We’re interviewing for new software engineering positions on our team. We’re learning a great deal from a common interview question: “What are you looking for?” The way I ask that is, “What are you looking for? When you’re at a new company for 90 days, 6 months, a year, what things will make you say, ‘Yes, I made a good decision’?”
We want people who want to be at our company. That means wanting a place that treats people as people first. A place that values collaboration and treating others with respect and kindness. A place where there’s an expectation of growth and where curiosity is encouraged and rewarded.
Many candidate answers are variations of “I want to solve interesting problems.” We’re definitely that kind of place. But we’re more than that. If someone isn’t looking for who we are, then they likely won’t appreciate what makes us unique. Maybe more importantly, they won’t actively contribute to what makes us unique.
We’re listening to candidate answers, and if we don’t hear that someone is looking for a place that sounds like us, we are passing.
Leave a Reply