Interviewing Your Future Boss? 447
crimethinker asks: "I am an embedded systems engineer for a small division of a large company. Up to now, we have managed to get by with little more than a 'team lead' position, but as our division grows, they are looking to hire a full-on engineering manager. I was one of the candidates, with my current boss's favorable recommendation, but I withdrew my resume when they told me the job was all paper and schedules; I'd never touch code or hardware again. Now the VP has a 'short list' of candidates, and has invited me to be one of the interviewers. Yes, you read that correctly: I will be interviewing the person who will become my boss. So, I put the question to you, Slashdot: what questions should I ask my prospective boss?"
Well (Score:4, Funny)
vacation...? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:vacation...? (Score:5, Interesting)
How about something serious like:
What schedule/planning creation process do you use?
What sort of prioritization system do you use to rank the active projects?
What are some techniques you use for improving/encouraging productivity during especially streesful periods of a project?
I know that it's possible to get pat answers, but if the guy (or lady) is worth anything, he/she is going to be able to tell you about times in the past where these situations occured.
After all, *all* of our projects are on time, on budget, with minimal stress... Riiight.
Re:vacation...? (Score:3, Informative)
2. What is your management style?
3. Methodology that you use to do peer reviews?
4. Are you a boss or leader? Explain and show with examples! Compare answer given here to #2!
5. What was the greatest success you had as part of a team. What didn't work and what did.
6. What was your greatest failure. What worked and what didn't.
Re:vacation...? (Score:3, Funny)
"What is your opinion on.. (Score:5, Funny)
Naptime?"
Re:"What is your opinion on.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, taking a short nap will increase productivity; and his view on naps might tell you a lot about flexible workhours...
Personally I might want to work 12+ hours when I'm getting a lot of work done, and during the days that it feels like I can't get anything done I want to leave early... and as long as I'm getting the work done on, or before, the deadline that ought to be ok.
Re:"What is your opinion on.. (Score:3, Informative)
Cut back on the carbs there, big guy.
That, or have a decent breakfast.
Or, more likely, both.
Re:"What is your opinion on.. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:"What is your opinion on.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Duty Cycle (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:"What is your opinion on.. (Score:5, Insightful)
So if you're the boss you'd fire anyone sleeping at work?
Have you ever worked with programmers?
Programming isn't just typing code, you need to design solutions... and that could be just like painting or writing a book, you need to be inspired, creative, "in the zone"...
A 30 minutes nap could be the difference between an hour worth of coding, and half a day worth of uninspired coding; at the right/wrong time that nap could, at a large enough project, be worth days or even works.
Why does it matter to you if people are sleeping or awake, as long as they're getting the job done?
Re:"What is your opinion on.. (Score:3, Interesting)
And what if they are doing it on their own time? Say someone takes a half hour nap, and then stays an extra half hour to make up for that time? That way you're not paying them to sleep, and they're doing it on their own time. On the other hand, if an employee is charging time that they spend sleeping, then yes, they should be disciplined, just like any person
Re:"What is your opinion on.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Just do a search on
Some bosses thinks that if they are forcing people to do the things that they perceive as "work" then that will result in more work being done, but that just isn't true.
Sure, at some places that might be true, but being a good boss isn't about forcing people, it's about understanding them and helping them do a good job.
And... sure... you might get more code written... but have you ever considered that if you tried to be a nice guy, maybe allowed a lil bit of powernapping for those that want to try that, maybe bought some fruit for a midafternoonbreak and just listened more to them... that then you might get fewer lines of code that does more with less resources, and that you'd get that within the same, or less, time?
Happy workers are better workers...
Re:"What is your opinion on.. / styles / problems (Score:3, Interesting)
While the naptime comment is funny, there is some validity in asking similar questions.
Breakthroughs in better ways to do things often present themselves during what is often considered "unproductive" uses of time like coffee breaks, a short walk across the company campus or even a brief nap. If those types of activities help you work better it's definitely worth asking about.
You should also ask the candidates to describe their leadership styles and management styles, and to provide concrete examples of
My question (Score:5, Funny)
Re:My question (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:My question (Score:5, Funny)
1: Hell no. I'll point you specifically to the pro-Linux bits
2: Only if I catch you.
3: Yes
4: WTF Is Slashdot?
1: Super geek. "Hired" pile
2: Benevolent dictator. "Possible" pile.
3: Idiot. "No way" pile
4: "Feed to goatse"
Hawaiian Shirt Friday? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hawaiian Shirt Friday? (Score:5, Insightful)
His answer will reveal much about his leadership ability.
Supervisor Duty (Score:5, Informative)
2. Firewall politics.
3. Negotiate resources.
4. Advertise results.
Damn good answer (Score:3, Insightful)
The way I usually say it is that my manager is my interface to the rest of the company, who gets me the resources I need to do my job while moderating the demands on my time.
