Hiring Technical People

Asking for References

Recently, a colleague whom I know from my writings and speaking asked me for a reference. I’ve never seen him work and I explained I could not provide a reference. He was quite angry with me.

In Choose Enough References, I suggest asking people who can explain the value of your work. Let me be more explicit: Do not ask people for references who cannot attest to how you work. Don’t do it.

The value of a reference is in the specifics and enthusiasm of the reference. Last night, I gave a reference for a former babysitter who’s looking for a live-out nanny position. I was enthusiastic, told stories about how wonderful she was when my children were little, medium, and even as young teenagers, when Mark and I needed to be away overnight. The woman who asked for the reference said I must have said the word “wonderful” at least 200 times. That’s the kind of enthusiasm you want to engender in your references.

Ask people for references, and make sure they can attest to the value of your work. Don’t ask people who haven’t worked with you directly, even if you think having them as a reference would be helpful. Unless you’ve worked with a VP who was three levels above you, don’t ask unless there is some project you worked on with the VP.

Being a reference is an honor and a responsibility. Don’t ask someone to take on the responsibility unless you know that person and that person knows your work.

1 commentDecember 2nd, 2008

Entry Filed under: reference

What Hiring Managers Look for in a Resume

A colleague suggested I chat with a more junior person about his job search. I’m trying, but I’m having trouble understanding what this guy does. His resume is too long and doesn’t have what I need in it. I don’t think he’s alone, so here’s what hiring managers look for on a resume.

1. Your address. Yes, the hiring manager wants to know if you’re local. An email address is not enough. You need a street address and phone number also.
2. Where have you worked? I want to see the companies, and under the companies, the projects that you’ve worked on. Don’t overwhelm me with the number of projects you’ve worked on.
3. What value have you added to the project? What did you accomplish? Don’t tell me you reviewed documents or code so that you could understand the requirements. Everyone does that. What unique value did you add?
4. Do not list every single language you ever studied in school, every operating system, every database, every variant of every operating system unless that is somehow material to the job. Honestly, do you really want me to test you on the C++ or the Smalltalk or the Lisp or Forth or the Algol (does anyone learn that anymore?) or PL/1 or Fortran you once learned. Don’t tempt me. I will.
5. You have two pages to catch my attention. If you have a resume longer than 2 pages, I might not throw it out, but a bunch of my colleagues will. Especially if you have less than 20 years of experience. That means that #3, describing the value you’ve added to a project is critical.
6. Ask someone to review your English (or whatever language you are writing in) if you are not a native speaker of the language.

When I see a resume of more than 2 pages from a person with fewer than 15 years of experience, I generally put it in the No pile. That’s because the candidate is not attempting to show me good judgement about their accomplishments.

You have maybe 30 seconds to catch a hiring manager’s attention. Don’t waste the hiring manager’s time. That means you need to spend the time writing a great resume. You spend the time so the hiring manager will spend theirs.

If you think you need more guidance, read Louise Fletcher’s blog. She helps people write resumes for a living.

5 commentsNovember 19th, 2008

Entry Filed under: resume

Change Adjectives to Abilities

I taught my “Hiring for Agile Teams” workshop at ADP today, and finally have words for something I’ve seen for a while. When I ask people to describe qualities, preferences, and non-technical skills, they say things like “easy-going” or “intuitive” or something else that describes behavior. Since I love behavior-description questions, you’d think this would be perfect, right? Nope. They’re not describing abilities, which is the key.

To change “easy-going” into abilities, I asked what easy-going looked like. The person said, “Relaxed in the interview.” I asked if the person would just interview or do other work. “Do other work.” We went back and forth for a bit. So then I asked “Would this be more accurate: able to keep his or her head in the midst of chaos?” Yes, that was it.

That’s different than easy-going. It’s something specific to the organization (which is good), and you can ask for examples in behavior-description questions.

So if you see adjectives, think about the deliverables and activities the candidate will have to do. Then see how to describe that in terms of abilities. You’ll have a better description and be able to ask better questions.

1 commentNovember 11th, 2008

Entry Filed under: interview question, job analysis

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 the question. They each turned the question around to their strengths. What a surprise (not!).

But in the presidential debate last night, one of the questions was (I’m paraphrasing again): “How do you know what you don’t know and how will you learn it?” Ok, it’s a hypothetical question, not something I would use in a town meeting setting, but was a great opening for the candidates.

If you’re hiring a senior person, this is a good question. It can help you see the difference between general arrogance (”I know everything”) and a smart person who’s introspective enough to learn from past behavior.

Add commentOctober 8th, 2008

Entry Filed under: interview question

Interview Questions for Politicians (or Managers)

I was thinking about the election. (How can anyone in the US avoid it?) I read Seth’s piece, Politics!, and thought that nightly debates might be a great way to discover who the smartest people are. Maybe. But a lot closer than the sound bites we get now.

Since we’re not going to have nightly debates, here are some of my questions for the candidates:

1. Tell me how you’ve chosen at least four of your advisors. What do they advise you on, and how did you choose them?
2. Give me an example of a time you inherited a budget that wasn’t balanced. What did you do? (I might need to ask when that was, because we’ve had different economic cycles and unbalanced budgets.)
3. How have you affected health care in your state in the last year? two years? five years? (All of the candidates are either senators or governors.) If not the state, the Senate. Explain the effect of your actions on the people affected.
4. Give me an example of how you’ve worked with people who did not share your philosophy or values. (I might ask for half a dozen examples!)
5. Give me at least four references that can discuss your integrity. What would you like to tell me about your integrity?

I suspect I need more questions than these (!), but I would start here. The President’s job is too difficult to take people who don’t think and act clearly.

