A software development manager has shared a unique ‘confidence’ test he incorporates during interviews, explaining why candidates who don’t pass won’t be hired.
When selecting new employees, company leaders often rely on specific strategies, including various tests, throughout the interview process.
Recently, we’ve come across the secretive salt test, but now another manager has elaborated on a two-step ‘confidence’ assessment he utilizes in every interview.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror US, the manager explained: “I ask the following questions, allowing the interviewee to submit their answer to the first before asking the second: ‘What is 23 times 37?’ (or possibly ‘How do you spell surveillance?’).” He then asks: ‘What confidence do you have in that answer?'”
The manager clarified that the correctness of the answer is less important than the candidate’s attitude and approach to the problem.
He elaborated: “What’s of interest is how they approach it: do they ask for needless clarification or for permission to use a calculator?”
“A second answer of ‘100%’ conveys something different than ‘99.9 per cent’. The variations in responses to questions one and two provide insights into the interviewee’s problem-solving approach, information reporting, and customer service.”
“I work in IT, specifically as a software developer. The traditionally high turnover in the field is due not just to its dynamism, but also to the fact that, all too often, those with hiring and/or recommendation authority are not trained or even inclined to recognize the significance of character and professionalism.”
Earlier this week, another unique interview test surfaced, known as the coffee cup test.
Trent Innes, speaking on The Ventures business podcast, explained: “I will always take you for a walk down to one of our kitchens and somehow you always end up walking away with a drink.”
During the interview, candidates receive a cup, with the expectation that they will not decline the drink.
Innes further explained: “Then we take that back, have our interview, and one of the things I’m always looking for at the end of the interview is, does the person doing the interview want to take that empty cup back to the kitchen?”
The test’s essence is that if a candidate doesn’t return the cup to the kitchen, they might not be suitable for the company.
Innes emphasized: “You can develop skills, you can gain knowledge and experience, but it really does come down to attitude, and the attitude that we talk a lot about is the concept of ‘wash your coffee cup’.”