Ask this question before the interview starts
The more I asked this question before an interview, the less time I wasted with recruiters
How do you, the aspiring Software Developer, avoid the pain of lost time and energy when communicating with recruiters? This is a very important question because you will find yourself either building relationships with tech recruiters or simply “tolerating” them. The former could help you reach your goal of becoming a Software Developer in an efficient manner. The latter might waste your time many times over.
How I handled recruiters
During my journey from aspiring developer to becoming a full time Software Engineer, I used this one question to determine if I wanted to move forward with an interview or any process that would involve my time, i.e, zoom chats or phone chats. This one question saved me from wasting my time and allowed me the freedom to focus on marketing myself and building my skills. The question I started asking went something like this:
”Is this role a junior position?”
I bet you’re thinking such a question seems “routine”. But if this were true, why have I seen developers talking about poor experiences with tech recruiters on platforms like LinkedIn? Experiences that go like this:
”I made it to the final round of the interview only to hear they wanted someone with more experience. Why didn’t they tell me this in the beginning?”
The reason they didn’t tell you was because you didn’t ask. This is why the question,”Is this a junior position”, during first contact, is so powerful. It forces the technical recruiter to be open UPFRONT concerning the intentions of their client (or their company if they’re hiring internally).
Red Flags
But asking this question isn’t the end of the story. You also need to be aware of answers I consider as “red flags”. Here’s my personal list of unacceptable answers to the question,”Is this a junior position?”
“Well, were open to all candidates at the moment”
“The client hasn’t really said anything about this”
“It’s a junior/mid level role”
“If you’re the right fit, we’re open”
All the above answers are red flags because they truly never answer your question. With very few exceptions, the only acceptable responses in my opinion are “Yes, we’re hiring for junior devs” or “No, we are not hiring for junior devs.” When recruiters are upfront, YOUR TIME is honored and you can move forward with their processes knowing what you’re getting into. When they aren’t upfront, you run the risk of wasted time and hearing those infamous words in the final round of an interview:
”We’re sorry but you don’t have enough experience”
What if they say yes
What if a recruiter gives you a direct answer? For example, let’s say you ask if a role is junior or entry level and they say it is. Is your job done? In my opinion, no! I would advise you to ask more vetting questions if a recruiter did express a role as junior. The main question I would ask as a follow up is this:
“How are your junior roles different from your mid and senior level roles?”
Again, if they can’t give you explicit differences like,”Our juniors are trained and given task that fit their skill set.”, I would run. Being a person that vets for answers can be tough if you’re not used to it but there’s a strong possibility it can save you heartache and time when you do.