Early in my career when I had to hire for my team, I made the mistake of asking the interviewee things that I had worked on regardless of whether they had worked on or not. As an interviewer, you are in a position of privilege. With that privilege comes a responsibility — of going through the interviewee’s resume in detail, of preparing some basic questions, of understanding what kind of work they’re coming from and what kind of work they’re looking for. I came to the conclusion that I should —

Ask questions from the work they have done, not from the work you have done

I read somewhere how Elon Musk hires his team. Of course hiring a data engineer is not the same as hiring a rocket scientist, but there’s definitely some overlap in hiring for any field of work. He says —

What I’m really looking for is evidence of exceptional ability. Did they face really difficult problems and overcome them? And of course you want to make sure if there was some significant accomplishment, were they really responsible or was someone else more responsible. Usually, someone who really had to struggle with a problem, they really understand it and they don’t forget.

According to research, anxious people usually get a low performance rating on an interview. So, before you get into any technical stuff, be sure to make them feel calm and comfortable. Ask if they want water. A thirty-second chit chat doesn’t hurt. Simple things help.

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