1: Show, don’t just tell
The value of showing
Won annual company prize (2023) for diligence and commitment at work.
That’s about something that happened, that shows something about you, that other people recognised and valued.
Me gusta compartir conocimiento dando charlas, como mentor o simplemente ayudando a otros a resolver problemas. Me ayuda a estar en constante aprendizaje y a mejorar mi entendimiento sobre distintas temáticas. Si no lo puedo explicar, no lo entiendo. (Feynman’s technique).
2. Demonstrate value
Revealing value
Value is demonstrated in things that are not already obvious to the person who hears about them. A particular trap candidates fall into is believing that just because various responsibilities are listed in a job advertisement, they must list them in their CV. Those CVs reveal nothing. It’s much better to find ways to show your value:
Lo que hice
Encargados de mantener tooling de Python utilizado por 1000s de developers en la compañia. (features, bugfixes, deprecado de versiones) Con el conocimiento aprendido para Python, ayudé al deprecado de versiones de Java de forma masiva utilizando Large-Scale Code Changes. Recavamos el estado de +1000 apps; definimos el roadmap y comunicamos a los equipos responsables; implementamos los cambios; monitoreamos y repetimos.
3: Be personal, specific and concrete
Rely on a personal, specific and concrete approach to get yourself across most effectively
I am most experienced in JavaScript, which I use professionally on a daily basis, but my favourite language is actually Python. Recently I have learned a little Rust.
We don’t even need to worry particularly if this candidate is familiar with Django or Flask already - they have clearly demonstrated their ability to get things done with Python tools.
4: Show the parts, not the whole
we don’t need to see all of something to know exactly what it is
It doesn’t very much matter what exactly the candidate decides to discuss. Just being able to discuss some aspect in depth and concrete detail makes it obvious that their grasp of it is much bigger.
5: Use perspectives
Deliberately placing limits on what you discuss is always effective. Another way to do this is to pay attention to the scope of your own approach - choose and use perspectives consciously and deliberately.
In this case you could decide to answer from the perspective of you as an individual; of the people around you; of your wider society; of the whole world.
6: Tell stories
One of the things that human beings do best is to make wholes out of parts. Another is to make sense of things through stories.
Opportunities
Look out for opportunities. Sometimes you’ll get an explicit offer to tell a story (“Describe a time when …”). Other times it’s up to you recognise a good opportunity, for example in a question like “Where do you think your strengths lie?” or “Would you say you are a strong manager/good team player/independent worker?”
Historias de adaptación
En FluxIT, estaba trabajando como backend. En ese momento el tech lead estaba realizando la migración de la infra a Kubernetes. Me preguntaron si podía ayudarlo con la migración para que no esté solo. No conocía tanto del tema pero recuerdo aprovechar la oportunidad para aprender sobre DevOps. Otro ejemplo puede ser el del deprecado de Java. Agree to disagree
7: Be proud
Useless self-deprecation
Do not reply: “Oh no, actually I’m really not …” and try to wave away the admiration (even if your first thought is of all the mistakes, dead-ends and bungled implementations that you came up with along the way, and the numerous people who helped dig you out of your own holes).
Self-deprecation is not humility. It’s false and distancing, a deflection from scrutiny of yourself.
The other side of pride
Sometimes, your best answer might have to be something like: “To be honest, when I look back I am not proud of my attitude and attainments in school, but I am proud of how I turned things around afterwards”.
8: Admit vulnerability
Name it
The first thing to do is to recognise and name what is going on to yourself (“I am feeling really nervous”). Then, say it out loud, and name it to your interviewer: “I am sorry, I am not used to being in interviews like this and I feel really nervous”. It is absolutely fine to do this.
And remember, your interviewer positively wants you to do well.
Be frank
Do not invent
9: Confront weaknesses
When you’re asked about weaknesses, you need to have clear answers that show you have thought about them.
10: Do your research
On the other hand, it’s always a positive sign when one of those candidate says something like “I read some of the documentation for xxx, and noticed yyy”, and wants to have a conversation about it. It doesn’t just show curiosity and interest, it also demonstrates their ability to discuss work.
11: Answer the damn questions
Question the questions
When I read the question about academic performance in my high school studies, I wondered if this position were intended for an early-career applicant. Why are you asking about that, when it was so long ago?
12: Be a human being
Being yourself and standing out
If you don’t believe in yourself, you can hardly expect anyone else to believe in you.