Re: questions asked during network engineer interview

[Peter Kristolaitis <alter3d () alter3d ca>]

On 2020-07-14 1:55 p.m., Michael Thomas wrote:
> But I try as much as possible to put candidates at ease because I know 
> that not everybody reacts to interviews the same, which is sadly not 
> the case far too often.
>
> Mike
I often ask a question early in the interview to the effect of "Tell me 
about a tech project you've worked on outside of your professional 
work.  It doesn't have to be related at all to this role or any other 
professional role you've worked on, just something cool involving tech 
that you've done on your own time."

I don't care if the answer is setting up a complicated home lab, or 
programming Arduinos to make a robotic cat feeder, or 3D printing, or 
whatever.   I ask this question for two reasons: first, there is a 
correlation between being passionate about technology and being good at 
working with it and learning it professionally;  and second, talking 
about not-directly-related-to-the-resume stuff for a couple of minutes 
often lets the "introvert geek" personality-types relax and open up a 
lot.  I find this is particularly helpful when hiring for junior and 
intermediate roles, but I will sometimes ask it of senior candidates too.