441–450 of 651 posts
Everyone is so terrified of hiring someone that can’t code, but the most likely bad hires and the most damaging bad hires are bad because of things that have nothing to do with raw coding ability.
*Except the performing arts. The way we interview is pretty close to the way musicians are interviewed, but that’s also really similar to their actual job.
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Yes they are unchangeable. I've tried many many times to break out of it; it works for a while but i revert back to my base behavior. We know what kinds of temperament a dog has within few months of it being a puppy ( and who the puppy's parents are). Why would it be different for humans. Claim that Our temperaments ( and our likes/dislikes for travel) are all learnt is a bizzare blank slate claim that doesn't track…
I hated small talk traditionally. It was very much a learned trait. One of the best conversation openers is “what keeps you busy?” and then ask open ended questions. Ask about their favorite travel destinations or even what are some interesting things about where they live. On the other hand, step outside your comfort zone and try something different so you have something to talk about interesting. https://tynan.com/…
I don't want to push to give presentations at international events is certainly a valid decision for any of a number of reasons.
So is preferring to spend more time on coding than managing/mentoring/etc.
But it all has consequences and some branches will lead to more promotions/money/etc. than others. And you may be perfectly fine with that. But go into with eyes wide open.
Code reviews. Teams are really sleeping on code reviews as an assessment tool. As in having the candidate review code. A junior, mid, senior, staff are going to see very different things in the same codebase. Not only that, as AI generated code becomes more common, teams might want to actively select for devs that can efficiently review code for quality and correctness. I went through one interview with a YC company…
The demo video on your homepage looks great! If I may ask, what recording software did you use to create and edit the video?
(OBS Elements other times)
I feel like we, SWEs, have been over-engineering our interview process. Maybe it's time to simplify it, for example, just ask questions based on the candidate's resume instead of coming up with random challenges. I feel like all the new proposals seem overly complicated, and nobody, interviewer or interviewee, is happy with any of them.
I feel like we, SWEs, have been over-engineering our interview process. Maybe it's time to simplify it, for example, just ask questions based on the candidate's resume instead of coming up with random challenges. I feel like all the new proposals seem overly complicated, and nobody, interviewer or interviewee, is happy with any of them.
Company A wants to hire an engineer, an AI could solve all their tech interview questions, so why not hire that AI instead? There's very likely a real answer to that question, and that answer should shape the way that engineer should be assessed and hired. For example, it could be that the company wants the engineer to do some kind of assessment whether a feature should be implemented at all, and if yes, in what way.…
Now someone comes along and builds a machine that can do A. It turns out that while for humans, A was a good indicator of X, Y and Z, for the machine it is not. A is easy for the machine, but X, Y and Z are still difficult.
This isn't a sign that the company was wrong to ask A, nor is it a sign that they could just hire the machine.
Code reviews. Teams are really sleeping on code reviews as an assessment tool. As in having the candidate review code. A junior, mid, senior, staff are going to see very different things in the same codebase. Not only that, as AI generated code becomes more common, teams might want to actively select for devs that can efficiently review code for quality and correctness. I went through one interview with a YC company…
I don't know. A cold code review on a codebase they never saw is not super informative about how the candidate would interact with you and the code once they're in known territory.
> A cold code review on a codebase they never saw
So yeah, I think it's the opposite: explicitly testing for their ability to read code is probably kinda important.
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I've (unfortunately) been interviewing the last two months and the main pattern that I've noticed is that a) big companies have terrible interview processes while b) small companies and startups are great at interviewing. Big companies need to hire tons of people and interview even more so they need some sort of scalable process for it. An early stage startup can just ask you about your past projects and pair program…
What exactly does "scalable" mean here? If a startup can spend 20 man-hours filling a single position, why can't a big company spend 1000 man-hours filling 50 positions?
Because big companies are run by bean counters and they also don't require the same kind of talent that is useful to startups. There's less competition for hyper-specialized seniors and middle of the pack generalists.
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Well put. I'm an introvert, I can't do math, I won't travel, etc. are all things that some people claim as if it's the unchangeable nature of things. If that's their chosen path, so be it. But they should understand it will probably be pretty limiting because the world they live in.
Yes they are unchangeable. I've tried many many times to break out of it; it works for a while but i revert back to my base behavior. We know what kinds of temperament a dog has within few months of it being a puppy ( and who the puppy's parents are). Why would it be different for humans. Claim that Our temperaments ( and our likes/dislikes for travel) are all learnt is a bizzare blank slate claim that doesn't track…
Because animals typically live in a way more static and uneventful environments, and they have much more limited mental capabilities?
Humans (and other animals) aren't a completely black slate - but unlike most animals, humans have very complex societies that affect their behaviors throughout their entire lives. A few years in a different environment start to change people. Kids (with their still-growing brains) adapt faster, adults - not so much, but the traces will be evident. Move a not-too-fucked-up Russian to the Pacific Northwest, and they will eventually start to smile now and then.
Also, thanks to the language, humans can think things up even when alone, drive themselves crazy in all the weird ways, then overcome all that self-inflicted stress and possibly develop some behaviors as a result.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I dislike pair programming interviews - as they currently exist - because they usually feel like a time-crunched exam. You don't realistically have the freedom to actually think as you would in actual pair programming. i.e. if you wag your tail chasing a bad end for 15 mins, this is a fail in an interview, but it's pretty realistic of real life work and entirely a non-problem. It's probably even good to test for at i…
Hiring doesn't scale, period; deal with it.