What is an interview and why is it?

The reason for writing reflections below was the article “ Do you need resumes in IT? ". Since the topic in the article is close and interesting to me, I decided to write a kind of answer.



In my opinion, the article is erroneous and full of errors and misconceptions, moreover, at a conceptual level. Of course, the following is more of an abstraction and life is much more complicated. But I have tried to highlight the essential parts that play a decisive role in the so-called labor market. I invite everyone to read it.



The first thing that catches your eye is the one-sided view of the author of the article “ Do we need resumes in IT? ". There is a certain employer and his HR who looks at the candidates and makes a decision “to take or not to take”. But a candidate can look at companies and HR and make a decision “to go or not to go”. Right? I think no one will object. But this aspect is not considered absolutely in the article. And this plays a significant role.



And the second, which is not considered at all, is the question of why all this is needed. For both the employer and the employee. Why does the company open a vacancy and why does the candidate respond to it? Lighting for a given need remains off-screen as a natural course of things. But if you don't understand the motive, how can you understand the result?



In general, I decided, the matter requires an engineering approach with a holistic picture of the world.



Where should you start? Probably with an agreement on terms. We all live in a world of money. Money is the lifeblood of the economy. And this is the first significant term. Money . Both at the very top and at the very bottom. And at the very top and at the very bottom, people are the main stakeholders. After all, there are no abstract entities called "Company". The phrase “you came to work for the Company” means nothing more than “you came to earn money for the people who are the beneficiaries of this company”. And this is the second significant term. People... People who need money. Any activity starts with an advance payment and ends with a profit (not income). If the profit is not received, then the activity is absolutely meaningless. Who will allocate money for this? It is important to note that absolutely any activity begins with an advance payment. That is, you have not done anything yet, but you should already. Moreover, this applies not only to the employer who pays you in anticipation of profit. But also you, even if you think that you don't really need money. You can, of course, safely say that money is not the main thing for you. But you also have imputed debts. Communal, travel, some clothes and food. All this must be paid without fail. That is, you have not done anything yet, but you should already. That means resources are needed to extract money. This is the third essential term.Resources . And the last thing. The fourth essential term. This is profit. Profit is the result, it is a positive balance of money at the end. When costs are deducted from income and the balance is obtained. The larger it is, the better everything works. On a large scale, in the world of money, only money is the only criterion for evaluation.



So, let's perform the first intermediate fixation: the movement of everything is set by money, the need for which people feel and who extract it from resources. At the end of the movement, more money should be received than was spent at the beginning.



And here we find the first rather interesting contradiction. And here's the thing. In one direction, employer and employee go with only two terms: money and people. But with resources and profit comes some sadness and sadness. After all, when a company allocates money for a project, resources are acquired against an advance payment. Including hired employees and their salaries. As sad as it may sound, there is no difference between the computer (purchased by the company) on the table (purchased by the company) of the programmer and the programmer himself (hired by the company)... All of them were bought with the money that was allocated to make new money. That is, they are project resources. The same is true for a hired programmer who, having imputed debts, should at least earn money on them. The only reason for this contradiction is that the company makes a profit from the project, which was carried out by the employee, but the employee has nothing to do with sharing the profit from the project. His need to make money lies outside the relationship with the employer.



And here we will perform the second intermediate commit: the opposite side is considered by the other side as a resource and vice versa, the other side considers the other opposite side also as a resource. And the profit of one side is a loss for the other side. Therefore, an ideal project for a company, when there is no need to pay performers for it. And for the performer, the ideal employer who pays and does not need to do anything for him. After all, the company's profit and the programmer's salary are derived from the same money. Only in one case, the salary of a programmer is a decrease in profit, and in the other - making a profit. I hope you haven't lost my point.



So what exactly is an interview? Based on the foregoing, I can safely say that this is a kind of game where one wants to buy at a lower price, and the other wants to sell at a higher price. And honesty in such a game leads to failure. Therefore, you will never hear an honest admission where the company has a vacancy and where the candidate came from for this vacancy. And this game will look like a kind of fooling around, when the essence - money - will diligently bypass. But only in conversation. Behind the words "we are a stable company offering stable work and earnings" and "I am a highly qualified employee with vast experience in various projects" on both sides there will be only a search for an answer to one question "how much will I have from this?" And both sides will try to find a satisfying answer to it. And everything else is nothing more than etiquette,ritual, cultural characteristics, tribute to humanity. For some reason I remembered the phrase “it's like a foot massage. It doesn't seem to mean anything, but it really means everything. " After all, any interview is very similar to the slave trade, where a slave sells himself. And he does it voluntarily. But slavery seems to have been abolished, and it is generally prohibited, right? However, this no longer applies to this article.



And this is the second important contradiction. From the point of view of the declared values, the interview is not at all what it really is. In short, this is a fight between two predators. And the employee is not always a powerless victim who can only agree to the proposed conditions. If the employee's qualifications and project prospects are at the proper level, he may well set his own conditions for selling himself. There is nothing like that. Moreover, it should be. But for some reason in the article “ Do you need resumes in IT?"Is not even mentioned. Will HR find it strange that a candidate also has the right to set their own conditions? Let's say that a skilled employee would look odd if he made his own terms. But it will look much weirder if he agrees to the terms, having every opportunity to take much more. Inconvenient? It is inconvenient only to sleep on the ceiling. The blanket falls. If the employer does not plan to engage in charity, then maybe the employee should not? However, this also does not apply to this article.



And instead of an afterword. Perhaps my article may seem overly straightforward or even cynical. But! And I will emphasize this. But! You should never forget what is the basis and what is the superstructure. And that the superstructure always serves the base. Interesting work, interesting projects and a good team with corporate parties and bonuses - this is all great and pleasant. But if you always remember that all this is just a superstructure over the flow of money, the less disappointment there will be. After all, when the income received in advance does not converge with the rate of profit, then the person using (buying) the resource will immediately think about either making the resource cheaper or getting rid of it. Knowing this there will be no disappointment. These are the rules of the game.



Good luck to all!