From the course: Tech Career Skills: Interviewing Developers

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Avoid too much socializing

Avoid too much socializing

From the course: Tech Career Skills: Interviewing Developers

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Avoid too much socializing

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- Based on interviews I've observed, the most common single cause of unproductive drift is when an interview turns into a half-hour social chat. The two of you talk about random things of common interest, the way you might talk to someone you met at a party. The conversation goes from area to area with no particular direction. The problem here is that after they walk out the door, you realize you don't really know enough to decide if they should be hired. You never got around to probing their strengths and weaknesses. All you know is whether or not you like them. That's not nothing, but it's far from what you need to get from an interview. Why is it so easy for you to slip into socializing? Developers usually don't have very many people in their lives who understand what they do in their jobs. Think about it. Does your mother understand what you do for a living? Probably not. Developers are a bit like a tribe that has…

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