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Who Y Combinator Companies Want

data.triplebyte.com

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Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#351

Post by dominotw »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #274
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best programmers do apply. Whatever you think a work-hire test is, that wasn't it. A work-hire test attracts the best programmers. It doesn't repel them. It's a chance to demonstrate their skill. It's also far better: anything is better than the fake contests they're currently forced to endure. Which would you prefer? Spend a couple hours remotely fixing some bugs and adding a feature on a fake iOS app, or spend…

Triplebyte does notionally allow you to apply (to Triplebyte) via a trial project. But it's in addition to the interview(s), and the feeling they get from you during the interview trumps the project. They gave me the following feedback: > This was a tough decision and one that we were on the fence about. We really appreciate you taking the time to work on the take home project. We're aware this requires a substantial…

It always surprises to me to no end when I see people get any real feedback from the interview. Do these employers not care about getting sued, like everyone els.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#352

Post by rjbwork »

sremani wrote: post #71

>>Ruby or Javascript. (The C# pass rate is actually much lower than the Java pass rate, but the C# numbers are not yet significant by themselves.)<< This makes me sad. I do not know who the caricature here is, the Enterprise programmer or the YC companies.

YC Companies most likely. I've been doing C# for 3 years, none of which was in an "enterprise" company. Both were/are small software companies in a SaaS environment on the cloud (AWS/Azure).

I would laugh if a company rejected my proven ability to build giant distributed systems in the cloud because they were built in C#.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#353

Post by arebop »

erichmond wrote: post #340
NhanH wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not trying to be pretentious here. But all big companies (Google etc.) I've interviewed so far asked me to code, what should I make of your advice?

My guess is that he's referring to startups, not monstrous companies like Google. I think the reason you whiteboard for google interviews because you will necessarily be a cog in a wheel, and the focus of the cog is to code. At smaller companies / startups, you will potentially be expected to design, architect, gather requirements, code, etc.

I have worked at companies that don't expect candidates to code during interviews, and I have worked at companies that do. I was personally acquainted with programmers who couldn't write working code at the former, and I have never heard of a programmer who couldn't write working code at the latter. I'm sure this perfect correlation anecdote fails to generalize to all workplaces, but I would not accept a job at a company that hires by bs-session again.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#354

Post by reefoctopus »

throwaway456789 wrote: post #200
tinco wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well sorry to be crude, but it just signals that you're all talk. You say you're a great programmer, and could learn to program in Ruby in a few days, yet in 10 years you've never done it, even though you are apparently applying for jobs that are interested in that skill. If you can't even bother with learning the language that's requested in the advert in a few days, why should a hiring manager be interested in you?…

Who ever said I was interviewing for a job? I was commenting on the state of the industry as a whole. Read some of the comments (and the article). The article mentioned that one person who multiple companies thought was the best they have ever seen got rejected from the first company he interviews with because he didn' write tests. Hiring is so subjective. This comment in particular really illustrates the sad state o…

What sort of company do you work for? Is it a government contractor? I've known many highly paid people in that line of work that are not fit for startups.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#355

Post by iopq »

> He solved hard algorithm problems like they were nothing

That's mostly practice. When I did webdev I was really shitty at algorithms because there were no algorithms in my daily work. When I did some Baduk AI programming I started being much better at algorithms since I was implementing some custom algorithms myself.

If you are interviewing someone for a web dev position, it's kind of ridiculous to screen people by their ability of merging sorted arrays or whatnot.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#356

Post by eropple »

karmacondon wrote: post #294
eropple wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A work-hire test attracts the best programmers. It doesn't repel them. I'm not the best programmer, but I'm comfortable I'd slot in the top quintile, probably top ten percent, of people that walk through a startup's door. And I'd never even return your call. No work-sample test I've ever seen would take less than four hours. That's a $550 opportunity cost for me at my standard rates. What the hell makes you think y…

If you're a top ten percent programmer who charges $137/hr then this whole discussion probably isn't oriented at you. By definition, most programmers are not in the top ten percent. They make money by sitting down and writing code, not by projecting confidence and machismo. So why shouldn't they prove their abilities and evaluate the company and it's general environment by sitting down and actually coding? I'm very o…

Because you shouldn't work for free. That holds true for writers, that holds true for artists, that holds true for web designers, and that holds true for programmers. And unlike those other professions, the creative has the power in this relationship. What these companies hate admitting but all know is true is that even a mediocre programmer, a sit-down-and-write-code programmer, needs these companies more than the programmer needs them.

If a company wanted to pay you for that work-sample test, that's different. But they don't, of course, because that costs them money instead of costing you. There's no need to let profit-seeking entities use you for nothing. You just don't need to be their monkey.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#357

Post by throwaway456789 »

coffeemug wrote: post #329
throwaway456789 wrote: post #63

I'm an "enterprise" programmer because I write in Java... I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties). I've never written a line of Ruby, and I've never written object oriented JavaScript or used Node.js. However, I'm a really good programmer. I just happen to write the majority of my code in Java. If tomorrow we decided to use a new language, I could pick it up in a few days... I have…

> However, I'm a really good programmer. How do you know?

Plead see previous comment about my compensation. I don't think a company would pay someone that much unless they were really good.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#358

Post by s73v3r »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #168
ammon wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost of a real work test is much higher, both to the company, and to the applicant. Some companies take that approach (weebly for one), but it means that some of the best programmer will not apply, and it only makes worse the problem of having to aggressively pre-filter (based on credentials, or something else). You are 100% correct that most research into interviewing has show it to be far less predictive than c…

The best programmers do apply. Whatever you think a work-hire test is, that wasn't it. A work-hire test attracts the best programmers. It doesn't repel them. It's a chance to demonstrate their skill. It's also far better: anything is better than the fake contests they're currently forced to endure. Which would you prefer? Spend a couple hours remotely fixing some bugs and adding a feature on a fake iOS app, or spend…

"A work-hire test attracts the best programmers. It doesn't repel them."

Not really. The best programmers have other stuff to do besides your make-work silliness.

"Get them to show you they can do the work. Nothing else matters."

This is even more silliness. Suppose you have a diverse team, and the a candidate comes up, and passes the test, but is Donald Trump. Are you then going to say that only the work matters?

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#359

Post by eropple »

Swizec wrote: post #307
bjt wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that the flexible "unpaid vacation" scenario you're describing is much more rare than you think. If your team is pushing for a major release and you decide just not to show up, your days are numbered. If you spend the week working for another company, you are quite likely to be fired from the old one. Ammon mentioned Weebly, above. They are one company that I've seen require an on-site week as a contractor.…

Thing is, most companies will fire you as soon as they notice you're actively looking for other jobs. And I wasn't suggesting job abandonment. Asking for a week of unpaid vacation is a different conversation than asking for a week of paid vacation.

> Thing is, most companies will fire you as soon as they notice you're actively looking for other jobs.

Only if they don't need you and think you are not being productive. So be needed and be productive.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#360

Post by a-dub »

When I look to hire a lawyer, I'm going to evaluate potential candidates by asking them to write statutes from memory in full on a whiteboard under time pressure, because I really want to see how well they think on their feet.

As a forward thinking technology executive, I am certain this strategy is correct, because Google does it.

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