Musings on tech writer interviews

Google recently announced that it's ceasing its practice of asking brain teasers in interviews. Their VP of People Operations said they'd stop asking things like, "How many golf balls fit into an airplane?" and "How many gas stations are in Manhattan?" and “How would you weigh your head?”

I haven't interviewed at Google but I've been asked some pretty goofy questions. I was once asked "If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?" (to which I said, "I don't have an answer for that"). I once interviewed for a financial analyst job at Wood Gundy and was asked what country clubs my parents belonged to and where our cottage was located. (I had no answer to that, either.) I was once asked no questions... the interviewer just talked and talked nervously and then offered me the job.

Mostly, though, I've had pretty good experiences being both interviewer and interviewee. I think the trick is to make a connection and exchange information frankly. That's why I don't like interviewing unemployed applicants, cruel as that sounds. If someone has to quit a job to take a job, then they will be more interested in ensuring it's a good fit on both sides.

I've always thought that things said in interviews should be considered as semi-contractual. If an employer tells an applicant they're concerned about the applicant's short durations at recent employers and asks if they'll stick around - and the applicant says yes - then the applicant has an obligation to stick around - at least two years, unless there's something really wrong. If the applicant says he wants to move up to manager within a few years and the employer hires him, then there is a presumption that he will have the opportunity to advance, given good performance and favorable conditions at the company.

I think it's folly to ever hire a writer without administering a writing test. Having writing experience, even senior experience, doesn't guarantee that the candidate has any writing chops. The test can be as simple as having the writer edit a poorly constructed paragraph or writing a procedure to perform a simple task. Similarly, it's important to ask questions that validate skills... I once interviewed a woman who said she was expert in SQL but despite ten years documenting databases, she didn't know how to retrieve data from a table.