pull down to refresh

Hi everyone,
I've botched a few interviews with Operations Managers (IE: Hiring Managers), and even CEOs of companies recently, and I'm a bit puzzled as to what I am doing wrong.
Recently I botched one with one of the biggest, most desired open source bootstrapped companies (non-bitcoin related) -- Ghost.io. The manager did tell me that out of hundreds of applications they received over the weekend, they only call less than a dozen, which she mentioned that this itself is already an incredible feat.
Another example is how I botched an interview with ZBD's CTO André Neves. He seemed tired of doing so many interviews and mine didn't seem to stand out at all -- I just kept thinking poor guy! I should have left him take 5 or 10 minutes off my interview so he could take a break in-between calls. I know how it feels to have hours of meetings per day, it's extremely exhausting.
For some reason I can kind of tell that they seem to lose interest in my story. It might just be that others have more compelling stories, are willing to sell themselves in a pushy way, or simply that I am in fact applying for a few of the greatest companies in the world and the bar is set extremely high.
That's not to say that I have failed all HR interviews and usually if I do get to the coding challenge I do well, but if I were to find a job in the fiat mine I would rather be one I feel very challenged.
I'll give a 50,000 sats bounty between the best answers I can find and maybe a bit extra if there are lots of good answers. I'll tip directly here in SN comments
I'd love to know if anyone has expertise from taking a lot of interviews or if you are the hiring person itself, that'd be even better. If you don't have expertise but just made some research, it's fine but I'd be grateful if you point it out (IE: "checked this blog post from Basecamp, and the CEO said this and that")
For context, I feel that sometimes in the half an hour of time I have, I spend about 15-20 minutes talking about my previous and past projects (I have a lot of projects and experience in Frontend and as a Manager under my wing). My goal is open source companies, but I most of my experience is on closed source.
Maybe I should talk about them less so that we can chat more? Maybe I interrupt too much in interviews? Maybe they're looking for me to ask a lot of questions? (I don't tend to ask much, as I read their company profiles well).
My English is not native but decent enough, and I also taught big groups of 30-50 people so I'm usually okay talking and expressing myself.
Thanks!
This article looks helpful
Some parts from it:
Grow: I continually developed my skills by volunteering for projects I didn’t know how to do yet. Serve: I built my professional network by offering my services to people without expecting anything in return.
And this one
Interview tips
Hope some of this is helpful. I probably wouldn’t interrupt them while they are talking either
reply
Thanks, the free code camp article is quite good. Just starting out helping someone, then tell the next person "I did this" and slowly go up. I like that approach. Even if it's small (and later someone realizes that), it will be good to stand out.
reply
My goal is open source companies, but I most of my experience is on closed source.
If this is the situation, perhaps having public contributions to open source projects that you can show and discuss during the interview, could be helpful.
These contributions don't necessarily need to involve coding. If the project in question belongs to the company you are applying for, even better. The discussion doesn't need to be around the code details but focus on how you interact with other people and get things done.
Other than that, I would recommend looking at Jacob Kaplan-Moss recent posts since he addresses these interviews looking from the other side of the "table".
Good Luck.
reply
Lots of entries so going through a few of them. I'll be reading more in my free time. Thanks!
reply
I'm assuming you've done some research on the company. Understanding the product/service is always a good step in the right direction. Try and interact with employees before the interview. Ask questions related to the company and if they have any recommendations on how to impress HR. Recommending products/services you think might align well with the companies vision can also show your eagerness to contribute towards the companies success. These are just some of the tips I've used in my interviews. Hopefully they can help you land the job. Goodluck.
reply
Oh wow. Thank you so much for your generosity. I truly appreciate it. My day just got epic.
reply
5000 sats \ 1 reply \ @F 11 Oct 2022
Just be polite, forward, and succinct. No need to say anything that doesn't need to be said. It's mostly a numbers game, for them and for you. Get a "no"? Just continue on applying. There are zillions of companies.
Act confident, focus on your strengths, and carry on.
reply
Yeah, def. a numbers game for sure. A friend recently was very frustrated but decided to go all in. She sent 70 applications and had dozens of interviews. Insane.
I'm alright with my current position, so I am mostly hunting for places I would really like.
reply
"...I don't tend to ask much, as I read their company profiles well."
In my experience (I've worked in finance), you stand out by showing that you researched the company beforehand. The best moment to do so is when the interviewer ask you why would you be a good fit for the job.
reply
Funnily enough not everyone has asked me if I'm a good fit. Maybe I'm already not a good fit in their eyes before the questions comes. Interesting.
reply
Thank you for the sats! Best of luck with your job interviews.
reply
Thanks for the answers, sats have been sent as promised to stackers.
50K satoshis might only buy a few coffees today but who knows tomorrow ;)
reply
50k sats will be a big deal one day very soon!
reply