Moral Justice (Score:3, Insightful)
Once when I was complaining to anyone who would listen, about the moral injustice of known-but-unacknowledged shortcomings in an internal tool, BH gave me a coupon for a free pastry+coffee at the IBM cafeteria, noting how hard I had worked on the particular project. No one else
Translation... (Score:3, Interesting)
1. Sell the project he's already been told will grow his stock options the fastest.
2. Obfuscate political factors that would inspire you to get a better job with better pay elsewhere.
3. Badger, wheedle, cajole, or guilt you into overcommitting yourself because that looks so much better on his Gantt charts.
4. Praise his own accomplishments while belittling the misguided, lame efforts of his competitors.
Thankfully it's been a long time since I've been around of those managers, but they do leave an impres
Error Correction (Score:3, Insightful)
2. Firewalls filter (not stop) overt politics, not employee grapevines.
3. Negotiate resources for employees to do their job, sustainably.
4. Advertise employee success.
Sorry my good managers reminded you of bad ones.
Re:Hawaiian Shirt Friday? (Score:5, Funny)
Hank: Uh, hi, Homer. What can I do for you?
Homer: Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.
Hank: Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that?
Hammocks! Homer, there's four places. There's the Hammock Hut,
that's on third.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Hank: There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third too. You got
Put-Your-Butt-There?
Homer: Mm-Hmm.
Hank: That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact,
they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on
third.
Homer: Oh, the hammock district.
Hank: That's right.
Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:5, Insightful)
Since you were a candidate yourself and withdrew, you have probably already figured out that your new boss is unlikely to be your equal in engineering.
But that's not her job anyway.
You should ask things about leadership philosophy, their personal goals in management, their ideas about telecommuting,
about how they balance their work and "real" lives.
Remember that if you are a good engineer, your boss works for you as much as the other way around (unless your boss is the Big Boss of course).
Try to figure out how much you would enjoy having this person around, and how helpful they are likely to be in clearing the way
for you to do your best work.
Use no buzzwords.
Thats my style, and it's worked well so far. I've interviewed about half my bosses and haven't had a bad one in 8 years.
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:3, Interesting)
This reminds me of a few things one of my previous employers did that generally lowered morale:
1) Move to cumbersome and over-engineered "web based" electronic timesheet system, where previously our quite competent secretary would handle most of the data entry and phone-tag games.
2) Move to a cumbersome and over-engineered "web based" expense reporting system, where previously we simply handed all our receipts to
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:4, Interesting)
A few years ago I worked at a company with an 8 person IT dept, an IT boss, and a CEO above him (maybe 40 people in the whole company). The IT boss was fired and we needed a new one. The CEO and CFO interviewed the candidates and then let the IT guys talk to each candidate for maybe 15 minutes without anyone else there. The biggest deciding question for us was "What's your favorite band?" One of the leading guys answered a contemporary Christian band and the other answered "Slayer". The big bosses were on the fence and we begged for them to hire the Slayer guy. Bad move. By far the worst boss I've ever had. He was probably a pretty cool person, but just an aweful boss. My direct superior literally wouldn't talk to me for 2 months at a time.
-B
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:3, Interesting)
I wish that would happen to me. Conversing with my boss is invariably counter-productive and a big waste of time.
For example, last week I had to spend half an hour explaining to him the concept of a firewall. I told him that our network is behind a firewall, and that if he tried to connect to my machine from outside our network, he wouldn't be able to. He told me that no, our network must be behind a NAT device, because if it was
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:4, Insightful)
Asking personal questions in a professional interview is unprofessional and, depending on the content (and location), can be illegal. You're not hiring a best buddie or a whore. Whether or not you would "hang out" together should not be part of the equation. You want the person who can best do the job and do it with a professional attitude -- which means a neutrality and distance that makes YOUR personal attributes as irrelevant to them as theirs should be to you.
By opening the pandoras box of private minutiae, you run the risk of bringing information to the table that identifies a person as a member of a protected class. For instance, where I live, in addition to the normal bits outlined by the US-EEOC, political affiliation and sexual orientation are protected. Asking "so, what do you do on the weekends" might result in "I go to Log Cabin Republican meetings after Temple." Great, now if you pass that person up, you've got a discrimination trifecta. A company I work for was very happy to find out my political affiliation. Fortunately for me, it's the same as 100% of the company. Unfortunately for them, they're RIPE for a lawsuit as a result. Even if you don't care, you don't want to know because once you know, you're open to accusations of bias.
But, legal risk-aversion shouldn't be your primary reason for keeping your nose out of the personal details of a potential co-worker. It's just basic professional etiquette. If it's not business, it's none of yours, capisce?
