Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
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Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
1–10 of 199 posts
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#2Note this is from 2010, but still has many relevant points. As someone who has made some of these mistakes, I'd say the tl;dr is:
Good hiring managers prepare for an interview, so you best prepare as well.
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#3> So, your code isn’t working, what do you do? Stare blankly at the monitor?
This always gets me. When the interviewer asks a question, the correct answer is literally never, “let me think about it quietly for a moment”. This is one of the disconnects between interview programming and real programming people get frustrated over.
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#4> So, your code isn’t working, what do you do? Stare blankly at the monitor? This always gets me. When the interviewer asks a question, the correct answer is literally never, “let me think about it quietly for a moment”. This is one of the disconnects between interview programming and real programming people get frustrated over.
Hmm. The point of an interview isn't for an applicant just to solve the problem, it's to prove they can solve the problem. I think saying "let me think about it for a moment" is perfectly acceptable. But going quiet without guiding the interviewer is not communicating what your plan is.
Not saying interviewing isn't broken in a myriad of ways, but asking a candidate to talk through their process to illuminate it isn't unreasonable.
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#5Some people completely blank when they’re under examination like conditions. It doesn’t make them bad programmers.
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#6> So, your code isn’t working, what do you do? Stare blankly at the monitor? This always gets me. When the interviewer asks a question, the correct answer is literally never, “let me think about it quietly for a moment”. This is one of the disconnects between interview programming and real programming people get frustrated over.
It only shows this interviewer doesn't really know much about programmers' daily job and has never been programming themselves.
Also this: "It’s funny how many people can’t edit text on any machine but their own." - I bought a notebook without properly checking the keyboard and even now after 3 years it still bugs me everytime I type. Nobody can understand how these things can really limit focus. If I got a different computer with different keyboard, different operating system, different text editor (not even an IDE) and was asked to write a program, my focus would be totally ruined, compared to my actual daily work.
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#7> So, your code isn’t working, what do you do? Stare blankly at the monitor? This always gets me. When the interviewer asks a question, the correct answer is literally never, “let me think about it quietly for a moment”. This is one of the disconnects between interview programming and real programming people get frustrated over.
Hmm. The point of an interview isn't for an applicant just to solve the problem, it's to prove they can solve the problem. I think saying "let me think about it for a moment" is perfectly acceptable. But going quiet without guiding the interviewer is not communicating what your plan is. Not saying interviewing isn't broken in a myriad of ways, but asking a candidate to talk through their process to illuminate it isn'…
> I think saying "let me think about it for a moment" is perfectly acceptable.
yes, you do, but many interviewers don't and that's the problem
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hmm. The point of an interview isn't for an applicant just to solve the problem, it's to prove they can solve the problem. I think saying "let me think about it for a moment" is perfectly acceptable. But going quiet without guiding the interviewer is not communicating what your plan is. Not saying interviewing isn't broken in a myriad of ways, but asking a candidate to talk through their process to illuminate it isn'…
> I think saying "let me think about it for a moment" is perfectly acceptable. yes, you do, but many interviewers don't and that's the problem
Ah, but then you have a great data point, no? If someone cuts you off when you are interviewing, how will they treat you when you are an employee?
The information flow goes both ways.
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#9"I'll spend hours brushing up on Scheme just to test you on something completely irrelevant to the role just because I like playing Resumé Gotcha".
Yeah that's a thanks but no thanks from me. I wouldn't work for this guy in a thousand years.
Re: Dear Programming Job Applicants (2010)
#10- "Hey, I worked at FAANG or better, creating latest super-duper tech you use daily, was featured on TV, got multiple awards etc."
- "Let's see if you can do Fizz Buzz!"