RE: Being an interviewer

If you are just starting out in the realm of hiring, you might assume everyone understands the basics. Don’t assume.

When I was tasked with hiring as a solo senior layout designer for a small start-up company, I learned a lot by hard knocks. I look back at it all with a bit of fondness and nostalgia because it’s a great opportunity to give people an opportunity to start and or continue in their careers.

Anyhow, back to interview questions.

What I discovered, it’s nice to have the same set of interview questions to act as a reference and one can always go deeper into any particular subject depending on the depth you perceive from the candidate. If you have a set list of questions, ask all of them in effort to satisfy the reason you listed that question in the first place. Do not fall into the trap of assuming they can satisfactorily answer your basic questions.

Moreover, if you are interviewing multiple candidates, at least you have a benchmark you can compare each candidate to.

There’s two questions, that after so many years stick in my mind. Had I asked them, they would have helped screen the unexpected. Both candidates were experienced based on their resumes.

One would imagine a layout designer with any experience would be able to draw a stick diagram of a nand or a nor. Yes. A 2-input nand or 2-input nor. Should be clear, right? Well, you want to discover how clear, regardless of what the resume says. Enough said.

The other question is a little more complex: Solve a simple LVS problem. You can use a screen shot of an LVS report and just have the person describe what they see and deduce a simple LVS error or a couple of types of LVS errors. The point is, see how the candidate does. If you get a reasonable response (or not), the question has served its purpose.

If you want to ad lib questions or discuss issues, that’s fine, but just let your basic questions do what they are expected to, to determine candidates who provide the outlying answers.

Please like, share, follow, and/or comment.

What experiences have you had as an interviewer that stick in your mind?

CKY

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