Do Job Interviews

For the last few months, I've been doing job interviews like crazy. I get multiple messages from recruiters every week and I'm sure many other programmers do. There are so many new companies opening in Stockholm and around the world and there is such a high demand for programmers. I can't really think of a better time than now to be a programmer.

Previously I didn't reply at all or just replied no to those messages. But this year I wanted to get experienced in interviews and I think it is one of the best decisions I've ever made. In this post I want to talk about what I learnt after interviewing for more than 10 different companies since the beginning of the year.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Interviews are a great way to acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses. Frankly it can also be hard to accept at first. It didn't take me too long to understand that I was not good at 3D math, vectors and shaders as I used to be before joining the mobile gaming industry. But I understood that I was good at software design patterns and architecture. This helped me to find my focus, I started to study math, shaders and everything 3D because my intention was returning back to console and PC gaming.

I also learnt a lot about my soft skills. The way I expressed myself in English rapidly improved and I became more and more confident during interviews.

Industry Knowledge

An interview is never about only the interviewee. It is also about the interviewers and their company. It is their duty to tell you about their production processes and capabilities. This knowledge made me a much better employee for my current company. I was full of ideas almost about everything. It is very good feeling.

As an Interviewer

I am also very involved in hiring technical people at my current company and I do interview a lot of applicants for programming positions. I don't think this requires a lot of explanation. Basically being an interviewee helped me become a better interviewer as well, it is just practice.

Deadlines and Planning

Even though I'm a seasoned programmer and quite used to working with deadlines, programming tests have even harder deadlines. Since I have a job already, I needed to plan ahead and work smart to meet the test deadlines. After a few times you start to learn what would be really important for the test and for the interviewer.

Networking

Every interview means meeting 2 new people in the industry. Interviews are a great way to expand your network in the industry. If you are in the same city and go to programming events, you will also meet your interviewers in real time. It is such a nice experience.

Knowing What You Want

As I mentioned I was interviewed by more then 10 companies and I was fortune enough to get 3 offers that I rejected before I accepted the 4th one. I was very close to sign a new contract but I trusted my gut feeling. Sometimes it was the pay, sometimes it was the culture but eventually I landed on a job that I really liked. All in all I was quite happy with the result and looking forward to my new position in October.

Conclusion

Interviews are very good a lot of things but they are also very demanding and stressful and eventually you'll want them to end. In my case, I started interviewing for fun and after 8 months I found a position that I can really like. Do interviews if you like your current job, then you'll be a better employee for your company. Don interviews if you don't like your current job, then you can find something you like. There is no downsides to do interviews, they are fun, educational and useful.