We have guest editorial today as Steve is on holiday.

Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing a number of candidates for the post of a SQL Developer.  I had prepared some questions for the interview: some based on technical skills that we were looking for and some from the candidates' CVs.

We had finalized three candidates with very similar skills and level of experience. But one of them left an impression that I thought to share. It was an online interview and as always, it started with formal introductions followed by questions from the Interview Panel. During the interview, we were not only amazed with how well she was prepared, but also with her enthusiasm of working in IT. She genuinely seemed someone who enjoys learning new things that the technology has to offer. Her answers mostly ended with examples showing how she managed to save the day or help the clients in a way better than they had expected.

We were supposed to send HR our feedback by the following day. But before that, we received her feedback from HR, summarizing on how much she enjoyed the interview process, where she struggled to answer, what she felt about our team and the areas where she can learn as well as contribute. For most of us, this was the first time where we had received a feedback from an interviewee. This not only showed her proactive and out of the box approach, but also her great communication skills and her keenness on working with us.

Needless to say, we offered her the role, which she gladly accepted. She is still working with us as a valued member of our team. One thing she regularly quotes is:  "If you are not doing what you love, you are wasting your time. And if you are doing what you love, remember to be grateful and excited."

I thought to title this article as 'An amazing candidate'. However, I know for sure that there are many individuals, just like her, who love what they do in IT and are really good people to work with. But how many can actually showcase this in a tiny window of an interview. I feel I can't, can you?