I read the book How Would You Move Mount Fuji? and I thought it was pretty interesting. It mainly focuses on how Microsoft interviews and why they ask the questions they do. It also gives you reasoning and logic behind some of the questions with right answers (or more correct answers).
I am always a fan of books about interviewing because they are usually so wrong. As I have never been interviewed (or interviewed for) Microsoft, I can’t tell you whether this book is good preparation for a Microsoft interview, I can tell you that it attempts to make a case for puzzle based questions.
Obviously puzzle based questions don’t work for everyone. Some positions do not require out of the box thinking. But for those in the company that do require that out of the box thinking, I could see it being useful (at least at a company the size of Microsoft). As the book points out though, this interview technique can leave people on the outside who can perform the job up to standards or even better than the person hired. And while leaving people on the table that could be hired might work for some positions at Microsoft, it might not work everywhere. As labor shortages increase, I wonder if this will change that technique some?
Bill Gates is going to be testifying in front of a Congressional committee this week on the need for more visas for highly skilled workers. One might wonder if the labor shortage could be averted by a simple change in interviewing technique?
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HR Guy….
I guess me and a lot of others would be left on the “outside” because
my response would be…”Why would I need to?”
I’ve been in IT for 25 years and I think I’m too old and jaded to work for
anybody that insists on using twee interview questions.
Maybe they should ask questions like “Do you understand the impact of you
leaving a mistake in your code and client companies missing their deadline
for printing payroll checks?”
Perhaps Old Bill needs to start tossing some cash around in the U.S. to get
colleges and trade schools up to snuff on turning out skilled technical workers.
But then again, he’s probably pretty sure they won’t offshore his job or
screw up his paycheck.
Companies everywhere complain that so few candidates bother coming prepared to job interviews. I’ve spoken to job candidates about preparation, and they wonder why should they bother. Many applicants would really like the interview to concentrate on the job–can they do it, will they do it, and how. Instead they’re faced with either behavioral interview questions where they speak about what they did for somebody else, or they’re presented with puzzles that make preparation irrelevant.
Employers need to concentrate on the job. One sad reality, however, is many an employer can’t accurately describe what it really takes to do the work. So they fall for this fads.
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