3 stage interviews

[dx4100]

30 minute phone call on tech makes me think he's amazing. Spend 30 minutes in a room with him shows me he has a massive ego so a no go.

Just because contractors can be released quickly doesn't mean they always are. Managers are hesitant to release and recruit again to avoid risk to the project. Means the team are stuck with the numpty.

I've tried the 1 interview method, ended up with a lot more numpties hence why we do more

oh dear...

I will refer you to yourself....

I always wanted 2-3 interviews to judge technical abilities and how they will work with others, even then we still end with numpties (contract and perm)

Its your time, feel free to waste it

If you don't want to treat contractors like contractors then maybe don't hire contractors

If you keep ending up with numpties maybe its more you rather than the failed processes you dogmatically keep repeating ? Not everyone is a good judge of character...

[BlasterBates]

You can spot a good contractor or permie for that matter from the CV, obviously you need to check with an interview. The main thing you're looking at the interview is someone who is compatible to work with, not someone who knows Java syntax backwards.

I used to be involved in selection, and doing that i.e. selecting based on the CV combined with a few pragmatic project related questions on how they would go about doing something will weed out all numpties. In the 5 years I was working there we only had one "numpty" and the PM knew he might not be up to it and so gave him a trial, i.e. he looked suspect on the CV.

[dx4100]

You can spot a good contractor or permie for that matter from the CV, obviously you need to check with an interview. The main thing you're looking at the interview is someone who is compatible to work with, not someone who knows Java syntax backwards.

This man is right ^

[LondonManc]

Good contractors speak with authority without being patronising in interviews.
They are also honest about anything that they don't know so that you know exactly what you're getting.

[northernladuk]

You can spot a good contractor or permie for that matter from the CV, obviously you need to check with an interview. The main thing you're looking at the interview is someone who is compatible to work with, not someone who knows Java syntax backwards.

I don't agree at all. Depends on what you are after. If they are just turning code out quietly in the corner maybe but if you are looking at any kind of PM, Service, BRM you haven't a clue how that person communicates, whether they will be a fit or just not work. No chance you can see that from a CV at all. You can check someone has skills and experience but A) you've got to find out if they are lying and B) that's not everything that is needed to do many roles.

[BrilloPad]

You can spot a good contractor or permie for that matter from the CV, obviously you need to check with an interview. The main thing you're looking at the interview is someone who is compatible to work with, not someone who knows Java syntax backwards.

At one bank, someone was sacked. Someone else got a copy of his CV he used to apply to another bank, so we could read what he had put he was doing at the bank he was sacked from. It was total nonsense. Though someone quipped "As he is that good, we should take him back".

People should know the basics. Interviewing obscure syntax that can be googled is very poor.

Problem is that with more regulation, interview processes get longer. If we vote leave on June 23rd, this process will go into reverse. The UK will have less red tape and will become great again. Sadly, it won't happen.

[MarkT]

Done loads and loads of interviews from both sides of the table. Usually it takes me about 20 mins to decide if someone can do the job or not. If you can't decide on a contractor in that time then there is something incredibly wrong.

My current gig has been great and the director who hired me spent 30 mins with me talking about football, then the HR business partner came in, asked me why I wanted the job, what I could add to the organisation and what my weaknesses were. Eventually he had to go to another meeting, the director apologised, called him a numpty and asked if I could start Monday.

[psychocandy]

You can spot a good contractor or permie for that matter from the CV, obviously you need to check with an interview. The main thing you're looking at the interview is someone who is compatible to work with, not someone who knows Java syntax backwards.

I used to be involved in selection, and doing that i.e. selecting based on the CV combined with a few pragmatic project related questions on how they would go about doing something will weed out all numpties. In the 5 years I was working there we only had one "numpty" and the PM knew he might not be up to it and so gave him a trial, i.e. he looked suspect on the CV.

I agree. Always assuming that you're confident the CV is not made up or fictitious in any way.

Not waving my willy here, but I've worked for some large companies in various industry sectors over the past 25 years. I've obviously got on ok.

So it peeves me a bit that someone from a small company thinks they can catch me out with silly trick tech questions. And dont get me started on bob interviews!

[northernladuk]

I agree. Always assuming that you're confident the CV is not made up or fictitious in any way.
!

But you be just ruined your argument with that assumption. The only way to be sure is to interview ergo you cannot tell just from a CV.

[CompulsiveArsonist]

I recently interviewed for a perm job at the bank I am contracting at.

I wasn't bothered about going perm but it was an interesting high profile role working on the trading desk so I thought I would apply for it, get some relevant experience and I could always go back to contracting again in the future with some additional skills under my belt.

I had an initial face to face meeting with one of the Strats that works on the team. He gave me an overview of the role, what projects were in the pipeline etc. The problem is that the bank I contract at is currently split over two sites, one in Canary Wharf and the other in the City and it takes 30 minutes to get from one to the other. As a contractor it isn't so easy to slip away from my desk especially for a few hours at a time so I had to make excuses, WFH etc.

Team was based in Hong Kong, London and the US. Since I was already in the bank, the HR co-ordinator set up telepresence meetings.

I had 3 telepresence meetings individually for the HK guys and one for a US guy

Then I was called to a face-to-face meeting at City office where I met a couple of Quants and another Strat developer that works on the team

Then I was called back again another day to meet the desk heads and other directors, that was another 3 people I met

After that I heard back a few days later that they decided to go with another candidate.

All in all I met 11 people, practically every single person I would have been working with and I didn't even get the role! Feedback (apparently) was positive so I was a bit gutted, not because I missed out on the role but more because of the amount of time I invested in interviewing.