The GitHub Job Interview • Hacker News Board

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#11

Post by zalew » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 3:24 PM UTC

plunchete wrote: post #2

Seing code is the way to go in job interviews, and in my opinion can't be compared to solve puzzles, etc. Thanks to Open Source right now there are tons of public code from people, that's why we have created masterbranch.com a service to aggregate, analyze, and list all you OS but also with the option of include non-open source code (the code is not visible if the project is not open source). Also, the idea of open s…

Hi. The idea is great, but I ran into some issues.

- it took me quite a long time to find the 'Claim all your identities' - it should be in the same place I edit my profile.

- after I claim one account I don't have a link to go back and claim other accounts

- something is wrong with handling bitbucket projects, it sees only 2 of my projects

- if I go to 'Claim all your identities' for the second time, I don't see a list of my claimed accounts.

- no link to jump to my profile in the profile menu (top-right), ther should be one

- "Your profile is 40% complete" 40% of what?? it begs for a 'learn more'

- javascript ranks higher in the chart than python although it has less projects (even from the small number it recognizes) and less code

Too confusing.

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#12

Post by rhizome » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 3:59 PM UTC

enry_straker wrote: post #5

That is a sensible idea - but i would go one step further. Ideally you want to learn about a potential candidate's design/coding/debugging/bug-fixing/testing skills. Github project collaboration over a week or so would go a long way towards that. But you also want to see how well the potential employee communicates with other members of the team, on a day-to-day basis. Some Developers, even good developers, have stro…

"Consider" paying them?

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#13

Post by rhizome » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 4:43 PM UTC

teyc wrote: post #4

I've been mulling over the idea of writing a small buggy program, one that doesn't compile, and providing some test cases, then post it on GitHub as a first pass filter. It achieves several aims: 1. This approach scales. Send a prospective employee the github url and they can get started. 2. The programming puzzle can be solved in about 15 minutes. Kind of like a better Fizz Buzz. 3. The interviewee doesn't feel insu…

Why go through all this complication? Use bugs that have actually occurred in your app, repurpose those into coding problems, and see how the prospect solves it. You might be surprised that they fix the bug better than your existing employees (or you).

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#14

Post by saldfiae3 » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 5:06 PM UTC

Really, this is no different from the offline coding test, except that since the code is open source it might be useful to someone later.

I'd never do this Github interview for an open source project that was not very widely used, for the same reasons I'd never work on the company's closed source for an interview: exploitation.

In that sense, working on a toy problem is a big feature to me in an interview process, I know I'm not being cheaply exploited.

Also, other things equal, I prefer to do a code problem at interview because I know it will have helped filter out the fluff from getting into the company I'm applying to.

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#15

Post by aen1 » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 5:24 PM UTC

dangrossman wrote: post #6

> Being rejected after two weeks of work doesn't look good on anyone's CV Why would someone put this on their CV?

Background checks will show where you've worked, unless you were getting paid illegally. Still, I agree with you. It isn't something to scream out loud.

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#16

Post by slavak » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 5:51 PM UTC

rhizome wrote: post #12

enry_straker wrote: post #5

That is a sensible idea - but i would go one step further. Ideally you want to learn about a potential candidate's design/coding/debugging/bug-fixing/testing skills. Github project collaboration over a week or so would go a long way towards that. But you also want to see how well the potential employee communicates with other members of the team, on a day-to-day basis. Some Developers, even good developers, have stro…

"Consider" paying them?

Note to self: Never work for enry_straker.

If I'm onsite with your team working on your code-base, someone damn well better be paying me for it. Not to mention those kinds of shenanigans are downright illegal in some parts of the world...

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#17

Post by e40 » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 5:56 PM UTC

aen1 wrote: post #15

dangrossman wrote: post #6

> Being rejected after two weeks of work doesn't look good on anyone's CV Why would someone put this on their CV?

Background checks will show where you've worked, unless you were getting paid illegally. Still, I agree with you. It isn't something to scream out loud.

Background checks are being restricted in CA (by laws that became active in Jan '12), but even before that, I doubt it. Background checks are more like credit checks than employment history checks, except they include law enforcement activity.

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#18

Post by assaf_lavie » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 5:57 PM UTC

saldfiae3 wrote: post #14

Really, this is no different from the offline coding test, except that since the code is open source it might be useful to someone later. I'd never do this Github interview for an open source project that was not very widely used, for the same reasons I'd never work on the company's closed source for an interview: exploitation. In that sense, working on a toy problem is a big feature to me in an interview process, I…

That's why it should be a cool, fun project. It's hard for me to see how one might get exploited by contributing as much time as he wants to an open-source project. Remember, the prospective employee uses the same experience to gauge what it's like to work with his prospective employer.

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#19

Post by devs1010 » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 5:57 PM UTC

aen1 wrote: post #15

dangrossman wrote: post #6

> Being rejected after two weeks of work doesn't look good on anyone's CV Why would someone put this on their CV?

Background checks will show where you've worked, unless you were getting paid illegally. Still, I agree with you. It isn't something to scream out loud.

Background checks are nowhere near that accurate, they usually rely on information you, yourself have put out there, they don't have some sort of direct pipeline to your w2 forms.

Re: The GitHub Job Interview

#20

Post by devs1010 » Sun, Jan 08, 2012, 5:59 PM UTC

enry_straker wrote: post #5

That is a sensible idea - but i would go one step further. Ideally you want to learn about a potential candidate's design/coding/debugging/bug-fixing/testing skills. Github project collaboration over a week or so would go a long way towards that. But you also want to see how well the potential employee communicates with other members of the team, on a day-to-day basis. Some Developers, even good developers, have stro…

This is what contracting is for, no one in their right mind with any sort of real experience is going to spend 2 days on-site working for someone for free.