First question "Why a manager" (Score:5, Insightful)
If you are the natural team leader then its unlikely the team will listen ot the manager anyway, they'll listen to you. So don't hire yourself a manager, hire yourself an assistant. Someone who goes to meetings for you, plans schedules for you and lets you get on with the real job. That doesn't have to be someone who is in charge of or controlling what you do but someone who enjoys doing the bits you don't and you can work alongside.
So many IT companies seem to screw this up. Good project managers are great people to have but they don't have to be in charge.
Manager as assistant (Score:5, Insightful)
I lived this experience.
I was the "lead developer" for many projects at a consulting company. We had several customers that required much personal attention that had no impact on the projects, so I asked my boss (the VP) to hire someone to take the phone calls, make appearances at "strategic" meetings, and handle the paperwork I hated. We gave this person the title "Project Manager" (PM), but the development team still expected my leadership.
We introduced the PM to our customers. He said some silly buzzword filled comments ("Joint Application Development") that added even more meetings, but that was fine as long as none of the techies (including me) had to go to them.
Everything was great until we started a new project. Everybody had the same titles, but the PM decided that as "manager", he should be the top of the chain-of-command. The first time he tried to give me orders, I explained his purpose. The second time, I had the VP explain his purpose. The third time, we transferred him to the Microsoft group.
I have had several great managers (and just hired one of them to work for my new company.) A great manager acts as a filter between the techies and the customers. He protects the time of the techies. He stays out of design and development, but can offer a non-techie perspective when asked.
This only applies if you have a great lead developer. I know of one group that fires programmers with leadership skills. The manager is a non-techie, but knows how to coordinate development with mediocre developers. Adding a hotshot guru programmer would disrupt his system. (He works for a large bureaucratic company where speed is not a priority.)
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:5, Informative)
Huh? The best manager I've ever had was Sandy Hoag, when she was the VP of Engineering back at MontaVista (MontaVista being, as you may recall, an embedded software company).
Consequently, I can say with certainty that the chauvinistic horseshit in your post is empirically wrong.
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:3, Insightful)
Troller.
I've had four female bosses in various jobs, two of which were in technical fields. Although I recognize that my empirical evidence isn't going to be the universal norm, I found that women are better to work under for these reasons: They're more apt to be direct when they have a gripe, instead of "backstabbing" or manipulating the system to make you look bad. They're more organized. Most importantly, they don't promote in
Re:Ask more about Life, less about Tech. (Score:4, Interesting)
A job I worked at a few years ago, I was the only guy out of 20 women and they were the biggest bunch of backstabbers. The boss was even worse, she was playing all them against each other, but since I was the odd one out everybody assumed I was independant enough to talk to without being betrayed. Which was true, although mostly because if I did start taking sides I would have been eaten alive. I just stayed in my little neutral corner and minded my own business.
Women can be more vicious, just really subtle. I wouldn't have noticed 90% of the stuff they were doing to sabatoge each other if I hadn't been told about it because most of it wasn't even directly business related.
Stuff like "forgetting" to restock the office tissue box the day somebody with a cold was giving a presentation, then reducing the air conditioning so the air in the meeting room was a little more humid than usual so the gal's nose would run more, and then somebody would "fake" a sneeze an hour or two before the meeting and ask if the presenter had any tissues in her purse and use up half of them, causing the presenter to run out of tissues halfway through the meeting and thus sniffle through the presentation and look bad.
Of course that is a really extreme case. My current job, my department is about 50/50 male/female and there isn't any(as far as I know) massive machiavellian plotting happening.
Re:Why the stereotyping? (Score:3, Insightful)
Like I said, my opinion is based on empirical evidence; I've worked under male bosses, I've worked under female bosses. Based on my life experience, I prefer female. This may change in the future, but it's my opinion that cultural norms will have to change (and stay that way) as well.
Important Question (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Important Question (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Important Question (Score:3, Insightful)
Ask him about his life outside work (Score:5, Insightful)
Hmmmm (Score:5, Funny)
The correct answer here is to give me a raise.
Don't ask job related stuff (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Don't ask job related stuff (Score:4, Insightful)
That's right, don't ask anything job related because the most effective boss will be your buddy, and not really need to know anything about the job at hand. Who cares if he doesn't know a widget from a thingamajob, if he's your buddy, all will be fine. As long as nobody's feelings are hurt, it doesn't matter if the whole company goes down the crapper.
I would... (Score:5, Insightful)
Also there is probably going to be some resentment when the boss realizes that you were the first choice (if they do not already).
Re:I would... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I would... (Score:5, Interesting)
If you don't want to be in management it doesn't mean your career is a dead end.
