Interviews Work Both Ways
January 3rd, 2010
I’ve been talking with a colleague who is looking for a job. He’s comparing two senior engineering jobs.
At one interview, it was clear that the manager makes all the technical decisions. No, the manager doesn’t code anymore; he makes all the technical decisions though, for a 12-person group.
At the other job, it looked as if my colleague might be the most senior person there. The other folks are young and smart, but just don’t appear to have the same amount of experience he has.
I asked him who he would learn from, at each job. He immediately answered the job with the younger group. Why? Because the manager in the first job would prevent him from learning.
He said something like this (I’m paraphrasing), “When managers don’t manage, and make all the technical decisions, they make it harder for the team to grow and for people to learn.”
So hiring managers, remember, the interview works both ways.
Entry Filed under: interview
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2 Comments Add your own
1. Rick Martin | January 3rd, 2010 at 6:03 pm
I always believed as a manager, one of my biggest goals was to develop my team. Early in my management career, a senior manager told me that I need to start developing my replacement from day one because if I become indispensable as the manager, I become un-promotable as well.
2. Carfield | January 3rd, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Then what exactly is manage? Tracking schedule?
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