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Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

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Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#11

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

soc wrote: post #6
tocomment wrote: post #3

Just out of personal curiosity, you should try to find out if any of these failed candidates are actually skilled developers but there's something about the questions or interview that's messing them up? For example I consider myself a reasonable programmer, I can certainly do any project put in front of me. But I failed a YouTube phone interview because they asked me to "say" a function for finding the longest commo…

I agree. When I first meet someone over the phone or in person I'm in a social mood and prefer to talk rather than do a code dance for them. Once I'm alone at my desk though it's easy to get down to business. Think it would be cool if companies just said show up to work, and you work for free for the first week. After that both parties can decide if they want to continue.

Maybe it's just me, but I tend to immediately discount any advice or proposals that suggest I work for free.

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#12

Post by noodle »

felipe wrote: post #10
noodle wrote: post #2

do you screen them over the phone? seems to me like it would be much easier and less depressing if you just gave them the work, gave them an hour, and told them to email the results back to you. stuff that is nontrivially difficult such that they can't just search and find answers. they have to know. edit: i think i'd prefer having to do this myself, as well, because i'm a shy person in person and i find myself floun…

I think "quiz" type of questions are pretty ineffective at filtering out candidates. You do filter out the bad candidates, but great ones could also be left behind. Who knows, the person could be an brilliant developer who got nervous during the interview and had a blank. Or the phone call is breaking up. Or the person is in a non-ideal location. Etc... I would not filter out a potential hire just because the person…

i can agree with this. i don't like quiz types of questions either. if i were to hire someone, i'd rather hire someone who i know i can rely upon to get a job done, regardless of their knowledge. someone who knows how to teach themselves, who is able to learn and learn quickly.

but, i still think that a longer-form, more essay-like quiz is better than grilling someone over the phone and expecting them to continuously talk to you while they're working through something.

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#13

Post by martincmartin »

I have kids, and whenever I do interviewing, I get worried about their future. I think the secret is to get them to feel passionate about something; as long as they have the motivation, they'll want to learn. But how to do that? And what if I fail? I shudder to think they'd have to stay in some of the crappy jobs I've been able to leave.

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#14

Post by [deleted] »

zeckalpha wrote: post #9
soc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. When I first meet someone over the phone or in person I'm in a social mood and prefer to talk rather than do a code dance for them. Once I'm alone at my desk though it's easy to get down to business. Think it would be cool if companies just said show up to work, and you work for free for the first week. After that both parties can decide if they want to continue.

That's basically how open source works.

[deleted]

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#15

Post by _pius »

allenbrunson wrote: post #5
tocomment wrote: post #3

Just out of personal curiosity, you should try to find out if any of these failed candidates are actually skilled developers but there's something about the questions or interview that's messing them up? For example I consider myself a reasonable programmer, I can certainly do any project put in front of me. But I failed a YouTube phone interview because they asked me to "say" a function for finding the longest commo…

oh man, this is my downfall as well. hearing stories about the way google conducts interviews convinces me that i'll never get in there, or anywhere like it. i'm perfectly willing to write code as part of a job interview. just not on a whiteboard or over the phone.

i'm perfectly willing to write code as part of a job interview. just not on a whiteboard or over the phone.

why not on a whiteboard?

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#16

Post by kmano8 »

For my current job (for an entry level position), I took a one hour test asking to do pretty basic coding prior to interviewing with anyone. It asked to find errors/poor practices in a code snippet, some quick logic/binary operations, and a larger question involving linked lists that required a few minutes of planning before I began writing code out.

This was a comfortable setting for me. Though in previous interviews, I would completely freeze when someone wanted a technical explanation, simply because I need a moment to collect my thoughts, and it's difficult to do so when someone in front of you is looking for an immediate answer.

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#17

Post by larryfreeman »

Senior Developer does not always mean coder. It means, in my view, senior-level experience and senior-level judgment.

What are the job requirements?

I was a manager for 10 years and didn't code except to fix bugs. When I coded, I used C/C++. As a senior manager, I oversaw the JavaEE application strategy at Sun.

At any rate, today, I am a Senior Developer at a start up that uses LAMP. I would have no problem answering your questions today but it took me a full month to get back up to speed.

It may be that you are focusing on the wrong questions, it may be that your job description is attracting the wrong candidates, or it may be that you are not promoting the job in the right channels.

Good luck.

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#18

Post by _pius »

Yes, it is depressing.

That said, I've had success with doing the pre-screen in a Campfire room and asking them to Pastie/Gist their code into the room. That way, you eliminate some of the weirdness associated with coding over the phone, but you maintain much of the immediacy.

Re: Ask YC: Does interviewing developers leave you depressed?

#20

Post by pj »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #11
soc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. When I first meet someone over the phone or in person I'm in a social mood and prefer to talk rather than do a code dance for them. Once I'm alone at my desk though it's easy to get down to business. Think it would be cool if companies just said show up to work, and you work for free for the first week. After that both parties can decide if they want to continue.

Maybe it's just me, but I tend to immediately discount any advice or proposals that suggest I work for free.

I would actually enjoy a one week type engagement to get a good fit for a company.

It works both ways. You are selling your time. They are selling their environment.

The problem is that the employer is accepting a lot more risk than the employee. Do you like paying for something you can't return and you can't get your money back for if it is crap? This is the situation a lot of companies are in. They hire someone, they pay them to write the code or build the project and it turns out it's all a lot of garbage and the company is out the money.

This problem is really tainting our industry. I think a lot of people who call themselves programmers are really just some kids off the street who grabbed an open source package and started hacking away. They can build a website with some graphics and stuff, but they have no vision, no experience with large systems that are actually going to be used for any significant period of time.

It is quite depressing actually.

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