I have been trying to make sense of this recent management fad for getting candidates to write code in the interview and/or answer “probing” questions that attempt to uncover the candidate’s inner depths.
When I came across Charles Miller’s posting Have you ever…, I knew that I was onto something good.
Whereas Joel Spolsky talks intently about interviewing in a way that relates to this life, Charles apparently decided to take a more otherworldly approach and use a set of questions taken from Scientology.
I’m guessing that either of these will be just as effective in determining the ‘ideal’ candidate…thus, I decided to check out the Scientology questions, to see what I could see.
Gems abound:
- Have you ever trapped a thetan?
- Have you ever practised human sacrifice?
- Have you ever assumed a beingness which was not rightfully yours?
- Have you ever exterminated a species?
- Have you ever interiorized a being into a machine?
- Have you ever forced a body to survive against its owner’s wishes?
Hey! There are a few to which I could answer ‘yes’; like:
- Have you ever deliberately trained people in untruths for power, or profit?
- Have you ever warped an educational system?
- Have you ever tortured another with electrical, or electronic, devices?
- Have you ever arrested the development of a culture?
(remember: I am a recovering academic!)
- Have you ever created an effect for which there was no apparent cause?
(sure: that’s what debuggers are for)
- Have you ever poisoned an atmosphere?
(love those baked beans!)
There are some to which I answer: “I wish”:
- Have you ever prided yourself on your wickedness?
- Have you driven anyone insane?
And think on this, when you think on me: Have you given biological bodies a bad name?
Joel’s Guerrilla Interviewing; Scientology: IMHO, one (management) fad is as good as any other.
I once had to sit through a whole day of some HR drone telling me that “The Brain Is Just Like A CD Stacker.”
