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Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
141–150 of 189 posts
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#142On the other hand, people who can code in legacy software have strange opportunites appear in front of them if they are suitably prepared and ready. VB6, delphi and ancient versions of microsoft access are still used in many and varied ways.
Its very much a who-you-know deal though.
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#143The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…
> I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. So... you've 1) realized you're dealing with experienced people and 2) yet discarded them based on irrelevant "interview skills"? How does this serve the company trying to hire someone? FWIW, the couple of times I've interviewed someone -- I've always given the g…
> How does this serve the company trying to hire someone?
The interviews are designed to evaluate algorithm & data structure knowledge and proficiency. Most experienced software engineers have not kept up to speed with such knowledge since they were in school. It is not their fault, as most jobs/projects don't require maintaining such knowledge in order to be effective on a day-to-day basis.
N.B. The interview firm I worked provided the option for a second interview if the candidate believed that the first interview did not provide an accurate assessment of their skills.
In any STEM profession, one's academic knowledge "expires" in 5 years or so. Continual learning & practice (incl. interviewing skills) is a requirement to maintain employability in a field.
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#144The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…
For additional information regarding current technical interviews please refer to this class offered by the Stanford University Computer Science department:
CS 9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#145The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…
> As such, good or great interview skills (i.e. algorithms, data structures, time & space complexity) are a pre-requisite to getting a job. This is so wrong. Headhunters are acting like typical bureaucrats and instead of adapting their approach to make it better at finding the actual talent (the whole point of their job), they push for developers to fit their stereotype tests better. Just like back in the school when…
> This is so wrong. Headhunters are acting like typical bureaucrats and instead of adapting their approach to make it better at finding the actual talent (the whole point of their job), they push for developers to fit their stereotype tests better.
The interview requirements & assessments are driven by the hiring companies and not the headhunters.
Scaling technical interviews of this kind has created $1 billion companies recently.
Technology employers want an unbiased assessment of a candidates skills - like any other firm.
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As such, good or great interview skills (i.e. algorithms, data structures, time & space complexity) are a pre-requisite to getting a job. This is so wrong. Headhunters are acting like typical bureaucrats and instead of adapting their approach to make it better at finding the actual talent (the whole point of their job), they push for developers to fit their stereotype tests better. Just like back in the school when…
absolutely on the skills evaluations! delivering code cant be summed up on a spreadsheet
The technical interview is designed to be a small-scale exercise in delivering code.
Some firms provide take-home problems/projects - typically with a time limit. Their objective is to provide a more realistic scenario for writing code while evaluating the candidates technical skills.
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#147The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…
> The interview skills required for FAANG-like companies and startups alike are very different from the skills required to work as a typical software engineer. What are those start up skills?
I was referring these common interview skills:
Understanding the problem
Stating one's assumptions
Verifying one's assumptions
Selecting a data structure appropriate for the problem
Selecting or describing an algorithm appropriate for the problem
Selecting test cases appropriate for the problem
Writing the code
Verifying the correctness of the code
Understanding & communicating the time & space complexity of your solution
N.B. IMO, the best programming language for technical interviews is Python. It provides many built-in data structures and methods that make one's solutions brief and eliminate the need to write a lot of boilerplate code.
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#148The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…
you are right, but maybe if they asked me "whats your best area"? and then asked me to do something imaginative in that area then perhaps that would reveal more of a developer's talent than mere algorithm testing...??
IMO, the reasons for algorithm testing are the following, but not limited to:
Unbiased assessment of candidates for "apples to apples" comparisons
See if the candidate has skills deeper than typical day-today skills that can called on if needed
Demonstrate an understanding of performance trade-offs that have profound economic impact on the delivered solution(s)
Demonstrate the ability to create solutions beyond "textbook" solutions when required
Screen out quickly candidates who lie about their technical capabilities on their resume
I hope the above list is useful and/or helpful.
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#149Hello from another greybeard. I've been in the same boat. I'm not a programmer, though. I was a sysadmin and senior tech-support guy (L3, but I can do anything.) I never specialised: I do Windows, Linux, Mac, and in the past, I did UNIX™, VMS, Netware, all sorts of long-dead stuff back to CP/M. In 2007, I decided to switch from freelance to an office job before I turned 40. It took me about 500 applications to get my…
Thanks for sharing your inspiring and encouraging story. I suspect that very few people would be brave enough to go as far out on the limb as you have. But you have shown what is possible.
There are quite a few of us knocking around out here. I have many friends in their 40s through to one in his 80s (!) who got sick of the West for various reasons and came out here and found a better life.
It's not just the rampant ageism. In the UK, nowadays, if you actually want to leave the office and go for lunch, that is frowned upon. Especially in the financial sector, dedication means eating at your desk and a few hours of unpaid overtime every day as standard.
Here, my bosses chase me out of the office for lunch every day. Many locals bring their own food in, in which case, you're expected to go for a walk for half an hour or something. It's the law: you must take a break.
It's a far healthier working culture.
Also, of course, Americans need to remember that you get at least 4 weeks of paid time off every year and free unlimited healthcare with no restrictions. Women get a minimum of one year of paid maternity leave, which can be extended to 3 or 4 years (but the same fixed amount of money is spread out over that time, so the longer you take, the less you get each month... But still...)
Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired
#150My situation is somewhat different but there's similarities. Also over 50 (barely), skills are not exactly outdated (Azure data engineering/analytics), but been looking for a job since being laid off early in the pandemic (going on 1.5 years gap on the resume). Took a few months hiatus in 2020 since the job market was pretty much dead and got a few certifications. Just this month got 4 rejections, partly because of b…
Slightly going on a tangent here but how does one even approach the HR which has suddenly ghosted you after multiple rounds of what looked like good interviews and what looked like a good match? I guess I’m not really looking for an answer here but some parallel experiences perhaps if you can share.
If you already communicated with a human being in HR RE: the opportunity I'd just ask them (nicely) over the email about the status. I only had one or two cases of person not responding to my emails. If they don't, I just mark status of the opportunity as "Unresponsive" on my list, sigh, and move on.