How to Conduct an Interview???

[kapil dev burman]

hi friends,
this is first time i am posting.
most of the post are regarding interview questions ..i am here in need of something different.
i need to conduct interview and short-list some candidates to pass them on to a second interview that might be taken by my seniors.

I would appreciate any kind of help that guides me conducting interview.
i know the technical questions to be asked.

I need to know how to test for soft skills.??
how to know that the applicant is having a fake experience???
how to know that the applicant is having only knowledge that is mugged up by reading some FAQ interview questions.
How to drill on his previous projects experience.??
and most importantly how to test that he is going to be a good team-player.??

Mark(moderator) i have read some of your post regarding interview questions and i would apprecialte some help from u.

also others please help me with the above issue.
thanks
Burman

[David O'Meara]

Personally my view on performing a technical interview:

* don't be antagonistic or try to be better than them. You're trying to find out what they know, not to show them you know more than they do.
* have questions on a list of topic areas (Java, PM, OO, patterns, databases etc) and in each section have a list of questions from easy to near impossible. Their answers in other sections and experience should give you an idea of where to start asking and where they should be able to anser up to.
* you get better answers if you keep it conversational. Try getting them to interact and discuss a topic rather than regurgitating rehersed responses. 'So what do you think about mix-in interfaces?'

The above should give a mixture of questions targetted at the right level, the ability to delve deeper into some aspects and the ability to verify knowledge levels. As a general rule I typically look for indication that they know more than the average in some area. That is, find an area they seem to be keen on and try to see how much they know.

Dave

[Shaan Shar]

Originally posted by kapil dev burman:
hi friends,
this is first time i am posting.
most of the post are regarding interview questions ..i am here in need of something different.
i need to conduct interview and short-list some candidates to pass them on to a second interview that might be taken by my seniors.

I would appreciate any kind of help that guides me conducting interview.
i know the technical questions to be asked.

I need to know how to test for soft skills.??
how to know that the applicant is having a fake experience???
how to know that the applicant is having only knowledge that is mugged up by reading some FAQ interview questions.
How to drill on his previous projects experience.??
and most importantly how to test that he is going to be a good team-player.??

Mark(moderator) i have read some of your post regarding interview questions and i would apprecialte some help from u.

also others please help me with the above issue.
thanks
Burman

Kapil,

Just quote your company name...( )
so that If we apply in your company then we will be aware of these all facts.

[Vishal Bhatiya]

Being the interviewer does not mean you are the boss. Keep an open mind and appreciate fedback too. Now you too will be gaining experience in a new field i.e interviewing .

Your aim is to select the best available not to prove your skills to the interviewee. In order to try to find out soft skills you can get to know the way sentences are constructed and expansive vocabulary used.
Regarding fake experience - I try to ask open ended questions regarding actual usage in projects. For example - in Java if you have Thread classes and objects asking what run and start does is theoritical. But asking usage of Threading in Project will provide insight into the way a person has worked.

Try to make the interview practical in terms of short code samples on the fly and pepper with some analytical questions which can tell you how the person thinks. These is generally applicable to 1-4 yrs exp. people. If its more then there could be an element of questions related to processes, metrics on team level and organization level being taken care of by the interviewee.

HTH

Cheers
Vishal

[kapil dev burman]

thanks David O'Meara and Vishal Bhatiya
that would really help me,
any more details if u have links..or other things please pm me

[Kj Reddy]

Personally I do the following things:

- Understnad the requirement. Based on requirement prepare list of topics you need to cover. Also you can prepare list of questions for each area. If you are experienced interviewer you may not need to have topics list and questions as you automatically can ask just looking into resume and requirement.
- The most important thing is go thru the candidate resume before you start the interview otherwise you may not judge the person correctly.
- Try to avoid questioning in the areas where the person didn't mentioned in resume or he is not comfortable. If you extend those topics you may get answers "dont know" etc., Rememeber you are trying to understand what he knows and not what he doesn't know.
- Try to understand person's learning capabilities. He may not remember everything so, for such questions if you give some clue he should able to pick up if he is good learner.
- Make the interview environment more friendly by doing some of the following things: offer the interviewee some water, introduce your self etc.,
- In the end give him a chance to ask questions if he have any.