Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 289 posts

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#161

Post by gezxfPajuc9x »

jinglebells wrote: post #79
thaumasiotes wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's already the way almost all jobs are. Being "hired" isn't a protection for your job. It just means you're getting automatic tax withholding. I was a formal full-time employee at NCC Group until just a month ago, when they fired me with no warning, no explanation, and no severance.

You can't fire people for no reason in the UK and probably the rest of Europe as well or you'll end up being taken to court for unfair dismissal. Roles can be made redundant, but it's a lengthy process.

I think, it depends on your agreement / contract.

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#162

Post by arnvald »

mrfusion wrote: post #147

Check out my open source code. Call some of my references. Verify my past employment and make me an offer. It’s really that simple. If 3+ professionals are willing to vouch for me and I have 20 verified years working at major tech companies, do you really think I’m a guy faking I know how to code?

As a hiring manager: your coding skills are just one of many things I look at when I decide whether I'll make an offer or not. I need to think how you'll interact with the team, whether our company culture is something that you'll enjoy or not, whether my team will become a better team when you join us. Maybe you're defensive about your code and do not like having it reviewed? In that case I feel you won't fit well a culture with a heavy emphasis on code review. Maybe you enjoy pair programming and working in a place where it's not a common practice won't let you do your best?

I wish it was as simple as checking your code and references, but I think it is not.

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#163

Post by mrfusion »

arnvald wrote: post #162
mrfusion wrote: post #147

Check out my open source code. Call some of my references. Verify my past employment and make me an offer. It’s really that simple. If 3+ professionals are willing to vouch for me and I have 20 verified years working at major tech companies, do you really think I’m a guy faking I know how to code?

As a hiring manager: your coding skills are just one of many things I look at when I decide whether I'll make an offer or not. I need to think how you'll interact with the team, whether our company culture is something that you'll enjoy or not, whether my team will become a better team when you join us. Maybe you're defensive about your code and do not like having it reviewed? In that case I feel you won't fit well a…

I’ve found people are very adaptable especially when starting a new job.

And if people do well with pair programming, let them do it!

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#164

Post by cyberpunk0 »

arnvald wrote: post #162
mrfusion wrote: post #147

Check out my open source code. Call some of my references. Verify my past employment and make me an offer. It’s really that simple. If 3+ professionals are willing to vouch for me and I have 20 verified years working at major tech companies, do you really think I’m a guy faking I know how to code?

As a hiring manager: your coding skills are just one of many things I look at when I decide whether I'll make an offer or not. I need to think how you'll interact with the team, whether our company culture is something that you'll enjoy or not, whether my team will become a better team when you join us. Maybe you're defensive about your code and do not like having it reviewed? In that case I feel you won't fit well a…

It is that simple... Just like every damn other job. The only reason software interviews are so bad is because HR departments make them bad by blindly following bullshit trends like brain teaser puzzles that prove nothing in terms of competency as well as ridiculous multi-round interviews just to cancel after weeks of the process because your interview was really to make numbers look good while you were grooming the candidate you had in mind already. Business is fake bullshit, filled with fake people. So happy to not deal with it anymore

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#165

Post by thisisit »

The best one I had was where we had more of a discussion about things rather than go into a question and answer session. It was an enjoyable experience to talk to people who are working in a similar field and had seen similar things.

On the other hand, I dislike interviews where interviewers come up with a question-answer sequence. So, if you misspoke even a single word they outright reject you. And mostly, I find this in places like TCS, Wipro, Infosys etc.

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#166

Post by azangru »

arnvald wrote: post #162
mrfusion wrote: post #147

Check out my open source code. Call some of my references. Verify my past employment and make me an offer. It’s really that simple. If 3+ professionals are willing to vouch for me and I have 20 verified years working at major tech companies, do you really think I’m a guy faking I know how to code?

As a hiring manager: your coding skills are just one of many things I look at when I decide whether I'll make an offer or not. I need to think how you'll interact with the team, whether our company culture is something that you'll enjoy or not, whether my team will become a better team when you join us. Maybe you're defensive about your code and do not like having it reviewed? In that case I feel you won't fit well a…

Let's see the questions you listed:

- how you'll interact with the team

- whether our company culture is something that you'll enjoy

- whether my team will become a better team when you join us

- maybe you're defensive about your code and do not like having it reviewed

- maybe you enjoy pair programming

As a hiring manager, how do you find answers to these questions?

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#167

Post by elbrian »

scarejunba wrote: post #153
ldite wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. I've never needed to research a job beyond a bit of Linkedin/glassdoor stalking and reading of corporate guff. I've never had a full day interview for a company I'd actually want to work for (based on what I've learned while grinding through the interviews) so I'm beginning to take requests for those (along with requests for advance coding exercises) as a recruiting smell.

Interesting. Would you mind sharing in which country you work (or if America, which state), what your field of interest is, and how long you've been in the business? My team has full-day interviews and I'm curious to see who has been self-selecting out of this.

>My team has full-day interviews and I'm curious to see who has been self-selecting out of this.

Anyone with any level of self-confidence, worth and respect.

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#168

Post by raygelogic »

PurpleBoxDragon wrote: post #155
ldite wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With this approach you'll miss good senior people; I have dependants and very little free time outside work. Last time I was looking for a job I skipped everyone who wanted me to do prep/homework. If the other interviews hadn't worked out I'd have gone back to them, but I didn't need to.

If the project only takes an hour for a junior it shouldn't be a problem. I would be worried that their senior position problems might not be as quick to solve (which is similar to the real world), but then this interview technique might just be best for junior positions and they do something different for senior positions given the different in skill sets and what problems they are expected to solve.

this comment misses the point and is why we don't give take-home work to senior developer candidates. they are in high demand and will not spend their free time on homework, when many other companies will gladly hire them without making them jump through hoops.

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#169

Post by ldite »

scarejunba wrote: post #153
ldite wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. I've never needed to research a job beyond a bit of Linkedin/glassdoor stalking and reading of corporate guff. I've never had a full day interview for a company I'd actually want to work for (based on what I've learned while grinding through the interviews) so I'm beginning to take requests for those (along with requests for advance coding exercises) as a recruiting smell.

Interesting. Would you mind sharing in which country you work (or if America, which state), what your field of interest is, and how long you've been in the business? My team has full-day interviews and I'm curious to see who has been self-selecting out of this.

I'm the UK, 15-20 years experience, depending how you count it, and my skill-set is diverse :)

Re: Ask HN: What should an ideal developer interview process look like?

#170

Post by arnvald »

mrfusion wrote: post #163
arnvald wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a hiring manager: your coding skills are just one of many things I look at when I decide whether I'll make an offer or not. I need to think how you'll interact with the team, whether our company culture is something that you'll enjoy or not, whether my team will become a better team when you join us. Maybe you're defensive about your code and do not like having it reviewed? In that case I feel you won't fit well a…

I’ve found people are very adaptable especially when starting a new job. And if people do well with pair programming, let them do it!

My point is when a new person joins the team, the team changes. It might become better, but it also might become worse. A brilliant programmer who treats others with disrespect might have overall negative impact on the whole team. An average programmer who helps the team bond, solves conflicts and keeps morale high, can have overall positive impact.
Post reply on HN