If it's strictly about money then in most organizations you won't make more than your manager even if you deserve it - but then, if you're in it for the money you should probably start your own company. A consulting company, for example.
But it's probably not strictly about money for this person, or he would've taken the management position. Lots of tech workers are much happier doing tech work than doing bureaucracy, and find greater rewards in challenging projects and creative freedom than in a slightly larger paycheck.
As for the resentment, it's possible, but hopefully the manager they hire will not be one who is insecure about their choice of career path, or about someone else deciding against it.
Do you allow... (Score:5, Funny)
real managers are clerks and secretaries (Score:3, Informative)
You're the only geek on the panel most likely... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd come up with a list of 10 to 20 buzzwords that you use in your everyday conversations and e-mails, but keep that list secret from the candidates. See how many of those words each canadidate mentions in proper context as they talk with you and the other interviewers.
The point of this exercise isn't so much as to hire the high-scorer like it's a video game, but so that you can have a reason to veto somebody who is talking in generalizations but can't come up with the terms for what you actually do. Basically, your whole point is to eliminate anybody who is likely to become a PHB character if given the job because they don't know what you do.
I think this is exactly wrong. (Score:4, Insightful)
Tech will be -part- of this person's job, but only part, since they will be managing the business side of things.
Probably more important is the question "can us engineers work with this person?"
Re:I think this is exactly wrong. (Score:5, Insightful)
bullshit. (Score:3, Interesting)
he/she needs to trust your experience
he/she needs to knwo how to address issues with upper managent, perferable without you knowing there ever were issues.
he/she needs to be able to learn the industry relationship with vendors.
If you say "I need part xys234", they ned to get you that part quickly, and as inexoensively as possible. That do not need to know what how it works. By the time they aroder, they should now what it does, but not in a technical
Mmmmm. Donuts. (Score:5, Insightful)
On the other hand, if you want to ask *good* questions, think about what topics you and your current boss deal with, and ask about those questions. If it's a management job, then think about what managers can be bad at. Ask about their previous management history (are they a good leader?), ask about how well they understand the technology (are they the quentessential pointy hair?), and ask about how they view the postion from the point of view of being the interface between the techs and the upper management (are they there to keep you down, or to make things go smoothly?).
Also, think about what might happen a year or five down the line that will piss you off, and ask questions relating to that.
Here's a few... (Score:5, Insightful)
Number one way to motivate an unproductive employee.
How well can you estimate time and set project schedules. (You know this can't be done exactly... if he doesn't know, you don't want him)
Why did he lose (or leave) his or her last job? (Double check on this one... it's IMPORTANT)
How many of their former employees will want to follow them to this job?
Annual reviews? Good or bad? How are they done? A form or "free form"?
Do hours worked matter or is getting the job done more important?
Comp time or bonuses (or anything) to make up for overtime needed at deadlines?
Pertinent questions (Score:5, Insightful)
Did you like Office Space?
Oh yeah, have you read The Mythical Man Month?
Have you ever hired anyone before? (Score:5, Interesting)
-Ask them if they understand the nature/scope of the job
-Ask them to describe relevant experience (professional, not futzing around on their own time)
-Ask them to describe any characteristics/attributes that make them a good choice for this job
-Ask them how they would handle any particular circumstances you either expect your operation to encounter, or some that you have encountered in the past that could have used some good leadership
-Etc.
Basicallly, when interviewing, you really only need to concern yourself with KSAs - knowledge, skills and abilities. Note that interpersonal communication and team skills are VERY critical KSAs. I value them more than actual technical or academic skills - those can be taught. The former, not as easily.
I sat on the committee that hired my current supervisor. She turned out to be one of the better administrator's we've had...
Re:Have you ever hired anyone before? (Score:3, Insightful)
That doesn't seem fair. Why discount a person's experience just because it wasn't in the context of a professional position? If they're doing it on their own time, it means (1) they really care about it and (2) they can teach themselves, as opposed to having to be hand-held through everything.
I think you would short-change me if you refused to consider what I've accomplished on my own time. A relatively small
Management Style (Score:5, Insightful)
A good manager:
1. Fights for her people with upper mgmt.
2. Gets her people the resources they need to do their job.
3. Gets the hell out of the way.
Put another way:
1. You know he will be there when you need something.
2. Otherwise, you'd never know he was there.
These are the traits you're looking for.
Do they know your BUSINESS (Score:5, Informative)
This is not a technical interview if it is a VP job - make sure they know they business.
important question (Score:3, Insightful)
(this is not a troll! it's an honest question!)
