[scarface74]

As an interviewer, I’m not interested in having a “chill conversation”. I’m interested in knowing whether you have the minimum set of qualifications to know whether it’s worth the time to go through the trouble of setting up the in person interview, reserving a room, setting up the computer with my code interview, scheduling a block of time with other developers, etc.

[ravenstine]

As an interviewee, I'm not interested in only answering questions that are easily answered by my resume so you can tick boxes. If I can't get a sense on the company spirit and you aren't going to treat me like a human being over the phone, why would I want to work for you when there are better companies looking for culture fits?

The sentiment is mutual.

[braythwayt]

You don know that anybody can put anything on a résumé, right?

We can talk about how much we hate doing anything over a voice call, but it’s ludicrous to think that interviewers should never ask a question that could be answered by reading the résumé.

For example, we have some Scala code in our analytics stack at my work. I have worked with it, but I avoid touching it and honestly, I am not a Scala programmer.

I have been at this company for 3 1/2 years, on this team for one year. Some people in such a situation will say that they have 3 1/2 years of Scala, an outright fabrication.

Others will say that they have 1 year of Scala, which is kinda-sorta true on some bad-faith, you-can’t-call-me-a-liar planet.

If I put Scala on a résumé, I would totally expect someone to drill down and find out if I was using it every day, whether I was writing big chunks of code or just fixing the odd bug and so on.

I wouldn’t highlight Scala, personally, but what if I put JavaScript down? Given how tenuous Scala might be, wouldn’t an interviewer want to know if my JavaScript experience is “real” or not? I know that I use JS almost every day and Scala almost never, but my interviewer doesn’t know that I have such scruples, so they are supposed to ask me questions about JavaScript that my résumé answers, then drill down and corroborate.

[ravenstine]

There seems to be a misunderstanding with what I'm talking about. I'm not saying that phone screenings shouldn't be about qualifications. My point is that if through that process I'm made to feel like a number, that gives me a bad impression of the rest of the business relationship. If the person doing the screening comes off as friendly, maybe enthusiastic, and we can have a pleasant 2 way chat, then I'm much more likely to move forward with the process.

To provide contrast, I had a phone screening yesterday where the screener was only asking yes/no questions that were easily answered by my resume, didn't want me to go into much detail, and didn't seem friendly at all. Why would I want to move forward with that company? There are others where I can tell off the bat that they'd be a better culture fit. First impressions do matter.

One of the things I like about a video screening is it usually changes the tone of the conversation towards being a bit less formal.

[scarface74]

My point is that if through that process I'm made to feel like a number

You are a number as an employee, we are all just disposable pieces of the cog. The business transaction is simple. I’ll stay there as long as they are putting money in my account twice a month that is commensurate with my market value and I know they will keep me employed as long as it is in their best interest.

You are just one of a pile of resumes that they are filtering at any one time.

[scarface74]

People lie on resumes either on purpose or they think they know a technology but they don’t really.

[webdood90]

Then you and your company are probably not a good fit for this particular interviewee. It goes both ways.

[walshemj]

If you give that vibe off good candidates will be like "Meh" and drop you.

[scarface74]

I don’t get it. Why is a job anything else but a place I go to get a paycheck, keep my skills marketable, and go home?

While I wouldn’t want to work in a toxic environment, I have no problem with working with a bunch of professionals that all feel the same way and just want to go home to their families, friends, and enjoy other alternatives.

I have no interest in playing foosball, socializing after work, etc.

[walshemj]

How your perceived by your peers does effect your promotion though

[scarface74]

True.

But I gave up getting meaningful raises within a company. My m.o. for the past 10 years has been to look at the market, gain the skills that are paying more, and change jobs.

As far as promotions, that’s not something I care about. 20 years ago, I was sitting at a desk writing code in Visual Studio 1997. Now I am sitting at a desk writing code in Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio Code - making a lot more money of course.

I was a Dev lead for a while, at one company just to put that on my resume, I self demoted, got a job at another company with the same pay, less responsibility, and the chance to fill in some technology gaps for next job as an overpriced consultant.

[xkcd-sucks]

Couldn't you just do that in email though?

[twblalock]

People would cheat by looking up the answers.

[gaius]

They do this on phone screens too. You can hear the keys then their intonation changes as if they are reading text out loud...

[idfoinbvc]

If someone can google exact answer in 15 seconds (to be sure they are saying things correctly), in some situations it's also great. This fact-checking instinct is good.

[gaius]

There is that, but in an interview fluent familiarity is a proxy for experience and regular usage, if someone can just rattle something off it’s a good indicator that they really have been doing it alot.