Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I have been interviewed for jobs several dozen times in the last three years. Most “interviews” became free consulting sessions.

The past three years have not been good for me and working at paying jobs. I am over age and over qualified. At least I soothe my feelings by telling myself these things.

I have been interviewed for several dozen jobs in this time. Here is the story of one such interview:

The hiring manager asked me what I knew about Amazon Web Services. I told him about attending several AWS conferences and trying AWS cloud computing in several experiments. I explained how the AWS system works and how Amazon has been able to make piles of money with it and how and why others have struggled. I also explained how AWS fits into the history of computing in the last 30+ years (my work experience) and where this would go.

The hiring manager then asked me about Agile Development. I walked him through the history of software development from rapid prototyping to the agile manifesto through spirals and Vs and other such models. I also told him about how nothing works for everything and how Agile worked in some situations but wasted time in others. I cut through the hype and explained what really happened and why it worked in some situations. I also explained why government contracts often asked for Agile when what they wanted was everything but Agile.

Throughout all of this, the hiring manager took furious notes and interjected questions like, “but what if…so if that is true, then what…” and so on.

I explained to the hiring manager what traps existed in these technologies, how to recognize the traps, and how to avoid them at minimal expenditure of resources.

So, why would they hire me when I had just told them how to do all their work with minimal expense?

They didn’t hire me, and they didn’t pay me for the one-hour consulting session that solved most of their vexing problems.

I felt like asking them the question that is the title of this post.

Do you interview job applicants?

Do you interview them or pump them for information so you don’t have to hire anyone?

Are you honest with people about these questions?