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Who Y Combinator Companies Want

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Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#391

Post by jldugger »

jcadam wrote: post #387
engi_nerd wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The defense industry is strange . I've had three jobs in it. In every single interview, the most technical question that anyone ever asked me was, "What do you like to do on the weekends?" And all three jobs have been engineering positions.

My last two jobs (including my current one) have been at smaller defense firms. Both interviews involved some amount of coding (mostly a 'homework' project). Now, several years ago when I interviewed with a frickin' huge aerospace company who shall remain nameless, my experience was similar to yours. The interview was a panel-style discussion with the hiring manager and several engineers. They had to follow a script…

So does that anecdote reflect poorly on the interviewer, or the interviewee?

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#392

Post by Matt_Mickiewicz »

Retric wrote: post #107
chatmasta wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not only the applicants who have limited time. The startup founders are also time constrained. You can't found a successful startup if you spend 10+ hours a week interviewing potential employees. I suspect much of the initial bias and "hard line" preferences are due to a startup's unwillingness to spend inordinate amounts of time interviewing candidates to find that one diamond in the rough. Imagine 4 of every 1…

Interviewing is ridiculously important for any small company. The problem is most people have little idea how to do anything except look for people like them.

Fortunately, the solution to the problem is super cheap.

$20 buys you a copy of "The Who" book, which is a proven, scalable system with specific questions to ask at each step of the interview process....

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#393

Post by acrefoot »

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…

eropple's entire spiel was in response to "A work-hire test...doesn't repel [the best programmers]", so saying that this discussion is irrelevant to a top 10% programmer doesn't really follow.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#395

Post by mquander »

eropple wrote: post #356
karmacondon wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I don't get why you perceive the realistic-work-sample test as "working for free", but the unrealistic-whiteboard test as "isn't work." They are both taking a similar amount of time and effort, serving the same purpose, and benefiting the same people.* The only difference is that one does a better job.

*The primary beneficiary being you, if you're a top-10% programmer: It gives you a better chance to accurately show off your ability, which is probably worth thousands of dollars in salary.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#396

Post by Nadya »

staticautomatic wrote: post #394

It's what your data "show." Not what your data "shows." I am always skeptical of the analytical competence of someone who uses incorrect language to describe their own work.

"Is `data` a singular or plural entity?" is a question you should ask yourself.

In this case their data is a collection or mass of data - and is singular. In the blog, using "the data shows that" is the proper way to write the statement.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#397

Post by engi_nerd »

jldugger wrote: post #391
jcadam wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last two jobs (including my current one) have been at smaller defense firms. Both interviews involved some amount of coding (mostly a 'homework' project). Now, several years ago when I interviewed with a frickin' huge aerospace company who shall remain nameless, my experience was similar to yours. The interview was a panel-style discussion with the hiring manager and several engineers. They had to follow a script…

So does that anecdote reflect poorly on the interviewer, or the interviewee?

I personally would be hard-pressed to answer that question. If they mean diversity by gender and ethnicity...well, for some reason I always find myself in teams largely of white males. Not through any selection process of my own, it's just that is how it works out.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#398

Post by benihana »

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…

>Here's why: I made well over 400K this year at my job. I am not jumping through hoops killing myself to learn new things I may not even need. My time away from work is too precious to me

This is what makes you all talk. You say in other comments that you're a really good programmer and you express concern that people are passing on you. Then you make this post swinging your dick around saying how much you make and how you don't need to learn new things. If that's the case, why are you whining about ageism? Why are you asking why the hiring managers pass on you? You don't want help, you just want to complain.

>I really hate the Internet sometimes.

Love this part. You make a post whining about how senpai doesn't notice you, insult the careers of people you're talking to, try to namedrop someone, brag about your salary, then bellyache like everyone else is the asshole.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#399

Post by tdaltonc »

lewisl9029 wrote: post #264

As a "Product Programmer" myself, I find it highly ironic that despite the fact that there is apparently more demand for product-focused developers than technical-focused ones, the interview process for most startups is overwhelmingly technical-focused. If you're looking for product-focused developers, please consider tuning your interview process to evaluate whether or not candidates can build great products, rather…

Maybe you only remember the super technical parts because the product-focused parts were effortless for you.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#400

Post by abvdasker »

> "Reading bios of founders and applying to companies where the CTO shares your background is probably an effective job-search strategy"

My takeaway is basically that in an organization of sufficient size founders should have little or nothing to do with technical hiring.

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