what does an employer look at when hiring interns
Hi! I'm Sasha – formerly a developer, now a product manager at “Lemana PRO” (Leroy Merlin) and the author of the course “Java Developer” in Yandex Praktikum.
There are about two thousand people working in the IT department of Leman PRO, and we are constantly looking for interns. In this article, I will tell you how we interview them, what tasks we give them, and how we decide to transfer them to junior positions.
How We Hire Newbies
We often hire guys without experience and have minimal requirements for them at the start. Our goal is to grow loyal colleagues who will start performing in the future.
We use several approaches when hiring interns.
Search through job fairs
Job fairs are events for students where companies introduce themselves and look for potential future employees. I recommend attending such events for all newcomers to the job market, because it is a great opportunity to send direct feedback to the employer – come to the booth, introduce yourself and directly state that you want an internship. In response, the company representatives can tell you who they are ready to hire, what to do next if you are suitable, and what to pay attention to if not.
One of our most successful finds happened at one of these fairs: we hired a second-year student from the Higher School of Economics for an internship, who, a few years later, rose to the position of technical architect.
Invitations to excursions
We invite potential interns to the office, conduct tours and tell about the company. And at the end of the meeting we give small test tasks and invite the authors of the best solutions to interviews.
By vacancy
In this case, we open an internship vacancy and look for candidates on relevant websites, social networks or by recommendations. Then there are no more than two stages: a technical interview, where we check the candidate's knowledge and ask about experience, and a meeting with the manager, where we look at soft skills and how the applicant's values resonate with the company's values.
We rarely hire juniors through targeted recruitment. For example, if someone has already worked with us and opening a new internship for them is no longer relevant. Or if the candidate does not agree to the intern position, and we understand that we do not want to miss them. But these are exceptional cases.
Both interns and juniors
Juniors in our company are on equal terms with interns. Grade is a floating characteristic. On the one hand, we understand that, unlike an intern, a junior already has experience. On the other hand, this practice can be so diverse and have such different levels of relevance that it is easier for us not to distinguish between these two grades.
The good news for juniors is that we monitor their progress — and if a person has the skills, they will complete the internship faster. It usually lasts six months. This is enough time to decide whether to transfer the intern to juniors, extend the internship, or part ways. Savvy interns can get to the point of being invited to full-time in two to three months. In my understanding, juniors differ from interns in their independence and a minimal percentage of errors at work. If you look at the statistics in our company, we successfully transfer 90% of hired interns to full-time within three to six months.
What do interns do?
To get the interns up to speed, we assign them real but simple tasks.
First of all, it is bug fix. It is already clear what the problem is — you only need hands to make this fix. We expect the intern to immerse himself in the context, figure out how and what to change so that nothing breaks. We also check and teach the skill of working with Git, since in order for the code to reach production, it needs to be uploaded, sent for review, assembled, deployed.
Secondly, bug search. If it is clear that the problem is not complicated, then we ask the intern to look at the logs and (or) code. We teach and explain how to track the behavior of systems over a certain period of time.
We also instruct make small fixes — for example, correct the config or update variables.
We also involve interns in code reviews. On the one hand, this way they see what comments senior colleagues leave and learn from other people's mistakes, and on the other hand, they can share a fresh perspective on the problem.
Each intern has a mentor who monitors progress, guides and gives advice.
7 Qualities of the Ideal Intern
From the first meeting and throughout the internship, it is important to monitor the newcomer's progress, celebrate their successes, and identify red flags. There are several characteristics that increase the chances of passing the internship.
Ability to reason
If a candidate knows the basics of the language, programming concepts, can write a simple program and explain how HashMap works, that's great. But we almost never ask such questions during interviews. Firstly, all of this can be easily googled and simply memorized. Secondly, such questions have one clear and unambiguous answer. That way, we won't be able to find out how the intern reasons.
That's why we prefer to give tasks for reasoning. For example, we describe a situation: a bug was found when entering an amount in a payment service. We ask what to do and what should be paid attention to. Such tasks provide a lot of space not only for reflection, but also for counter questions. There are usually no clearly correct answers to them, but you can analyze the approach to solving problems. Would you try to figure it out yourself or turn to the team? Did you ask clarifying questions?
Ability to structure
Many interns have pet projects. However, they are not always a good indicator, because they are easy to copy or write according to manuals. Moreover, sometimes they play a negative role: if the code is chaos, and pieces are copied haphazardly and without understanding how everything works, this is a warning sign.
Interest in learning
We ask a lot about goals. Why did the candidate decide to become a developer? Why did they choose this language? How do they approach learning?
If a person is interested in learning something new and goes beyond the conventional courses, delving into the topic on his own, this is a huge plus.
The ability to ask questions (or vice versa – not to ask)
There are two extremes.
The first is to complete tasks without help and bury yourself in the material instead of asking questions to more experienced colleagues. I myself was such a junior, I was embarrassed to ask the team and sat on tasks for weeks. That's why we strive to create comfortable conditions in which asking for advice is natural.
The flip side of this approach is asking questions without reflection, that is, treating colleagues' help as a way to solve problems. There are no stupid or unimportant questions, but at the same time, you need to draw conclusions from the answers to them in order to be more independent in the future. If a person solves problems entirely with the help of other people, this is a red flag.
That's why we ask questions that help us understand how the candidate approaches problem solving. We can describe the situation and ask how the intern will behave. Or we ask about past experience, for example, how the candidate wrote term papers at university. This is important. After all, we want the person to not just churn out problems, but to grow into an independent professional.
Attitude to mistakes
I like asking about fuckups because the answers show how a person treats problems and difficulties. IT is a thing where something always goes wrong. If a person is not afraid of mistakes and is ready to learn from them, this is a big plus. Such interns grow faster and show themselves better at work.
Openness
A common problem is that a newbie comes to a large company where everyone is coding something with a smart look, and starts doubting himself (if you want to know more about this reaction, read about impostor syndrome). It is difficult for him to admit to others that something is going wrong. As a result, it is difficult to say how things are going for him, whether he is solving problems, whether he is developing and whether he is suitable for work in the company.
If an intern doubts themselves and closes up, it doesn't mean we won't hire them. Rather, it's a sign for us that the person needs more attention, to show that problems and doubts are normal.
Ability to work in a team
We work in a team, so this is an important skill. We ask the candidate if he has experience of such work – maybe on training projects or other internships. It is desirable that the intern gets along well with people and is comfortable working together with colleagues.
If someone is used to working alone, but meets our other criteria, we do not refuse, but try to gradually immerse the person in teamwork. But if this approach does not work, then we have to part ways.
If you are a beginner, here are some tips to help you get started.
The first is to repeat the basics. It is important to be prepared to answer basic questions and talk about yourself and your experience.
The second, more important one, is to think about what You expect from work. Interviews and internships are needed not only for the employer to decide whether to hire you, but also vice versa – whether it is worth it to you to get a job with him. To understand whether your expectations match, think about what you are counting on. Should you be trained? In what format? What tasks would you like to solve and will you be trusted with them? What prospects do you see for yourself as a specialist – and does the company have such opportunities? Do you share the values of the employer? What management style is closer to you?
An internship at an IT company is an opportunity not only to gain practical knowledge and skills, but also to understand how the IT sphere works. This is a chance to learn how to work in a team and solve real problems, as well as to understand where to develop further.
