I've spent >10 years interviewing people daily. For seven of those years, especially during my time at Riot, I averaged >12 interviews a day. I saw the good, the bad, the ugly, and the totally weird - here's what I saw: 1/11

"🤌 The good. The folks who did well:

- Did their research
- Showed up as themselves
- Spoke honestly to their strengths & weaknesses
- Came with a binder full of questions
- Didn't bring fish to interviews, insult their interviewers, or lie about their skills 2/11"

🤔 The weird. At Riot, some interviews included a "Teach Us Something," a section where candidates were supposed to teach about any topic they chose. One candidate flew in from Seattle, and arrived holding a fish tank, a live fish, and tank accoutrements. 3/11

The idea: teach us how to set up an aquarium. The problem: he had no plan for the fish or the aquarium, and he was flying back to Seattle that evening. My girlfriend at the time ended up the proud owner of Goldy. Gif below of candidate + opportunity.

😳 The ugly. One candidates' resume stated they were fluent in several languages. One of their interviewers asked what languages, and the candidate proudly shared that they spoke French. 5/11

The interviewer switched to speaking French and the candidate couldn't respond. Turns out that lying on your resume is a surefire way to not get the job. 6/11

😹 The funny. At lunch, one of the Game Designers asked a candidate "who is your favorite LoL champion?" The candidate immediately responded "that's too hard to answer, but I can tell you who I hate: [[insert champ]]." The interviewer was the Lead Champion Designer. 7/11

The candidate had good reasoning for his frustration with the champion and its kit - and despite this foot-in-mouth moment, he got the job. But he was lucky. He was interviewing with a very good-natured designer and it could have ended differently. 8/11

🙄 The bad. Riot was a passion-driven company. I'd ask candidates why they wanted to work there, and many would talk about "how big the market was" or "how bleeding edge Riot was" but knew nothing about our products. They didn't have to be "gamers" to do some homework - 9/11

🎥 Watch a few streams
🔊 Listen to the podcast about Riot
🗞️ Read some articles
🎮 Go to an esports event

Take some time to learn about a business, and practice your ""why I want to work there"" pitch. Even better, compare it to competitor employers. 10/11

If you take anything from this thread - just remember: don't bring a fish to an interview unless you're applying to PetSmart. 🐡