More Interviewing Methods

Before I recommend someone for hire in a particular company (my own or another one), I like to ask them a series of questions that gives me an idea on how well they can do two things:

(1) see the big picture, and (2) come through on the details

Lots of people can do (1), and lots of people can do (2); but few people really can do the right combination of (1) and (2). (I know lots of brilliant technology professionals I know can do both (1) and (2), but, for whatever reason, cannot properly articulate that in a resume, and that puts them at a huge disadvantage to the people out there who can talk the talk and never get called on walking the walk)

One technique I use to assess a candidate is to often just hand them a piece of paper and have them draw out the “biggest” or “last” network that s/he has ever supported / built / maintained. Seeing how and what they draw out gives me a good idea on where they feel comfortable, then I start to drill down to see what they know best and how they improved things at their company. This often gives me a good idea of the business decisions that drove what the person did (or didn’t do) there.