As a software developer, I am in a lucky group that is always in high demand. If I am unhappy for long enough, I can start looking around. Dipping my toes in the pool to see how warm the water is.
As it turns out, I’m not that happy. But looking for a new job sucks. I have to interview and usually perform some moronic programming test to see if I can do some oddball tasks that I will never see again during the course of my career.
I try to eliminate myself from consideration
I’ve finally discovered my perfect interviewing technique. I try to eliminate myself from consideration. Sounds crazy, but hear me out.
I want to know as early as possible if a company is not a good fit for me. What if I know I won’t be happy there? I need to find out quickly.
In the interview instead of telling the interviewer what I think they want to hear, I lay it all out there. I hate working in a CMS, I only want to solve problems that matter. I dislike offices and prefer to work remotely. I think integration tests are overused. I’m not 25 or even close. These are a few of things I’ve been throwing out there, and it seems to work well. I’m not wasting my time with interviews when I no longer fit what they are looking for, or they don’t fit with what I am looking for.
A new approach
When I approach interviews about what I want out of an employer, or how I may not fit with what they are looking for, I always feel like the interview went well. I have either discovered that the company is not for me, or that I am exactly the type of person that they are looking for.
Time will tell if I am crazy or not.