On the other side

Today I was on the other side of the interview table for the first time in eight years, this time with a lot more experience under my belt. The last time I did this I focused on the hard skills (programming) and ignored the soft skills. Epic FAIL.

I'm hiring what Cornell calls a Programmer/Analyst III. This person will be helping my team (the Administrative Computing group) build software to meet the business needs of the College. I'm seeking a person with web frontend skills (think: proficiency in XHTML, CSS, JavaScript) who as an eye for design (but is not a designer) and who has a computer science foundation.

This time around I arranged for four sets of interviewers, each with a 45 minute time slot:

• The Team (peers in my group)
• The Constituents (reps from each of the groups my team primarily supports)
• The Primary Constituents (the College's Communications organization. This is a "web" position)
• Smart People (a few bright well-connected people who don't fall into the above categories who take the candidate out to lunch)

These were second round interviews. The candidates passed technical interviews, such as they are in my environment, over the previous few weeks. The goal of these second round interviews was to receive input, but not to necessarily generate consensus, on the following points:

• Demeanor. Can you see yourself enjoying your professional interactions with the candidate?
• Communication. Does this person communicate topics of a technical nature in language you can understand?
• Stewardship. Do you believe they will hold your interests and the College's interests in mind when making decisions?
• Overall Feel. Does it seem like this candidate will fit in well here?

At the end of the day I felt as exhausted as the candidate seemed to feel. Feedback is pending, but I got a positive response from the few interviewers with whom I talked later in the day.

I have the second candidate running the same gauntlet tomorrow, and then I have the weekend to spend stewing over my decision after getting feedback tomorrow and Friday.