Interviewing Notes

- Interviews matter because our team matters
- You want to have a hand in who you have to work with
- You also want to demonstrate and practice one of the most
  important skills in starting a business
- The quality of an early stage company is 100% the quality of it's
  team, if you want to start a company, you want to be able to interview.

- An interview has two objectives:
  - Learn about the candidate and their skills
  - Make them want to work at HubSpot

- The Interview Loop
  - Ask yourself: What more do I need to know to make a decision?
  - Ask a Question
  - Listen to the Answer

- The hardest part at first will be finding questions to ask,
  have a bank ready until you're comfortable.
- Dive into their response until you have reached the limit of their
  knowledge.
- Once your doubt one way or the other about a topic is resolved,
  move on to another.
- An interview is an opportunity for the candidate to
  prove what they can do, give them as many opportunities
  as you can, don't bog them down in something they can't
  do.
- You only have so long, so its about efficiency, information gathered / minute.
- They might suck at Java, but be the best Python programmer
  you've ever met, you won't know if you don't move off Java
  once the question in your mind has been answered.
- You want to walk out with a clear understanding of where
  they stand in as many dimentions as is possible.

- Not getting a job is better than getting fired, they don't want to get hired for
  a job they can't do any more than we want to hire them for it.

- You, as the interviewer, can always learn something, even if 
  it's just about what it was like to work in their previous company

- Interviewing is an artifical environment full of a type of stress
  which rarely exists in our true jobs.  One of your responsibilities
  is to minimize that stress.
- Remember that, even if you do five interviews a week, it can be one
  of the most stressful experiances of their life.
- If they are comfortable, you will be able to get a better picture of what
  they can truly do, how smart they really are and what they really are like.

- More friendly chat, less inquisition
- Give encouragement, make them feel smart and in control
- "Great answer", "Exactly what I was looking for", "Brilliant"
- The best interviews leave both parties feeling good, if that's not true,
  we've done less than our best.
- Never in the history of the world has the candidate had more fun than the
  interviewer, if you're not having a good time, neither will they.
- You can always find *something* positive to say
- We don't want to miss out on brilliant, but nervous, people.

- Cultural questions are an opportunity for them to make us give
  a fuck if they get this job or not.
- I've never made a no decesion for cultural reasons.
- Two reasons:
  - Our culture is high-performance, if they're technically
    brillant, and not a huge dick, we want to work with them.
    (And there aren't that many huge dicks in the world who are
    actually all that smart)
  - The canidate can tell if they'll fit in better than we can.
    Be honest about the company (while staying positive), 
    and trust they will not want to work here if it's a
    terrible fit.

- Making them want to work at HubSpot
- Even if they're not a great fit, they might know someone who is
- We have a brand in the dev community of Boston, let's maintain it

- Basic stuff: Be nice, show respect whatever their skill level, 
  be compassionate, but honest, with them about where they stand.
- It's normal to talk up the positive, talk about things we're just
  starting to use as if its more common
- Spend some time thinking about why you like your job, it's a
  question you're gonna get alot, and it's a great opportunity to
  showcase whatever you want.
- There's no way around it, you are a salesperson for HubSpot, selling jobs.
- The only difference is we end up turning down a lot of prospective 'customers'.
- Sales 101: How you sell changes based on your audience
- If they say they hate the source control at their current job, talk about git.
- If they don't tell you what's wrong with their current job, ask, they're
  interviewing for a reason.
  - They want to be an entrepreneaur- Talk about what experiance they can get at HubSpot (including in sales and marketing)
  - They're currently building boring transactional shit- Talk about what we're trying to build, get them excited
  - They have an overbearing iddot of a boss- Talk about how much freedom we have
  - They're coworkers don't inspire them- Talk about The Axe (tm)
- Nothing is more powerful than real-world examples and stories.

- Remember that changing jobs sucks.
- It's new people, new commands, new projects
- They are willfully accepting 1-6 months of stress in return for a better
  future
- People won't do it unless they
  - Need money (currently unemployed or will be soon)
  - Have to move
  - Are really unsatisfied with their current job
- The first two will come to us, the last requires more convincing

- Don't forget that what they tell you in an interview is not the truth
- Neither is their resume
- They will exagurate their role on projects

- Even though we don't figure it out beforehand, not every interview is for the same job
- Some people may interview and not have the technical skills to be a big
  contributor, but we believe they can develop them, that can be OK
- If they are later in their carrer, there is less margin
- If they don't have the experiance, assess how smart and driven they are
- Signs of being driven:
  - Side projects
  - Taking opportunities
- The final decesion for these people will also be a function of how much
  training time we have to devote to them.

What can I tell them, what promises can I make?

- You can tell them about what sort of roles we have, and where you
  think they would fit in.  Make it clear it's your opinion, not the
  organization's.  (Elias' opinion is the organization's opinion).
- If it's a phone screen, you can tell them we're gonna bring them
  in, or tell them no.  You're the only one screening them.
- Final yes and no decisions should be made through Elias, but as always,
  be as bold as you dare.
- Telling people no is an art, cultivate it if given the opportunity.
- If you want the opportunity to do more interviewing, ask for it.