Recently, I had a lunch meeting with an acquaintance who shared their interview experience, particularly behavioral questions. One of the questions asked was, “Works and on time or Perfect and late?” This question sparked a debate, as the interviewer was firmly in the former camp.
My thoughts? Candidates must not be asked such questions in interviews. They are not relevant to the role of a software engineer. Product and upstream teams drive such decisions. You may say, “but they are relevant if the role is a super senior or principal engineer.” If it is principal, then I agree to a certain extent.
It is okay to discuss such questions in an interview but not debate them. Interviewers must not choke candidates for their opinions on the matter.
Perfect and late vs. Works and on time
This conundrum often has the following backdrop: “It is iterative. We can improve and build upon it for the upcoming releases.” In practice, the promise to improve and build upon will slide from one release to another. If that is tolerable and considered the reality, then the interviewer must be willing to accept the candidate’s opinion.
Above all, the question is open-ended. What product are we talking about here? It is okay to release a conventional dot-com site that works and is on time. Is it all right to release (a feature in) autopilot in automobiles that just works? Or should it be perfect? An interviewer’s ego will not help the havoc such an on-time release would cause.
Interview Culture
Interview culture is deteriorating.
A candidate can only answer behavioral questions based on their experience and self. If they sounded aggressive, it may be their nature or just that day. An interviewer should wait for the candidate to join the firm to put such things in their context. The candidate has no way of knowing the context and culture of the company they are interviewing for.
It is the job of an interviewer and the company to make the interview enjoyable for the candidate, even if they don’t get the job. The candidate should part ways with a feeling of satisfaction. Why should it be otherwise?
