I agree — this is very much the type of interview I like to give. However it took me a while to get good at steering the conversation and digging for details.
It’s really easy to let the interviewee talk through talk through all of the great things they built from a product and business perspective — and assume they understand the technical perspective. There are candidates who are really good at talking in an impressive way, but manage to talk around any true implementation details or deep technical understanding.
It’s also really easy to come away with a bad impression of someone who has a tendency to give short answers and not elaborate on things, even when it turns out that person is really skilled when you dig in.
I imagine a big part of the reason for the test-style interviews we have today is that it’s easier to train an interviewer on how to give them.
It’s really easy to let the interviewee talk through talk through all of the great things they built from a product and business perspective — and assume they understand the technical perspective. There are candidates who are really good at talking in an impressive way, but manage to talk around any true implementation details or deep technical understanding.
It’s also really easy to come away with a bad impression of someone who has a tendency to give short answers and not elaborate on things, even when it turns out that person is really skilled when you dig in.
I imagine a big part of the reason for the test-style interviews we have today is that it’s easier to train an interviewer on how to give them.