Focus on the supervisor-employee relationship (Score:5, Interesting)
Consider questions like:
a) describe a situation in the past when you felt you successfully reformed a poor-performing subordinate
a) describe a situation in the past when you felt you successfully communicated expectations with staff
a) describe a situation in the past when you felt you successfully motivated staff using incentives/rewards
Your goal is to try to get an idea of what it would be like to work for this person under good and bad circumstances.
What is your style? (Score:4, Informative)
Is he/she
A good manager IMHO lets their employees guide their own careers while providing targeted guidance.
Re:What is your style? (Score:3, Insightful)
In my experience, the best bosses are those who lead by example. If everyone is required to drink red tea while working, then they're the ones who get big clear mugs and have double servings. Nothing inspires more, IMO.
The Only Question to Ask (Score:5, Funny)
get someone you relate to (Score:3, Insightful)
On the other hand, if you guys are all workaholics who spend every daylight minute at the office and you hire a guy that prefers a tight, 8-5 schedule you'll naturally have some tension and frustration when it gets crunch time and he chooses to go home at 5 every day. He may get twice as much work done as everyone else in a shorter period of time but that doesn't seem to matter at midnight to a grouchy, sleep-deprived developer.
Experience (Score:5, Interesting)
Must have a clue (Score:3, Interesting)
You'll need to ask specific questions about the field they'll be managing until you hit the boundary of their knowlege - then you'll find out if they are going to guess and bullshit under pressure or admit they don't know and go looking for answers. This is very important, a manager has to know something about what they are managing, and be willing to take advice from others on what they don't know.
Example - freshly employed m
Thanks (Score:3, Funny)
PS crimethinker, prepare to be sacked for lack of imagination.
Bottom Up Managers (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, the CEO didn't like that, which is, I believe, why he was fired about a month and a half after I got there. The CEO wanted a yes-man mouth piece who would see to it that we were broken into generating the response numbers he wanted, not tell him what the rest of us knew full well, that his interpretation of the numbers was asinine and counter-productive.
(I lasted about another month after that before I was canned as well. Wheee!)
Before you interview ANYONE, speak to your upper management and make sure you and they are on the same page about what you're looking for. What you want is someone who will go to bat for you and keep upper management and customers out of your way. The CEO may want the same, or he may be looking for someone he can give a directive to who will then crack the whip on the rest of you to do it. If you don't figure that out now, you're going to only scare away potential good managers and the person you get will be so torn and confused that they won't be able to do a good job for anyone.
Why not... (Score:5, Interesting)
... ask for references? I.e. people both who he as worked for, as well as people who have worked for him?
If he's not willing to give such references, especially of the second kind, that's an answer as well.
"What is the last book you read?" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:"What is the last book you read?" (Score:4, Funny)
Where I worked, we interviewed our boss, and one of the Q's was "do you keep goats?" (as we had heard he had a farm. Positive answer, great boss, so that was added to our standard list of questions. Next interview (a few years later) when we asked "do you keep goats?", we got an answer of "No, but I minded cheetehs for a while, does that count?" (boss was from south Africa, and was an excellent one!)
In short - ask about pets! :)
Oh, and don't forget to ask the guy (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, ask about his education. It is my firm belief that non-technical people simply can't effectively manage technical people, and the best managers grow from the very bottom.
If he STARTED as a manager and/or he does NOT have technical education at all, the decision is "no hire".
Institutional memory. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure how old you are, but if you're approaching 50, you should be worried about being shitcanned and replaced by 2 jr. engineers fresh out of school, each making half your salary.
Whether such a replacement is a good idea or not is dependent upon the circumstances, but repeated purging of senior engineers for junior ones leads to engineering departments that repeatedly blunder into the mistakes of the past.
Ironically, if you're in that 45+ age range, you've probably just given up your best chance both to save your paycheck and to propagate institutional memory. Once you pass 50, you'll probably never get another engineering job should you lose your current one - you'll be too expensive to hire compared to someone a few years out of school (not to mention less attractive - physical appearance has been shown to be a major factor in hiring decisions).
The sad truth about engineering is that you can't do it forever. At some point, you have to step up to management or else you'll find yourself jettisoned at some point with no hope of finding another good-paying job. I've watched my father's career arc and seen a lot of his colleagues fall by the wayside (and through the cracks) because they didn't understand this reality. He's now on the cusp of retirement and is one of the last survivors from his generation of engineers at his company because he was willing to make that move to management.
Having removed yourself from consideration for this managerial role, it's in your interest for whoever's coming in to have an understanding of the importance of striking a balance between cost efficiency in terms of dollars-per-head and the importance of retaining experienced people (e.g. you) who are capable of larnin' them youngsters who will be coming in as your division grows.
