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Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

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Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#101

Post by pmiller2 »

alxlaz wrote: post #91
ravenstine wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's another similar problem that I'm seeing that I don't think has been pointed out before. Recently, I've been applying for web developer positions and am coming across applications with these sorts of questions: - What's the coolest thing you've done both in life and at work? - What are your dreams? - Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I certainly do have answers for these questions, but I can't tell if the…

I've made a point for myself to never ask questions like "what are your dreams" or "where do you see yourself in 10 years" in an interview, ever. For a long time, I've used these as a filter, too. Getting this kind of question in an interview is a big red flag for me and a huge disappointment. Let me elaborate a little. My dreams are none of an interviewer's bloody business. I'm here to work not share the things that…

I see these types of questions as the sign of an inexperienced interviewer. Given how many inexperienced interviewers one can see interviewing at tech companies, I would call that a chartreuse flag at best due to lack of signal.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#102

Post by [deleted] »

driverdan wrote: post #80
ravenstine wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's another similar problem that I'm seeing that I don't think has been pointed out before. Recently, I've been applying for web developer positions and am coming across applications with these sorts of questions: - What's the coolest thing you've done both in life and at work? - What are your dreams? - Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I certainly do have answers for these questions, but I can't tell if the…

Obviously I can't speak for every company but those types of questions are typically used as a filter. - Anyone who skips those questions are rejected outright. If you're not willing to put in a little time you're not interested enough to be considered. You'd be surprised how many people skip these questions. - If you've done something crazy cool or interesting it's a plus but if not it isn't a negative. - Can you co…

[deleted]

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#103

Post by rothron »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #58
twoquestions wrote: post #11

It doesn't help that job ads are wanting "Top 3% only!" or "Only top 1% Ninja Rockstars need apply!". Kind of reminds me of the market for singers or concert pianists, you absolutely need to be the best, even imperceptibly worse makes you unemployable. Should those of us who aren't top 5%/didn't go to a top school just find another industry, one where sub-perfect work doesn't actively make other people's jobs harder?

> "Top 3% only!" or "Only top 1% Ninja Rockstars need apply!" Do people apply to these places? I don't. Ever. Not that I feel bad about myself, but I don't ever ever want to work for a manager who approves this type of job ad.

Wouldn't an ad like that attract the biggest egos, not necessarily the best coders, nor people you would ever want to be on a team with?

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#104

Post by pmiller2 »

rhizome wrote: post #56
ravenstine wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's another similar problem that I'm seeing that I don't think has been pointed out before. Recently, I've been applying for web developer positions and am coming across applications with these sorts of questions: - What's the coolest thing you've done both in life and at work? - What are your dreams? - Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I certainly do have answers for these questions, but I can't tell if the…

I think those questions come from both naïvete and a desire to increase information asymmetry in the hiring process.

Can you elaborate on the "desire to increase information asymmetry" bit? I mean, I get that the employer always wants to be on the upper hand in that way, but I don't see how questions like this do that.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#105

Post by tombert »

mohaine wrote: post #89
_swfb wrote: post #26

As someone with no credentials or official training, and someone who also works at a big megacorporation as an engineer, imposter syndrome hits me fairly hard, especially during interviews. It's really hard to compete with the people who actually have proof that they know what they're doing, and I'm usually interviewing for a job that has a strict requirement of a "bachelors in CS, Math or Physics, Masters preferred"…

I've done 3 interviews in the last couple weeks where candidates couldn't do a simple Python dictionary lookup. These were people with a Masters in CS and have Python as their primary language. I wouldn't worry about being an Impostor.

My favorite is when people put "concurrency" as a feature on their resumes. When I ask them their opinions on actors vs. CSP, without fail, they don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Apparently "concurrency" to a lot of trained people just means "spinning up threads and use a lock occasionally".

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#106

Post by geggam »

corodra wrote: post #75
jki275 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a way to do H1B fraud.

That was it! I think that's what I heard back in the day. It just sucks that kids these days are judging themselves off these bullshit advertisements. Now they're getting mental issues where they don't have a good self-image in their skill sets. Jesus...it's like the fashion industry for young girls...

How is that different from the past ?

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#108

Post by geggam »

bluntfang wrote: post #95
jarjoura wrote: post #44

Of course it does, it's not a gender problem, who said it was? How many of you have heard your friends and colleagues tell you, "wow I'm so lucky I got through that interview, there's no way I would pass it if I did it again today." You shouldn't walk away from a good interview feeling like you nailed it. An interviewer should push you to your limits and the more you know, the more they should push. It doesn't mean y…

>An interviewer should push you to your limits and the more you know, the more they should push. Disagree. An interviewer should be trying to find out if you are technically and socially capable of performing the job.

So the interviewer should settle for just good enough and not try to get more for his money ?

Still is capitalism here...

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#109

Post by cirgue »

saulrh wrote: post #30
twoquestions wrote: post #11

It doesn't help that job ads are wanting "Top 3% only!" or "Only top 1% Ninja Rockstars need apply!". Kind of reminds me of the market for singers or concert pianists, you absolutely need to be the best, even imperceptibly worse makes you unemployable. Should those of us who aren't top 5%/didn't go to a top school just find another industry, one where sub-perfect work doesn't actively make other people's jobs harder?

Notice that, when they say they only hire the top 1%, there's a vicious sampling bias at work: even in a worst case where they're being literal they're actually hiring the top 1% of their applicants , not the top 1% of engineers . Think about how many jobs you usually apply for before getting one. Now imagine someone that's less successful than you at getting hired and think about how many times they're interviewing.…

We hire the top 5% of applicants. This says a lot about our applicant pool. It says very little about our team. No one here is from a top program. Many don't even have CS degrees.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#110

Post by robaato »

alxlaz wrote: post #91
ravenstine wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's another similar problem that I'm seeing that I don't think has been pointed out before. Recently, I've been applying for web developer positions and am coming across applications with these sorts of questions: - What's the coolest thing you've done both in life and at work? - What are your dreams? - Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I certainly do have answers for these questions, but I can't tell if the…

I've made a point for myself to never ask questions like "what are your dreams" or "where do you see yourself in 10 years" in an interview, ever. For a long time, I've used these as a filter, too. Getting this kind of question in an interview is a big red flag for me and a huge disappointment. Let me elaborate a little. My dreams are none of an interviewer's bloody business. I'm here to work not share the things that…

And what happens if you answer as you have just done (slightly edited for politeness if appropriate)??
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