Navigating Interviews

I have a problem that needs to be solved. It’s irritating and I’d love for it to go away. But I’m stuck, and need help. I interview for people that hate the problem, share my disdain for it and can help solve it. We build a product based on our solution, a business to sell the product and a company to run the business.

As the company grows, the hiring processes need to scale. While interview questions can be shared, it’s harder to share a feeling. Hate the problem is gradually replaced by love the solution, as the core product and associated processes crystallize. Interviews increasingly bias for people that love the solution, preferring candidates that solve the interview questions with solutions aligned with existing team/company practices.

As the company grows and interview processes further scale, love the solution becomes high variance across Companies/Product Areas/Teams. As an interviewee, it’s likely higher EV to maximize hiring chances by “leetcoding” popular interview questions. As a result, the interviews bias selection towards love the problem, well manicured solutions presented in limited time.

Hiring is hard. Tech interviews are imperfect. As an interviewee, identify this feeling during the interview to help guide your decision. Ditto for interviewers.