One of the things that I never understood when I first started in 
co-op was just how little time people have to go through resumés and how little they really care.  After reading 
Joel's rant on resumés I can't help but think of how 
stupid and 
unprepared I was for just about every interview I had.  Only in 4th year when I had some experience and was actually looking for a job do I think that I did "okay".  Note, I didn't say "well", I just said okay.  It might have looked good, but only compared to the 2nd years.
After I worked at 
passport  for a co-op job, they asked me help them interview some other co-op's.  Of course this was ridiculous, I did it anyways.  And some of the decisions can down to crazy things like how they acted to questions, if they took off their coat or not.  More of a gut feeling than anything.  And really, that's a pretty shitty way to pick someone for a job.
Listening to: Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
 
Sometimes personality is the best way to pick a candidate. After all, you're going to have to deal with them eight hours a day. Why not pick someone you'll like talking to? Having good team chemistry these days is almost as important as technical skills.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree, it's a crapshoot. Doesn't bother me much though.
Yeah, it really can be hard to decide who to hire. There's some really technically bad people who can talk up a storm and sell themselves to you. Then, there's others who are very qualified technically, but a little reclusive, and probably wouldn't be much fun to work with. I think it's important to find a happy median, someone who knows their stuff, and is still able to carry on a good conversation.
ReplyDelete