the actual real reason why the want to hire you. Here is one example. I am a tech company and I am looking for a CAD guy only to finish a large amount of electrical drawings. This is a low-level chore the current teams at the company do not want to do. They want juicy fun projects. The same goes for new hires; they want a cool job, but the prospect of doing CAD drawings isn’t fun. The hiring managers along with HR will conjure up a nice job description. They will post it and also tell the hiring agent that they also want a guy CAD, mainly. If you do not catch this, you will end up the CAD guy doing the dirty work. Let the internal employees clean and finish their “SH#T”, if you know what I mean. Unless you absolutely need to learn electrical CAD and get paid doing it, do not bite this bullet during the initial phases of hiring and negotiating. Hiring agents are clever, but you should be too.
The FlunkedIn Team