Non technical person is doing my technical interview, what should I expect?
Hi! I have an interview with the company that laid me off some months back. The manager who reached out to me for the role claimed that two people who work on this team already know me, so the idea would be to hire me on a contract, then get to work early since I know the system already, and get some quality work done fast. The manager and I have a pre-existing relationship: he was consistently checking in on how I was doing as I was in the process of officially leaving. This manager said he wanted to help me out, and that this role looked "perfect" for me. Given the market these days, I jumped at the idea.
There's one really strange look to this. The recruiter told me from the jump that they're interviewing other people with 3 to 5 years of experience. Although I appreciate the honesty, you can imagine I'm pissed about having to fight other people for the job I deserve to have back (which the manager said I look "perfect" for), but I'm not going to voice that to the company because I'd look arrogant. This recruiter I was speaking with last Friday also said in an email "The interview panel will be mixed up a bit to try and be as unbiased as possible. They are excited to speak with you." Makes sense, because another thing in context here is that I do know quite a few people in that company.
I got the name of who's interviewing me yesterday. I found the person on LinkedIn, and was very perplexed to see that it's some financial consultant person within the company. Someone with a very far from tech background, performing an hour long technical interview? Just ONE person, on top of that. I've seen interviews there where 3 people are grilling the interviewee.
I have no idea what's going on. But I have 3 ideas. Firstly, maybe they're thinking "let's just give you the job and have a random interview you". That'd be nice, but I don't think it'll be that easy, so the second idea is they might be finding a technical interviewer, so they can run a strategy of "behavior cop/tech cop". Or, the last idea: they don't care and are gonna blow me off. Whatever happens, the company I'm interviewing for is opening up a LOT of software engineer spots in my area, so they're gonna try to find me a new position.
I've asked multiple of my friends at the company what this could mean, but no one knows. I'll update this question when I receive an answer, but I wanted to gauge what y'all thought here.
Thanks.
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Discussion
(4 comments)- 24 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
How will your preparation for the interview change at all based on knowing the "real" answer?
It's interesting to guess why they put certain people on your interview loop, but I wouldn't spend much time pondering this since your approach is unlikely to change very much.
How many rounds of interviews will you have? If it's "normal" where you'll end up talking to 4+ different people at the company, I think the most likely explanation is that you're first chatting with one of the non-technical people. The rest are likely to be technical if the position is for engineering.
I do want to call out "yellow flags" about this interview process that make me less excited about this opportunity for you. (They're not red flags yet, but they could be.)
- They're hiring you back as a contractor instead of FTE. Contractors are much lower on the totem pole for compensation and career growth compared to full-time employees. How long does it to convert from contract to hire at FAANGMULA companies?
- They're interviewing others with 3-5 YoE. The mixed message you received from your former manager is a bit concerning, even if it is just a miscommunication.
It's tempting to end the job search quickly, but the best possible career move often requires being comfortable with discomfort for a few extra weeks. Here's how to get more job interviews.
- 14 months agoEntry-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
Appreciate this, Rahul. Thanks for pointing out why exactly I'm frustrated. It doesn't seem like a deal breaker at all, but they're making me raise an eyebrow. Whatever the case is with this upcoming interview, I just have to keep myself in the dynamic state in order to be best prepped for anything. They said this will be one interview altogether, with just one round. So that was why I thought it was funny that just one person was interviewing me.
Even though I've worked at the company and was laid off, and ideally I'm going to be put back in a full time role like I had before. It's especially tempting since I already know this company's system, and honestly, 95% of the people I've worked with have kept a relationship with me, and either did whatever I asked for help, or went above and beyond to assist me with anything I needed to help me get a job. I found it very kind, and one said it signified that I left a mark there.
Whatever happens, at least this'll be interview experience for the future. On top of that, the company said to me that if this doesn't work out, they still want me to come back, and will try to find a job for me there.
- 1
4 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroThis seems like kind of a mess, but this will happen a lot in the current market.
Similar to what Rahul mentioned, don't worry too much about what you can't control. One of those things we can't control is interviews randomly sucking as I talk about in-depth here: https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/interviewing-why-it-sucks/
What we can control is doing our best and taking more shots on goal (i.e. just get more interviews).
Tactically, if a non-technical person is on an engineering interview loop, they're almost certainly giving some sort of behavioral interview. I recommend our behavioral interview course (and make extra sure to explain everything for dummies): [Course] Master The Behavioral Interview As A Software Engineer
- 14 months agoEntry-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
That's what I thought too, Alex... it had to be a behavioral type of thing. I've searched them on LinkedIn, and they have a degree in Animal Science. So, I figured if they'er not so behavioral and asked about OOP or something, I'll relate that to animals (ex: a class of animal -> child class of dog), so I can have an idea of how to personalize their experience, while not preparing too much to keep myself in the dynamic state. That dynamic state will be crucial especially for a behavioral interview. Thank you, Alex.