Just my $0.02
-Isaac
A good answer to a tough but fair question... (Score:3, Insightful)
Here are a few... (Score:5, Insightful)
Hard-core geeky types are often introverted and not what most managers are accustomed to see. Some are arrogant prima-donnas, some self-effacing, some look and smell like long-haul truckers. Many are violently independent. How will the candidate deal with this motley group and get them to work together?
Two competing vendors are trying to sell you a product. How do you choose between them? This question can help answer who the candidate trusts. Does he/she speak to his group first, soliciting their opinions or does he exclude his team from the process.
Whose job is more important, the manager's or the employee's? If he says the employees he's very likely pandering for acceptance. If he says the manager's then he may quickly drop useful members of the team.
What is a TPS report? The bigger question is how pedantic is the manager? Can he bend the rules or break them in order to get something accomplished. Does he understand the reasons for a paperwork process but is willing to forego them based on his judgment.
The building is on fire! What do you do? Start timing him immediately and look at a stopwatch as you ask. This can show how well he performs under the slight pressure of a fake emergency. Does he wilt? Does he get the employees to safety first or is his first reaction to grab the backup tapes? Which one is more important to you?
make sure he can do two things (Score:3, Interesting)
Been There (Score:3, Insightful)
- Ensure you know what the hiring (one-over) manager is looking for. Is the priority training? Project management? Team development? Process improvement? I'm sure you have things you want in your manager, but make sure you know what The Company is looking for.
- As with any interview, ensure that you have the candidate provide you with concrete examples given for your questions. Bad question: Tell me about your management philosophy. Good question: Give me an example of a time when The Company's needs and the employee's needs were at odds and how you handled it. (For example an employee wants vacation but their project was late.)
- Be ready to have a manager that your feedback was "no" on become your manager. It happened to me.
- Pretty obvious: Make a good impression! This person may soon be your boss!
Does he/she have children? (Score:5, Interesting)
This means that they:
1. Have a life outside of work, and will understand that you do to.
2. They are used to dealing with illogical childish tantrums, and so will be well able to deal with upper management and the marketing department without it affecting you - and they will resist behaving that way themselves.
3. Will understand if you have to do occasionally weird hours if you have children of your own, without putting you on the no-promotions shit-list.
You shouldn't have so cavalierly turned it down (Score:5, Interesting)
Managing schedules and pushing papers and pencils, yes, this is a lot of the manager's job. But there's also strategy, technical direction, mentorship, hiring (and eventually firing), and more influence at the higher levels as the company grows.
That might not be what they tell you, but that's what it inevitably becomes if you're a manager that has any influence at all -- and being promoted internally, that's most likely what you'll get.
Having experience with all of those things and being accountable for them rather than being a guy who merely chimes in, hey that really rounds out your resume. Building software and product isn't all about writing code; here's your opportunity to find out about how the rest of it happens.
In the worst case, you decide you don't like it. Big deal. No one said you had to do the same job forever.
The great thing is that since you'd be the manager and hence, ultimately be in charge of the schedule, you can schedule yourself to contribute some code here and some code there. That's exactly what I do:
1. Give myself interesting things to do.
2. Keep the sub-project limited in scope.
3. Try and stay off the critical path.
Being a manager doesn't mean you can't be technical; it just means that your primary responsibility is to your people and not to the code.
Technical background (Score:4, Insightful)
My biggest frustration with my current managers is that they don't have the slightest clue what my work entails, from a technical perspective. While I do appreciate the need for people to shift papers around, keep clients off your back, etc. etc., it does not help if you have to cope with unrealistic expectations and don't get equipped (hardware, training,...) to properly cope with ever-changing job demands. My ideal boss would be one who moved up from a similar position than what I'm doing now.
But then again, as you yourself pointed out, not everybody wants to move from coding to admin - and I'd definitely also ask why he made the move. Might be interesting....
Yeah, I've got a couple of questions ready about my prospective bossed if (when - probably sooner than later) I ever sit in a job interview again and they get to the "you got any questions?" point.
Question #1: Can we check your references? (Score:4, Insightful)
So be careful. The guy who seems fine during the interview may turn out to have serious flaws as a manager. Unless you do your homework, you'll never have the opportunity to spot these flaws until they manifest themselves on the job -- at your company.
The only people who have first-hand, long-term knowledge about the candidate's on-the-job performance are the people he has worked with before. Talk to them! Ask your candidate if you may speak with his references. If you get a No response, that ought to be a warning sign. If he doesn't trust his own references, why should you trust him?
But don't stop there. Say that you would like to, if at all possible, speak with the people he has managed on previous jobs. Say that you would also like to speak with the people who managed him. Ask if he can arrange it. Even if he can't because it might jeopardize his current position, the way the candidate responds can tell you a lot.
