The Non-Technical Interview, Demystified

The Non-Technical Interview, Demystified The Non-Technical Interview, DemystifiedThe best predictor of how a student will perform in an internship is a work sample testasking the studentto perform the type of work or activity that is typical of what the future mentor will assign. For technical roles in the tech/web industry, such bewerberinterviews often involve writing code and solving problems in real time.But work sample interview are often preceded by the ever-dreaded non-technical interview. Every winter, droves of technical college majors encounter the non-technical interview and ask What exactly is this interviewer evaluating?Good news. The answer is (or should be) bedrngnis much.Strong interviewers at great internships recognize both the need for and the limits of the non-technical interview. We typically use it early in the evaluation process, primarily for social reasonsto introduce you to us and to introduce us to you. Often, both of us have a few, simple questions wed lik e to ask each other as we get to know each other a bit.Ultimately, we dont use the non-technical interview to tell us if you should get the internship. We need much better interviewslike work sample interviewsto help us make the big decisions.Instead, we use the non-technical interview as a quick way to eliminate applicants who should not get the internship, as well as a quick way to steer applicants in various directions, based on some of the early indicators we pick up on.So what types of early indicators am I talking about? In the non-technical interview, were looking for a few main things.1. Basic Communication SkillsMy goal is to learn if an applicant can engage in quite basic conversation listening to a few questions and answering them clearly. Every once in a while, I discover that an applicant cannot meet this basic standard, and its important for me to learn that early.2. Basic ProfessionalismThis one is related to basic communication skills, but its a little more subtle. I m on the lookout for indications that a student might not have the self-awareness or maturity to meet a base level of professionalism. A few examples conducting a video interview in a very messy dorm room insulting kollektiv members while describing group project work.3. Commitment to Our Work and/or IndustryEvery once in a while, Ill speak with a programmer who looks strong but it turns out that, in the long term, she is ultimately interested in working for a completely different type of company or field or industry. Depending on the nature of the internship, thats not necessarily a blockerbut since most internships support long-term recruiting efforts in some way, its important for interviewers to gauge commitment early.4. A Sense for Strengths and PreferencesThis one is quite broad and possibly the most confusing. Imagine things from my perspectiveIm looking at a pipeline of twenty top programming applicants, and Im aware of various different mentors and projects that they might get paired with. I wont eliminate an applicant if he or she comes across as particularly introverted, but its helpful to observe and note that tendency as I consider who would interview or ultimately mentor him through what types of activities. This part of the non-technical interview is about making sure the rest of the interview processand, ideally, the actual internshipis as positive of an experience as possible for the applicant.In other words, the big secret is that there is no big secret. At its core, the non-technical interview is pretty pragmatic, and when I conduct them, they last fifteen to thirty minutes maximum. I keep them short, so we can all move on to the good stuff, like the work sample interviews thatll show us your skills and potential with a great deal more accuracyas well as, ideally, give you a great glimpse into the nature of the gig so you can decide, for your part, whether were the right fit for you.