In may I faced some non typical situation. My new customer canceled our contract before it started. I was left without any project. Initially I was disappointed and angry about this situation, but it’s no good crying over spilt milk :)

I started to looking for new opportunities, I had a lot of interview calls and meetings. I want to share with You my thoughts how hiring Java Developers looks in Poland.

Firstly I want to describe what I unlike in recruitment. The worst interview call I had with one of bigger outsourcing companies. It took more than hour, interviewer had a long list of theoretical questions about Java and working in Scrum methodology. After exhausting answering these questions I had chance to ask him about company and about project where I would work. He couldn’t answer any of my question. All answers where about that it’s depends on project, team and he barely doesn’t know where I would work in their company. So the first thougth is:

DO NOT TRY TO PROOF CANDIDATE HIS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE IF YOU CAN NOT ANSWER ANY OF CANDIDATE QUESTION

Second interview which I didn’t enjoy was in smaller software company. We had discussed typical Java interview questions, but after this part I had do write code on whiteboard and then I got second coding task on interviewer computer, where he had different short cuts in Intellij than defaults ones. He looked over my shoulder how I write code on his computer. It was really stressful. Hopefully I did that task correctly but the second thought is:

DO NOT FORCE CANDIDATE TO LIVE CODING DURING INTERVIEW ON COMPUTER HE NEVER HAD CHANCE TO WORK ON

Let’s go to the things which I liked in some interviews. Some companies have recruitment tasks to solve them in home. I think that is fair and square. Company what to see how candidate solves this task, but candidate can work on computer he knows, he has time to think about project. He can make some research about open source tools which can help him. Recently I wrote 3 interview programs, but only one company checked my code in details, they even measured test code coverange! They also had some questions, about decisions which I made in project. I think that this type of discussion can be inspirational for both sides. So the third thought is:

ASK ABOUT SOLVING CODING TASKS IN HOME, NOT DURING INTERVIEW

Another practice which I never met but I liked from the first time, is to show candidate his feature office, his desk and tools. It’s also great opportunity to meet feature colleagues. The fourth thought is:

SHOW CANDIDATE HIS FEATURE OFFICE AND LET TALK TO THE TEAM

That’s my thoughts about recruitment from candidate perspective. Maybe some interviewers will change their methods and some candidates will feel more comfortable during interviews.

Hope you enjoy this post. If You have any questions or problems leave a comment or send email.