First Impressions

Job seekers are often informed of the need to prepare for interviews and dress appropriately. It’s a two-way street though; based on their first impressions candidates decide whether the corporate culture seems tense or relaxed, extremely intellectual or silly or somewhere in-between and most importantly, whether they find it a desirable environment.

Many years ago I was interviewing a software engineer and at some point I was giving him the nickel tour of the engineering area. During our short walk (it was a small startup) he asked me about my management style. I enthusiastically explained that I expect a lot out of my team but I like people to take initiative. I emphasized that I prefer not to micromanage and am generally very informal.

Right then I noticed that one of the younger programmers, Philippe, was madly waving his hand high in the air above the wall of his cubicle. At first I ignored him, thinking he couldn’t possibly be trying to get my attention. He continued the hand-waving so I finally said “Philippe, did you need something from me?” to which he meekly responded “May I please go to the restroom?” The look on the interview candidate’s face was absolutely priceless. He couldn’t decide whether I was an engineer’s worst micromanaging nightmare or whether Philippe was playing a joke on me.

Fortunately it was the latter.