A Hiring Manager’s Guide
to Interviewing QA Professionals
Michelle Rocke, Vice President, Recruiting
Current Consulting, LLC
A Hiring Manager’s Guide:
Overview

The Tester’s World

The Hiring Manager’s Role

The Interview Process
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
The Tester’s World

Challenges Testers Face


Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing
By Randy Rice and William E.Perry
Evaluating QA Professionals
Experience:
Soft
Quality and Quantity
skills: The Marks of a Naturally Good Tester
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Challenges Testers Face:
Managing professional relationships
Sometimes adversarial?
Development
group
Getting
management to understand testing
Having
to say no – professionally…..
High process or no process?
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Challenges Testers Face:
Testing Resources

Poor or no requirements

Lack of time & tools

Scope creep

Rapid changes

Insist on more testing, not allowing release

Allow release, defects discovered post-release
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
The Marks of a Naturally Good Tester
Balances testing results & business drivers
 Thinks outside the box, Natural curiosity, a desire
for quality
 Likes to break things (Creative destruction)


Analytical (indicative backgrounds)
 Introvert/Extrovert - works with details and people well
 Diplomacy - Communicates well with developers,
managers and users
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Know your Culture
A Good Tester for You has…

Communication skills (culture – written/verbal)

Comfort with your company’s level of process

Flexibility – demonstrations from past experience
to deal with inevitable frustration – how?
 Motivation for QA/Testing work
 Ability
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
The Hiring Manager’s Role

Defining the Job Requirement

Reviewing Resumes

The Interviewing Process
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Defining the Job Requirement
What are you really looking for?
Your Top Performers
– what makes them valuable?
 What skills does your current team lack?


What do you need this person to accomplish?

How do you want them to accomplish it?
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Resume Review

Top performers are not necessarily great resume writers

Objectivity – be aware of your personal biases

Quantity of experience versus Quality

Be aware of other companies – reputations, types of
environment, etc.
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Interviewing
The Crux of the Matter
The Candidate’s Perspective
 The Interview Process
 Making the Decision

Courting the Candidate
 Remember,
candidates are also evaluating and making
judgments
“Branding”
– candidates are your customers – what they say
about you/your team/your company matters.
Candidates
Decision Criteria
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
The Candidate’s Perspective

The “Rusty” Candidate’s interview

Remember: Nervous people are not at their best

Set helpful expectations
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Communicate with the Candidate
Before the Interview, Provide Information:


Timing of interview
•
Tell them about any applications, etc., that have to be filled out
•
How much time the interview(s) will take
Who they will be meeting and their roles
 Appropriate
dress for the interview (corporate culture)
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Limit Interviews
Limit the number and length of Interviews


Scheduling is difficult – interviewing process drags out
Candidate forced to make excuses
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Multiple Interviewers
Panel Interviews
Unnecessarily
What
Can
intimidating
are you trying to accomplish?
accomplish “meet the team” in a different way
Serial Interviews
Be
Clear: Who will make the hiring decision?
Clarify
each person’s role in evaluating the candidate
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Interview Questions
Plan your questions and decide who covers what.
Type
them up
 Avoid
duplication
Ask questions that directly relate to the skills the person
needs to perform the job effectively
Use the same interview with each candidate
What’s legal, what’s appropriate?
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Technical Interviews
Who is conducting them?
 What is their motivation?
 “Stump” the candidate?


How should a candidate answer if they don’t know?

Same questions/scenarios used for each candidate
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Making the Hiring Decision
Objectivity – Can it be achieved?
aware and acknowledge your biases – set them
aside
Be
Tools
to help – Evaluation forms

Do References

Make Decisions in a Timely Manner
Set

expectations for how decision will be made
Get a Verbal Acceptance
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Top 10 Lessons Learned
from a Seasoned Recruiter!
10. Google It!
9. The 3/3 rule: more than 3 contracts of 3 months
or less
8. The best person for the job may be a terrible interviewer
7. We all like to hire people like ourselves
6. The best predictor of future performance is past
performance
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Top 10 Lessons Learned
from a Seasoned Recruiter!
5. Seek Contrary Information
4. Employee Referrals Rock!
3. Can the candidate listen and follow directions?
2. What did your receptionist/assistant say?
1. A good hire is always about the fit.
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide
Q&A
Michelle Rocke
VP of Recruiting
Current Consulting
Michelle.Rocke@Current-Consulting.com
303-921-0954
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A Hiring Manager’s Guide