The interview question seems fair and simple enough.
"Describe the last system you worked on that made you feel really proud."
I remember fumbling a similar question years ago. In my mind I could picture the components, even the code. I visualized our tester clicking a button, saying, "This new screen looks great!"
The HR representative got that glazed-over look. I could not find the words to convey the significance of a system I pictured in my mind.
That cliché is true: "It sounded better in my mind."
I enjoy presenting a diversity of spaces where meaning fails.
On the other side of town, a couple is exchanging vows on their most memorable day. The bride throws in a curveball and asks the groom, "I know you love me, baby, but what does love mean to you?"
Cruel? Maybe, but relevant.
I was at university when I first read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. While I did not care much for the book's second half, extolling the idea of logotherapy, the first half found a way into my mind and has lived there since.
But not once in the book could I find a space where the author actively defined "meaning."
Would you be able to define "meaning" under pressure? Imagine that's the answer to a question that could help land you that job.
Or is it a word that gets chucked in with a few dozen others, such as "love?"
Communication disintegrates or fails outright when meaning collapses or isn't transferred.
That kind of makes it a big deal, like "love," doesn't it?
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