Not really, unfortunately. 99.9% of CVs are dry, samey samey documents. I guess the only mildly humorous parts come from actual interviews afterwards.
I work in software development, so all interviews are focused around that. We are also fully remote, so all interviews and work is over ms teams.
Asking someone questions about a topic on their CV, and they haven’t actually got a clue. “So you mention XML on your CV. In XML, whats the difference between an element and an attribute?” - blank stare
More than one person who were clearly googling while answering questions, and reading verbatim from the results
More of a slightly unrelated rant - people who refuse to put cameras on. We are fully remote, we need to be able to see each others faces to communicate effectively. Its the way we work - I understand that might make people uncomfortable however its just something imo people need to get over. Especially in a first meeting, where you want to make the best impression to the interviewer.
I don’t do a lot of software development anymore. I had to look up attribute vs element. But it took all of 5 seconds to understand. Often I know how to use something even though I won’t know the names of the parts.
As for 3, I can understand for specific cases, like interviews. But most meetings I don’t feel comfortable inviting people into my home. That’s a fine line for me.
That was an older example, and not really a great question. But it did demonstrate they didn’t have a deep grasp of things on their CV
everything below is just my personal opinion
To be clear I don’t have a draconian “camera on or fuck you fired” approach. I mean this more as what I see as a reasonable expectation from someone fully working from home.
Ive heard the “inviting into your home” argument, but when its a fully remote job, it kinda comes with the territory and should be expected. I am lucky enough to have a separate room to work from, but I still also use a virtual background. I can’t recall anyone who doesn’t at least blur it out.
Fully remote work comes with the expectation of having a private working area, away from disturbances etc. Where its less like inviting someone into your home, and more like they are in your personal workspace.
As well, to be more specific. When I would personally have my camera on and a reasonable expectation others would, is in meetings / calls where the invitees are all expected to be participating, not meetings where you’re invited and sit there wasting time for an hour.
IMO, after working from home years, communication is noticeably and significantly clearer and more productive when we can see each other
Question, what if I don’t have a camera during an interview? I remember one time I had to set my phone up on a step ladder. I did get the job though. But the call quality was absolutely trash.
With the camera thing, if its like youve got a reason not to have one (broke that day, whatever). Not suggesting it is always a no, just because of it. If youre a strong candidate, then you have a strong chance. But when picking someone to offer to, people who had their camera on are naturally going to stick out more.
Day to day working its not a requirement to always have your camera on but some occasions will require it.
virtual backgrounds are good enough to hide everything else. Personally I have a flat black vbackground.
You can communicate without seeing each others faces, of course. You get a better connection, and better communication when you can see each other. Reading faces is a big part of how we communicate. Especially when I am training someone / pairing, seeing someones face let’s me know if they’re getting it or not.
Im talking from the perspective of my industry, and the work I do. Its just my experience. Im not stating proven facts or something. I am just explaining my perspective, thats all. Its not applicable for everyone - we are all different
Ok, understood. From my perspective, its a better way to communicate. Im not saying its the only way. And faceless communication can also be productive
Got any good stories of things that gave you a chuckle?
Not really, unfortunately. 99.9% of CVs are dry, samey samey documents. I guess the only mildly humorous parts come from actual interviews afterwards.
I work in software development, so all interviews are focused around that. We are also fully remote, so all interviews and work is over ms teams.
I don’t do a lot of software development anymore. I had to look up attribute vs element. But it took all of 5 seconds to understand. Often I know how to use something even though I won’t know the names of the parts.
As for 3, I can understand for specific cases, like interviews. But most meetings I don’t feel comfortable inviting people into my home. That’s a fine line for me.
That was an older example, and not really a great question. But it did demonstrate they didn’t have a deep grasp of things on their CV
everything below is just my personal opinion
To be clear I don’t have a draconian “camera on or fuck you fired” approach. I mean this more as what I see as a reasonable expectation from someone fully working from home.
Ive heard the “inviting into your home” argument, but when its a fully remote job, it kinda comes with the territory and should be expected. I am lucky enough to have a separate room to work from, but I still also use a virtual background. I can’t recall anyone who doesn’t at least blur it out.
Fully remote work comes with the expectation of having a private working area, away from disturbances etc. Where its less like inviting someone into your home, and more like they are in your personal workspace.
As well, to be more specific. When I would personally have my camera on and a reasonable expectation others would, is in meetings / calls where the invitees are all expected to be participating, not meetings where you’re invited and sit there wasting time for an hour.
IMO, after working from home years, communication is noticeably and significantly clearer and more productive when we can see each other
Question, what if I don’t have a camera during an interview? I remember one time I had to set my phone up on a step ladder. I did get the job though. But the call quality was absolutely trash.
With the camera thing, if its like youve got a reason not to have one (broke that day, whatever). Not suggesting it is always a no, just because of it. If youre a strong candidate, then you have a strong chance. But when picking someone to offer to, people who had their camera on are naturally going to stick out more.
Day to day working its not a requirement to always have your camera on but some occasions will require it.
virtual backgrounds are good enough to hide everything else. Personally I have a flat black vbackground.
We don’t need to see each other’s faces to communicate effectively.
You can communicate without seeing each others faces, of course. You get a better connection, and better communication when you can see each other. Reading faces is a big part of how we communicate. Especially when I am training someone / pairing, seeing someones face let’s me know if they’re getting it or not.
Im talking from the perspective of my industry, and the work I do. Its just my experience. Im not stating proven facts or something. I am just explaining my perspective, thats all. Its not applicable for everyone - we are all different
I’m talking from the perspective of software development.
Ok, understood. From my perspective, its a better way to communicate. Im not saying its the only way. And faceless communication can also be productive