BTW, you could these questions when hiring for managers, too. Instead of the health care question, change it to a question that addresses a significant cost in your organization, such as project management.

2 commentsOctober 2nd, 2008

Entry Filed under: interview question, manager

Hiring Managers Phone Screen

I had a lovely email conversation with someone who wanted to hire a firm to perform phone screens. That just makes no sense to me. Here’s what happens when a hiring manager performs the phone screens:

1. When a hiring manager creates a phone screen script, the manager refines the essentials of the job.
2. Based on the conversation with candidates, the hiring manager refines the job analysis and job description, realizing what is essential as technical and non-technical skills.
3. The hiring manager can take the conversation in a variety of places, learning more about the candidate. The hiring manager can learn a lot about the candidate, in a very collegial way.
4. The hiring manager starts building rapport, which if you end up hiring the candidate, is important.

It’s ok if the hiring manager asks a technical lead to handle the phone screens. If the hiring manager works closely with HR and trains someone in HR, maybe that person can help with phone screens (I’ve never seen this work).

But if you really want a technical phone screen, you don’t outsource it. You do it yourself.

2 commentsSeptember 17th, 2008

Entry Filed under: manager, phone screen

Ask Why

So you didn’t get the promotion. Before you look for a new job, ask why. It’s possible you’re missing something critical for that role.

Many years ago, I was working as a “senior member of the technical staff.” I was a tester, had coordinated beta tests, much of the testing work for the last couple of releases, and was working as the tester-project-manager and helping the project manager realize what her job was. My boss left the company. I was “obviously” the next one in line for his job. I didn’t get the job. When I asked why not, I was told “You’re too valuable where you are.”

That’s a non-answer. But I did talk to my new boss, and told her I wanted to know what I needed to learn to get the promotion. She smiled and said, “people skills.” Ok. Clearly not my strengths, but I figured I could learn. I told her I wanted her to teach me. She agreed.

I put away my resume and stayed at the company another 4 years. I learned how to be a great manager. I learned how to be a great program manager. I learned how to do strategic planning, both the stupid way and ways that made sense. I doubt I would have learned how to do any of those skills that quickly without my new boss’ coaching and mentorship.

Managers, telling people they’re “not ready” or “too valuable” is a cop-out. Provide authentic feedback, offer to teach/coach/mentor, and you will have a loyal employee who will amaze you.

I stayed because I asked why and because I learned what I needed to learn. If you’re frustrated with your job, maybe it’s time to ask why, before you go look for a new one. Ask. What can you lose?

4 commentsSeptember 10th, 2008

Entry Filed under: candidate, feedback

Red Flag Words in an Interview

Before my webinar last week, I was chatting with the organizer, and experienced project manager. He said that when he interviewed a project manager, and hear words such as “I control projects” that’s a red flag for him. No, he’s not an agile project manager–he’s a smart and effective project manager who realize that people control their own tasks. But he got me thinking about other red flag words.

When I hear testers say, “I control the release” that’s a red flag for me. Testers provide information. The release decision is way above their pay level.

When I hear business analysts (or anyone!) say, “I just know what the customers want. I don’t have to go back and talk to them.” Oh yeah? If they’re so clairvoyant, why doesn’t all software work the way I want it to?

When I hear architects say, “I don’t write code. I architect a system.” Oh sure they do. On paper. Or in PowerPoint (full credit to Venkat and Andy for naming these people PowerPoint Architects in Practices of an Agile Developer). Architects who don’t participate in product development are just as bad as house architects who never use the bathrooms they “design.”

Red flag words are an indication that the candidate is not sufficiently introspective about why the company pays him or her. You might still want to hire a candidate with red flag words, but you’ll have to work with that person to make him or her a fully valuable member of the team.

3 commentsSeptember 4th, 2008

Entry Filed under: candidate, interview

Guest Blogging for ITJobBlog

I’m writing about a post a week for ITJobBlog. I’ve already written a couple of posts about how to develop your interview skills when you’re a candidate, part 1 and part 2. Please join us over there, too!

Add commentAugust 27th, 2008

Entry Filed under: blog, candidate, interview

Great Assistants Help (Senior) Managers

I spoke with someone who wants a senior level management position. (He’s currently a mid-level manager.) I asked him about his experience with assistants. “I’ve never had one.”

Oh. Senior people have assistants because they need them. Other people need them, but our organizations have decided we can do all the grunt work ourselves. Don’t get me going.

A great assistant can make you or break you as a senior manager, because an assistant will make or break your ability to finish your work. That assistant can also make it possible for your managers to succeed or not.

A manager’s time is valuable, and while a manager can amplify the work of his or her staff, a manager’s assistant can *allow* the manager that time–especially time to think. When the assistant takes on the nitty gritty details, the manager is free to focus on the big picture or to dive deep where necessary. But you can’t do that unless you have a great assistant.

Great assistants can make the organization hum. Bad assistants can drop it to its knees. I was a project manager once in an organization where the assistant had her favorites. Luckily, I was one of them. I got what I needed: help from the facilities group, my contractors’ invoices were paid on time, I got the conference rooms I needed, and more. But she disliked one of my colleague project managers, and he didn’t get those things. He found it difficult to keep his projects rolling–not because of the technical work, but because of the environmental issues.

Turns out, he was fired later because he was a jerk She’d given her boss feedback about this guy (and feedback to his face) for several years, and finally stopped working with him when his jerk-iness got so bad it interfered with her ability to help other people. So she stopped helping him.

I stayed in touch with that assistant until she retired. For her entire tenure at this organization, she made the organization hum smoothly. Her boss made great decisions, because he had time to think.

4 commentsAugust 19th, 2008

Entry Filed under: manager