Can you do the job?
Can you define the job?
Yes. Please have 5+ years experience with Javascript ES6 specification.
The Only Interview Question That Matters
11–20 of 185 posts
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#12I don't like this question - I do a lot of things, answering this question doesn't say a lot about me. It gives a vastly incomplete picture of me. I would say that it is one of those bad generic questions.
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#13So what should software engineers who are "merely" doing solid and great programming on "average" and typical applications respond? It's not like programmers can pick and choose difficult projects.
They literally don't have one thing that was a significant accomplishment? Something from school? From outside work?
That wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but for someone who supposedly has a bit of experience it's a red flag.
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#14As a senior guy who's been programming a long time, I honestly don't know what I'd pick in answer to this question. Partly because I've done loads of cool (and no so cool) things over the years and partly because I don't have the best memory in the world. How do you decide which past accomplishment is worthy of a 30 minute conversation? Usually what comes to mind when asked this question are simply the most recent th…
There are a whole bunch of "Perfect Interview Questions" that merely filter out people who have never heard them before. This is the latest on the list.
I'm in job-hunt mode so I guess I'm going to sit down and prepare an answer for this one, too.
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#15I don't like this question - I do a lot of things, answering this question doesn't say a lot about me. It gives a vastly incomplete picture of me. I would say that it is one of those bad generic questions.
It's hard to talk about a lot of things in an interview so the question focuses on one thing... that you get to pick.
Agree that this post has a terrible title and making a hire/no hire on one question is insane, but it's a good question.
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#16So what should software engineers who are "merely" doing solid and great programming on "average" and typical applications respond? It's not like programmers can pick and choose difficult projects.
They literally don't have one thing that was a significant accomplishment? Something from school? From outside work? That wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but for someone who supposedly has a bit of experience it's a red flag.
What does "significant" mean?
I've worked on many great projects that have ended up going nowhere, sometimes because the market simply didn't materialize, sometimes because management pulled the plug just before shipping, sometimes because the whole company went bankrupt because funding dried up because our lead investor was on a plane that some terrorists blew into a building.
These "how to hire the best people!" articles are worse than "Cosmo" giving dating advice to teenage girls.
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#17As a senior guy who's been programming a long time, I honestly don't know what I'd pick in answer to this question. Partly because I've done loads of cool (and no so cool) things over the years and partly because I don't have the best memory in the world. How do you decide which past accomplishment is worthy of a 30 minute conversation? Usually what comes to mind when asked this question are simply the most recent th…
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Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#18This is a pretty linkbaity oversimplification. It's designed to appeal to the belief that there's a "magic bullet" for everything. Hiring people via interviews is hard, because evaluating people with limited time and context is hard. There's no such thing as a question that will tell you everything. If you're really trying to get an accurate picture of a candidate, conduct an accurate simulation. Get away from interv…
I don't see an oversimplification here. If a programmer, business person, whoever cant answer that question well I can definitely see how they might not be the kind of person I want to work with.
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#19As a senior guy who's been programming a long time, I honestly don't know what I'd pick in answer to this question. Partly because I've done loads of cool (and no so cool) things over the years and partly because I don't have the best memory in the world. How do you decide which past accomplishment is worthy of a 30 minute conversation? Usually what comes to mind when asked this question are simply the most recent th…
I've been a pro for nearly 15 years and the project that I'm most proud of was something i did as an undergrad. Now I'm sad.
Re: The Only Interview Question That Matters
#20"What single project or task would you consider your most significant accomplishment in your career to date?"
If this is the best question you can ask people, we got really lucky, because this is the essential question on all YC's application forms for events (e.g. Startup School) and has been one of the core questions on the YC application since the beginning.