Good managers are worth their weight in gold. Bad managers can destroy projects and drive away your most talented employees. Thus when hiring managers, be discriminating. Do your homework. Check the references.
my experience hiring my boss (Score:5, Insightful)
The first time, when there were problems with one manager, I proposed that my department (network security) be managed by the guy who ran NetEng, who was a friend and an all around great guy. I just said: who has a light-handed management style, who has the credibility to back me if management is thinking of doing something stupid, and can be a technical resource?
I used those same criteria to select my next boss. I was given only two candidates for a Directory of Network Security position. One was a fairly laid back, older gentlemen with an easygoing attitude, some technical aptitude (although he couldn't do the engineering work, but he had clearly done things in the arena in the past), and a clear idea of challenges we faced. The other candidate was ex-law enforcement, and his answer to most technical questions was, "I like to surround myself with good people so I have resources to tap for questions like that". He was stiff, formal, and projected a great deal of confidence... that didn't seem justified. He showed competence only with physical security issues (cameras, guards, etc), which was part of the job but not the important part to me (since I only did the network side).
The first guy had *real world* experience. He'd founded and flopped a security company that sold an evaluated hardened multi-level secure firewall... one that cost in the 6 figures to get and get installed and was generally only bought by a few governments.
I pulled heavily for the first guy, and he was the best boss I've had -- the best I can imagine. He was respectful, tried to shield us from management making illogical or impossible demands, and after several years, quit the company rather than allow bad management to wreck our group. (well, they still wrecked us, but he left rather than be party to it)
Based on this experience, I'd recommend you look for:
* Someone who was once technical. No matter that they aren't, but they should show the sort of aptitude and experience that indicates they did what you do or something equivalent
* Someone who is laid back and 'real'. If they say anything about Moving Your Cheese, about management synergy, about "marketing the group", about "having a first-rate team" or other management-isms that you cringe to hear, then RUN don't walk from that candidate.
* Someone who is not afraid of their management. One reason I liked our boss was he was on the tail end of his career -- he was in his 50s, and instead of being desperately clingy, he was ready to take a bullet for the team. He never really had to; he was so well thought of that even when they said our team was being taken from him because he wouldn't budge, they offered him another job (which goes to show how stalwart he was; he quit just as a disincentive for them to go through with it). Maybe he was just a strong person and it had nothing to do with age.
* Someone you actually get along with. 50% or more of an interview is checking that a candidate fits the corporate culture. Having a manager who buys into your group's culture is key; this guy never batted an eye when we stuck a couch and a playstation in one room for chill out breaks.
Good luck.
Management Style (Score:3, Insightful)
The one thing I absolutely could not and still cannot stand in a manager is if they try to tell me how to do my job. I expect my manager to give me tasks to do and its up to me to figure out how to perform them. I don't expect them to set up my daily calendar. Unfortunately, some people want to manage at too low a level. This has applied as much to some of the managers I otherwise got along with as to some that I thought were absolute jerks. Be wary of any candidate you talk to who is too much into the details of how you do what you caurrentyly do. You don't want someone critiquing you on your mouse click technique.
Managing Engineers (Score:3, Interesting)
They will allocate resources to the team. Determine priorities. Provide the direction to the team. Be your defender/face to other departments.
If they don't understand the technical details they might not allocate resources well, be it money, headcout etc.
If they don't know what you are doing, when people complain they will not be able to defend you, and might take on the view that you are not doing your job.
Myself I like the technical stuff, but as I work, I do more directing and discussing and liason work. I'm realizing this is very important than the technical work I was doing before. I might have been very strong at it, but I'm adding more value at the more managerial side.
I understand people think managers don't do anything, but wouldn't your group and the company be in general better off having a capable manager? If that just happens to be me, so be it.
Why would you be a better boss ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Openly or covertly, the boss will eventually have to answer this question to people potentially bitter that they have been unfairly denied the opportunity for promotion.
Management technology balance (Score:4, Insightful)
The manager of an engineering team has two jobs:
So you want to understand how good he is going to be at these things. Sound him out on the organisation by asking some open ended questions about how to manage projects. Like,
Finally, some general advice on interviewing. Remember that you are there to listen and evaluate. The candidate should be doing most of the talking. I've been in "interviews" which mostly consisted of a lecture by the interviewer. Avoid steering the candidate towards the right answer. Your purpose is not to get them to agree with you, its to find out what they know. Do challenge their views (even when you agree with them) to understand their depth of knowledge. If they start to flounder, just let them. Look for enough technical knowledge to hold an intelligent conversation with you, but then concentrate on people skills.
Paul.
What's your Slashdot User ID? (Score:5, Funny)
If he says he only lurks, or posts AC, he still could be worth hiring.
If he gives you a user ID, great! Now go find out if he's cool, a 1337 h4x0r, or a troll.
