Engineers' Gate #6: Ban Canned Questions

Don't ask questions just to ask. Make it meaningful to your "why."

Why Engineer’s Gate? 

It’s the entry point to Central Park for the New York City marathon. 

My favorite place & my favorite event to bring everyone together.

I’m a New Yorker, avid marathoner, and technical recruiter looking to give back to the city & industry that made me.

I moved to New York City for love on a $15 bus from Boston with 1 taped up suitcase to my name. Now I’m a successful business owner, wife, and mother with a mission to get you to a better place too.

Each issue explores:

1. Reframe of a common interviewing & hiring scenario

2. Life in New York City

3. Running insight of the week

Join the journey.

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Reframe

The end of the interview nears. 

It’s time for you to ask the manager questions. 

Your palms slightly sweat and you look away for a moment to collect your thoughts. 

Your plan was to go with the flow of conversation & ask a good question based on that.

But nothing is coming to mind. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. 

Make it easy on yourself. 

Prepare. 

Part of the interview preparation I take people through is focused on good questions to ask & why. 

First I listen to what questions people typically ask now. 

The answers vary from going with the flow of the conversation to 10 questions they saw to ask on a website. After the 10th question they say, “not like I’d ask all of these anyway.”

Like with many other things in life, filtering useful information is the main issue.

I can’t tell you how many times the “go with the flow” folks end up saying all of their questions were answered during the interview and they were glad we spoke about what else to ask. That we focused on what would make or break the job for them.

80% tend to ask canned questions that get canned answers that don’t impact whether they would accept a job offer or not.  

Things like “what is the day to day like.”  This question in particular is listed across multiple websites as a good one to ask.

Imagine you’re the manager interviewing 20+ people and most people are asking this same question, if any at all. 

Break their auto-pilot mode to stand out. 

After 15 years of tech recruiting, filtering what is useful & not, these are my top 3 questions I advise people ask: 

1. What does success in this role look like & how is it being measured? 

Red Flag: Vague answer. Give grace and ask a follow up question if the answer is not specific enough the first time around. 

2. What challenges are you facing now? 

Red Flag: No challenges. 

3. Why did you decide to join the company & what keeps you here?    

Red Flag: If the answer sounds too perfect, it probably is. 

Why these questions? 

They address core structural points that make or break a job for you efficiently. 

Here are the key concepts covered with these questions:

• Is the system & goal defined well?

• What are known issues?

• Did the initial attraction of joining the company wear off or stay? 

Your long term job satisfaction is priority #1. 

Satisfaction is based on expectations established & met.

Begin setting expectations during the interview.  

When was the last time you updated the questions you’re asking, thinking about what is actually important to you?  

Start with your “why” and build questions from there.

Try this on your own or ask me to help.

Want to talk about it for 7 minutes? Book here

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NYC

Autumn in New York is so beautiful there’s a song about it.

In the spirit of the season, we headed 20 minutes outside Manhattan to the New York Botanical Garden for their Fall-O-Ween event. Every year, they showcase some of the biggest pumpkins in the world. Think 2000+ lb pumpkins that people can fit in.

Yes. There was a person inside a pumpkin. I’d estimate he was 5’9”.

He emerged from a small rectangular opening covered in wet pumpkin slime with a shining headlamp and 2 large plastic paint buckets full of seeds and guts.

Check it out:

See the paint bucket in there?

Side view of the huge pumpkin

The grounds of the botanical garden transport you to a peaceful place where you can appreciate the slow work of nature. I like to think of this place as my garden in the same way I think about Central Park as my backyard.

Get your in person tickets here

See past fall exhibits virtually here

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Running

Training for the Tokyo marathon now and wanted to share a breakthrough.

Check your basics & fundamentals, even if you don’t think you need to.

When first learning the Chi Running technique, it is advised to use a metronome.

What’s that?

It’s a small digital instrument that beeps continuously so you can time exactly when your foot should strike the ground.

This sets up proper cadence, proper rhythm for your movement.

Ideal cadence is 170-180 strides (foot touches) per minute.

While the instrument I started with is long gone, I get the metronome sound from the Chi Running app now.

I assumed I was running well, based on times, recovery after runs, and prior experience running 7 marathons. But when I included the metronome out of curiosity, I realized my form was off. My feet were moving slower than the ideal cadence. Instead of finding a good balance, I was reaching too far with my legs.

Being out of balance or breaking good form can happen in shorter distance runs without going noticed. For long distance, those form breaks add up, impacting overall performance and experience of the event.

Glad to catch this early in the training cycle.

When is the last time you gave yourself a systems check for underlying assumptions?

Thanks for reading!

Let’s keep moving.

Jen

PS- If you have any questions, please ask. I read every comment & will respond.

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