This industry is unfortunately full of very charming, polished, smooth talkers who would ace that interview and then 3 months later it would dawn on you that you made a big mistake. There is this growing breed of "LinkedIn thought leader" types who, during character creation, put all their skill points into Charisma. And they're really good at sounding technical, using the right buzzwords, overwhelming the interviewer with word-salad, subtly steering the conversation towards areas where they have crisp, prepared answers, and so on. They look great, speak eloquently, and have those ivy-leaguer mannerisms that allow them to breeze through these kinds of informal chit chat interviews. Doubly so if that kind of interview is conducted by an exec or someone less-technical. Beware!
It only works if you are technical. Yes, your sales guy will not know a diamond from a fugazi.
But as a senior tech guy, I don't think it's ever gone wrong. I've never hired a guy who I thought could code and it turns out he couldn't.
You have to be willing to have the conversation with only a few scripted questions, just a few essentials. Everything else an open field. You let them sculpt it into a garden or dig their own grave, either way you give them a shovel.
This industry is unfortunately full of very charming, polished, smooth talkers who would ace that interview and then 3 months later it would dawn on you that you made a big mistake. There is this growing breed of "LinkedIn thought leader" types who, during character creation, put all their skill points into Charisma. And they're really good at sounding technical, using the right buzzwords, overwhelming the interviewer with word-salad, subtly steering the conversation towards areas where they have crisp, prepared answers, and so on. They look great, speak eloquently, and have those ivy-leaguer mannerisms that allow them to breeze through these kinds of informal chit chat interviews. Doubly so if that kind of interview is conducted by an exec or someone less-technical. Beware!