Interviewing: What they say vs. What they know

An older “adage” about interviewing updated to today…

Interviewer: How long have you been designing websites for?

Candidate: Five years

Interviewer: Do you understand HTML CSS and Photoshop?

Candidate: Yes, Yes and Yes

Interviewer: Can you design responsive sites?

Candidate: Absolutely

Interviewer: Javascript, PHP, Ruby and HTML5?

Candidate: I’m completely up to date

Interviewer: What about content? Can you develop content too?

Candidate: I blog every day

Interviewer: You’re exactly what we’re looking for!  You’re hired!

Candidate: Ummm… don’t you want to see my portfolio?

I know that candidates hate it, but before I hire a designer or programmer, we go through the interviewing, and then we give them a practical test, at our office, that either probes a weakness or verifies a strength.  We examine the candidate’s approach and evaluate the results.  THEN we hire or move on.  Didn’t your parents always say that words are easy to say?

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Chris Labatt-Simon

Managing Partner at Fair Winds Strategies

Chris is Managing Partner of Fair Winds Strategies. Prior to this he was the Chief Innovation Officer at Internet Marketing Ninjas where he managed M&A activity, legal work, and also focused on the use of technology and other solutions to lead innovation and growth. Before IMN, Chris led the sale of his $10mil information technology company, twice an Inc500 fastest growing company in the US, to an investment banking firm in NYC. He has a strong passion for sailing, and had the opportunity to spend two years travelling from Lake Champlain to the southern Bahamas and back with his family.

Latest posts by Chris Labatt-Simon (see all)

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