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Finding a new software developer job

henrikwarne.com

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Re: Finding a new software developer job

#21

Post by moron4hire »

LeafItAlone wrote: post #19
throwawaymaths wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not crazy. Some of these are probably what 30 minutes? Tech interviews 60 mins? So what, five hours? Remember when on-site interviews meant an hour total commute plus say six hours of total interview plus lunch event. Some high demand companies put candidates through more than one round of that. Not to mention if you were flying from out of town... I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck…

> I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck in SF for three weeks due to snow storms on the east coast This is literally unbelievable. I cannot remember a time when the east coast was inaccessible for three weeks…

There was a year (maybe 2012? I was in Philadelphia at the time) where we had back to back snow storms of more than 12" accumulation, about a week and a half apart. It came at a bad time of poor investment in snow clearing equipment and services, so many places had done no cleanup of the first storm before the second one hit. I don't know how the airports faired, but the roads were a deathtrap for weeks.

Re: Finding a new software developer job

#22

Post by nradov »

arter4 wrote: post #14
throwawaymaths wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not crazy. Some of these are probably what 30 minutes? Tech interviews 60 mins? So what, five hours? Remember when on-site interviews meant an hour total commute plus say six hours of total interview plus lunch event. Some high demand companies put candidates through more than one round of that. Not to mention if you were flying from out of town... I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck…

It is crazy because it dilutes the interview experience and you never know when it's going to end and when they're going to decide (and actually tell you). And why should you talk to all those people? Talk to the tech folks, then to the CTO, then the founder, then what, the VC investors, the whole board? Can the CTO not describe the company vision and how IT fits in that picture? It does smell of a lack of vision or…

It's largely a way to dilute responsibility and spread blame. If a new hire turns out to be a failure then it's tough to point the finger at any one interviewer since they were all fooled. This type of diffused decision making process is typically instituted by the careerists at large organizations where being held accountable for any major failure will derail your chances of promotion.

Re: Finding a new software developer job

#23

Post by thaumasiotes »

throwawaymaths wrote: post #7
arter4 wrote: post #2

>For a typical job there were four or five interviews: an initial interview with a recruiter, an interview with a hiring manager, one or two technical interviews (either live coding, or going through a take-home assignment). There could also be an interview with a product manager, and/or one with a CTO or founder. All in all, quite a time commitment. This is not news at this point, but it is pretty crazy.

That's not crazy. Some of these are probably what 30 minutes? Tech interviews 60 mins? So what, five hours? Remember when on-site interviews meant an hour total commute plus say six hours of total interview plus lunch event. Some high demand companies put candidates through more than one round of that. Not to mention if you were flying from out of town... I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck…

> I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck in SF for three weeks due to snow storms on the east coast and got fired from Accenture as a result.

It takes less than one week to travel across the country by road. There's a whole system of Greyhound buses that serve exactly this purpose. How is it possible to get stuck for three weeks?

https://www.greyhound.com/bus-routes/san-francisco-ca-new-yo... notes that it takes 76 hours and costs $300.

Re: Finding a new software developer job

#24

Post by esafak »

stefan_ wrote: post #6
arter4 wrote: post #2

>For a typical job there were four or five interviews: an initial interview with a recruiter, an interview with a hiring manager, one or two technical interviews (either live coding, or going through a take-home assignment). There could also be an interview with a product manager, and/or one with a CTO or founder. All in all, quite a time commitment. This is not news at this point, but it is pretty crazy.

In my experience they could reliably cut out the recruiter and hiring manager interviews.

You don't want to interview your hiring manager??

Re: Finding a new software developer job

#26

Post by LeafItAlone »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #20
LeafItAlone wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck in SF for three weeks due to snow storms on the east coast This is literally unbelievable. I cannot remember a time when the east coast was inaccessible for three weeks…

It probably wouldn’t have saved his job to reach any random spot on the east coast, so you don’t have to think of a time when it was all inaccessible.

Do you think that the parent I was responding to didn’t understand my intent? Did you really think I meant any random location on the east coast?

Re: Finding a new software developer job

#28

Post by eloisant »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #23
throwawaymaths wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not crazy. Some of these are probably what 30 minutes? Tech interviews 60 mins? So what, five hours? Remember when on-site interviews meant an hour total commute plus say six hours of total interview plus lunch event. Some high demand companies put candidates through more than one round of that. Not to mention if you were flying from out of town... I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck…

> I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck in SF for three weeks due to snow storms on the east coast and got fired from Accenture as a result. It takes less than one week to travel across the country by road. There's a whole system of Greyhound buses that serve exactly this purpose. How is it possible to get stuck for three weeks? https://www.greyhound.com/bus-routes/san-francisco-ca-new-yo... n…

You probably don't know it's going take more than a week right away. You hope you can fly the next day, then the next, etc...

Re: Finding a new software developer job

#30

Post by eloisant »

Clubber wrote: post #12
throwawaymaths wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not crazy. Some of these are probably what 30 minutes? Tech interviews 60 mins? So what, five hours? Remember when on-site interviews meant an hour total commute plus say six hours of total interview plus lunch event. Some high demand companies put candidates through more than one round of that. Not to mention if you were flying from out of town... I remember a friend who interviewed with Google and got stuck…

I remember when on-site interviews were an hour and that was it. All this stuff companies do now is insane. If a person isn't performant, you'll know within 30 days, but you'll never know by interviewing them. I haven't had to cold interview in 20+ years. I hope I never have to based on how it works now. I get all my jobs from previous colleagues. Companies are closing the door to a lot of great talent based on this…

I interviewed at Google nearly 15 years ago and it was already phone screen + a marathon of on-site interviews. Maybe 4 in a row.
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