Compatibility, Rationality, Honesty (Score:4, Insightful)
One good question for assessing this:
- What do you see as the role for an IT manager?
Wrong Answer 1: To tell the IT employees what upper management has told me needs to be done, when to do it, how to do it, and the amount of time in which it needs to be done. (the wrongness of this should be self evident)
Wrong Answer 2: To tell upper management what my employees have told me can be done, when it will get done, how it will be done, and how long it will take. (this may sound right at first, but they are either lying to you to kiss your ass, or they do not understand management)
Correct Answer: An IT manager acts as an intermediary between upper management and the IT labour force. He or she should, when talking with upper management, promote the technical solutions presented by the technical experts on the team. He or she should also, when working with the team, promote the value of satisfying the customer by striving to acheive the goals set by upper management. (honest, rational, and compatible with any dedicated employee)
On the compatibility front, one note in response to some of the other postings: You shouldn't see it as a requirement for your manager to have an outside life and understand that you have one also. In this you should seek compatibility with your view of the world. If you like working 80 hour weeks, you should seek a manager who will work 80 hour weeks. There's nothing wrong with being a workaholic, if that's your thing. If that is your thing, you'll want to look for a manager who appreciates workaholism. I say this because I am presently a bachelor workaholic who is working at a company where workaholism is significantly undervalued. In the future I will settle down and start a family, but for now I would be happier working somewhere where 80 hour weeks beget large raises. It is good to be a dedicated family man. It is also good to be a career focused soldier. Each is good in the right context.
A good manager (Score:4, Insightful)
- Represents the team to upper management.
- Shields team members from politics.
- Does not micromanage.
- Trusts members of the team to get their job done. (this may be the most important one)
- Provides advice when asked.
- Works with teammembers to help them achieve their personal goals.
- Does not request long hours unless the team suggests it.
- Understands group dynamics, who can work best with whome.
- Understands (of course) the project.
- Defines realistic goals and deadlines (after conferring with the teammembers)
- Does not work on technical issues, unless asked by team.
- Knows how to motivate different types of people.
- Knows when to delegate.
I'm architect in my team and always interview new candidates for the manager positions (my bosses).Never a "boss" (Score:3, Interesting)
There is no "boss." There's only someone who allows you to do your job, and sometimes directs you as to what your job is. A micromanager, for example, isn't your boss -- that's someone who's doing you job, which isn't his job. A good boss is an enabler. He may download porno all day. Or he may go to meetings that aren't worth your time (he'll be able to tell you in five minutes that which took two hours to discuss).
A boss isn't a co-worker nor a friend. He's a partner.
Re:Good question... Seriously. (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember, the Prospective Boss is in the management business and not in the geek business.
The person seeking advice here seems to have already decided against a career in the management business.
It is in the manager's interest for that tech person to go as far as possible - as long as it's not into management over his/her head.
I once had a boss who would waffle endlessly on that subject because she really needed me working for her. The best she could honestly offer was "if I climb high enough you can come with me."
Then I got another boss who realized that my success would reflect well on him, and he was extremely supportive. I eventually moved on, and he moved up, and indeed my success did reflect well on him, just as his did on me.
A good Prospective Boss will have a thorough and thoughful answer ready for the question you propose.
Re:Good question... Seriously. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:from a I/O psychology point of view... (Score:5, Insightful)
So, I'm glad you're not my manager, because I think you'd suck at it.
There's a difference between a team leader and a manager.
Re:from a I/O psychology point of view... (Score:3, Insightful)
Absolutely! One of the best bosses I ever had was a guy who made a point of hiring people who were smarter than he and then letting them do the job he knew they could do.
Re:from a I/O psychology point of view... (Score:4, Insightful)
That's so true. I'm reminded of one of the most touching scenes in The West Wing (seris 1, episode 12, "He Shall From Time To Time"):
President Bartlet: If anything happens... You got a best friend?
Secretary of Agriculture: Yes, sir.
President Bartlet: Is he smarter than you?
Secretary of Agriculture: [Laughs] Yes, sir.
President Bartlet: Would you trust him with your life?
Secretary of Agriculture: Yes, sir.
President Bartlet: That's your chief of staff.
I'm a huge fan of that series for many reasons, but the way they sometimes make a point like this so clearly and accurately is definitely one of them.
Re:from a I/O psychology point of view... (Score:5, Insightful)
The best IT project manager I ever had was a sociology major with no technology background whatsoever. To his credit, he did try to understand to some degree the technology we worked with on our projects: computers, networking, programming languages, databases... not because he wanted to do our work, but because he wanted to understand it.
Re:from a I/O psychology point of view... (Score:3, Interesting)
Do you have any evidence to back up your "most reliable indicator" claim? Has anyone actually given int