How I Hire

I've interviewed dozens of people for many positions. Some I waved through, a handful I rejected at every one of my various employers. I've had a few cry out of frustration at not being able to solve the problem, I've had a handful who've been resourceful and found the answers on the web in real time. I'm here to tell readers that knowing how to factor a polynomial (or not, as the case may be) is not the reason candidates are asked questions like "what is 2 to the 32nd power?" or "Why are manhole covers round?".

If you think that grinding on LeetCode or doing hackerrank perfectly is the end-all, be-all of your interview preparation, you will not be bumped ahead. If you feel that your graduating from valedectorian at Choate entitles you to a job, you are not going to get ahead.

Now, what will and, more importantly, why will it get you the job and keep you there?

We'll start with the "why" first. So, you went to Stanford. Congrats, you are one of 16,914 individuals who go to Stanford every year. What makes you deserving over any of them? You have a 4.0 GPA, what does that tell me? It tells me that you can give the grader what they want to see for 4 years straight. While your skills at reading people's intentions are commendable, how do I know that you'll continue to do this for us? You need to convince me (along with every other person) that you are the sort of person whose name I will look forward to seeing daily in my inbox -- you probably can gather where this is going...

What I want to know is "what makes you unique?" and not just nother hapless Cardinal, who found me on a list of alumni and reached out because we pay well enough to let you afford a monthly trip to a gentlemen's club. Do you like to travel? Was your home destroyed by a bomb in 1986? Did you grow up without parents? How did you get interested in this sort of work? You want me to remember you as a person, so that, when I look at your CV in a few days, the fact that you were the Stanford graduate that skiied Whistler at age 5 pops into my head (or whatever it is).