Jon Pretty

1/ A friend asked me yesterday for some advice on how to give a good impression during an interview for a junior technical job. I thought a bit about it and gave her my answer, but I thought it might be useful for me to share with other people studying CS and looking to be hired.

2/ I've not been in a position to do many interviews, but I'm in no doubt as to who was the best candidate I ever interviewed, and what was initially just a hunch during his interview led to a job offer, and gave me the opportunity to work with best developers I ever knew.

3/ He was not the most experienced candidate, and he didn't perform best in the test questions. But above all, he had a good attitude, and showed it. I felt like there was nothing superficial about anything he said; no attempt to hide things that might be seen negatively.

4/ What I liked most was that he told me what he knew, and he made it clear what he didn't know. It was only a junior role, so there was no expectation the candidate would know everything, and he absolutely met that expectation.

5/ Having been clear about what he knew and what he didn't, he was able to show good understanding of those things he said he knew. This gave me lots of confidence that he would be able to learn the things he didn't know. Later when I worked with him he was always just as candid.