tldr; I believe that interviewing people does not improve my technical skills.
The other week I did a phone technical interview with a company that is one of top 5 in its category. Here’s what I consider top tech companies and why, in no particular order:
- Google – potential for growth and they still do not do everything well.
- Twitter – this company will have an influence for decades to come.
- Facebook – they capture family relations better than any one would dream of.
- Amazon – they sell stuff but they are going to grow much more in future.
- Microsoft – I think they are the underdog now.
- Apple – I would like to work in something new they do and ‘secret’ enough that I would not be able to mention it to my partner.
On the same week, I was the interviewer for a handful of candidates for a six-month internship at my workplace. It was clear to me how to prepare for the technical interview. However, I could not give any precise advice on how to prepare for the interview to join our lab. When I reflect back on the interviews, I realize that interviewing people does not improve my technical skills. The people I interviewed are undergrads in biology area. I would think that the person that interviewed me had a chance to improve his/her technical skills because I was asked programming questions. It is likely that the interviewer learned nothing new, but the chance is there.
I did enjoy talking to candidates to the lab where I work. It is good that all have a high level of knowledge and are likely to do well professionally.
The books that I browse for preparing for interview were:
- 60 seconds and you’re hired (by Robin Ryan). Summary: reply with short answers (no more than 60 seconds)
- Programming interviews exposed (by John Mongan, et al, 2nd Edition)
- How would you move mount fiji? (by William Poundstone)