How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
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How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
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Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#2Will an exceptional developer really go through a phone interview, several hours of unpaid coding, a code review, another hour long phone interview, another interview where they must prove "strong opinions about software practices", an interrogatory lunch, an afternoon solving made up logic puzzles, then a pair coding session?
That sounds like torture to me. Don't exceptional developers' portfolios and resumes say enough that they don't need to suffer through all that to get a great job? Are the exceptional developers really the ones applying for your job in the first place?
This isn't the worst interview process I've ever read about. I've heard of developers applying to jobs at Microsoft getting 3, 4, 5 levels of interviews before finally getting a job. But most of the developers I met at Microsoft were competent, not exceptional. Exceptional developers didn't need to waste their time with that kind of process and they know it and they moved much more fluidly between jobs.
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#3Off-topic but if there is anyone from Braintree reading this, I'm interested to know how you feel about Stripe and FeeFighters Samurai entering the market at a more competitive price point with lower barriers to entry (i.e. fill in a form and go vs. laborious and involved merchant application process) given that your pricing has remained resolutely more expensive.
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#4Will an exceptional developer really go through a phone interview, several hours of unpaid coding, a code review, another hour long phone interview, another interview where they must prove "strong opinions about software practices", an interrogatory lunch, an afternoon solving made up logic puzzles, then a pair coding session? That sounds like torture to me. Don't exceptional developers' portfolios and resumes say en…
How are they supposed to know that a particular developer is exceptional otherwise? Even if they have a github or similar account for a potential employer to peruse, that ultimately only shows the end result of their thought process. It doesn't necessarily show that they were able to arrive at their conclusion/solution efficiently. How would you then account for that?
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#5Will an exceptional developer really go through a phone interview, several hours of unpaid coding, a code review, another hour long phone interview, another interview where they must prove "strong opinions about software practices", an interrogatory lunch, an afternoon solving made up logic puzzles, then a pair coding session? That sounds like torture to me. Don't exceptional developers' portfolios and resumes say en…
How are they supposed to know that a particular developer is exceptional otherwise? Even if they have a github or similar account for a potential employer to peruse, that ultimately only shows the end result of their thought process. It doesn't necessarily show that they were able to arrive at their conclusion/solution efficiently. How would you then account for that?
An exceptional developer has done something exceptional. Authored a popular JavaScript library. Founded and grew a business. Lead the team that introduced a new product line that's now used at 5 million businesses. Authored the research paper that led to a new Photoshop feature. Launched an app at a hackathon that now has 30k users and here's the code.
These things speak for themselves. That's what makes them exceptional. These developers are not the norm but they're not diamonds either -- yet, still, they've already proved themselves and their accomplishments are enough that they can get a job without subjecting themselves to this obstacle course of an interview process.
Braintree doesn't really need exceptional developers to work on a 20th century credit card platform, it just needs competent ones that are socially compatible with its team.
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#6Will an exceptional developer really go through a phone interview, several hours of unpaid coding, a code review, another hour long phone interview, another interview where they must prove "strong opinions about software practices", an interrogatory lunch, an afternoon solving made up logic puzzles, then a pair coding session? That sounds like torture to me. Don't exceptional developers' portfolios and resumes say en…
I'm not a developer, so I can't confidently comment on the value of specific code evaluation techniques. In other disciplines however, it can often be fairly easy to sort out the talented folks from the merely competent through a brief screening and interview. The trouble with such a shortened interview process is it's inability to determine if this person will be a good fit with the company's culture and team. Similarly, it can be difficult for a prospective employee to make an informed decision as to whether or not he will actually enjoy working at that company.
You can make a very good case that these types of extensive, saturating interview processes do more to determine one's overall fit with the company than their role specific abilities. You could also argue that this is just as important an indicator of one's success with a company as their role specific abilities, assuming some sort of baseline level of competency.
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#7Will an exceptional developer really go through a phone interview, several hours of unpaid coding, a code review, another hour long phone interview, another interview where they must prove "strong opinions about software practices", an interrogatory lunch, an afternoon solving made up logic puzzles, then a pair coding session? That sounds like torture to me. Don't exceptional developers' portfolios and resumes say en…
In practice, I often find that exceptional candidates like a rigorous interview process-smart people often like doing things that feel difficult and selective. And it gives them confidence that the company is hiring smart people.
This is not to say that Braintree's process is perfect-just that the assumption developers are "suffering through it" to get a great job may be flawed. I personally would much prefer going through an overly exhaustive interview to one that I felt could pick up weak candidates.
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#8Zach Holman, from Github[1], had an interesting insight[2] into coding problems and interviews:
I think programming riddles, games, and brain teasers are a great way to hire. First one to say "fuck this" and walk out gets the job.
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#9Will an exceptional developer really go through a phone interview, several hours of unpaid coding, a code review, another hour long phone interview, another interview where they must prove "strong opinions about software practices", an interrogatory lunch, an afternoon solving made up logic puzzles, then a pair coding session? That sounds like torture to me. Don't exceptional developers' portfolios and resumes say en…
While the process doesn't sound pleasant, a long interview might benefit the potential employee as much as it does the company.
If you're going to be spending a lot of time working with these people..you want to get a chance to get to know them a bit before jumping in. (Same goes for their tools, development process, etc.)
Re: How Braintree Interviews Exceptional Developers
#10Will an exceptional developer really go through a phone interview, several hours of unpaid coding, a code review, another hour long phone interview, another interview where they must prove "strong opinions about software practices", an interrogatory lunch, an afternoon solving made up logic puzzles, then a pair coding session? That sounds like torture to me. Don't exceptional developers' portfolios and resumes say en…
I'm not a developer, so I can't confidently comment on the value of specific code evaluation techniques. In other disciplines however, it can often be fairly easy to sort out the talented folks from the merely competent through a brief screening and interview. The trouble with such a shortened interview process is it's inability to determine if this person will be a good fit with the company's culture and team. Simil…
One thing indicator I like use for "cultural fit" (as we don't have a lengthy interview process for our team) is how much the interviewee asks about our team. Are there any questions? A few generic questions? Or some deeper, probing questions about expectations, design decisions, framework decisions, and general culture? If I'm considering a new position, I want to know as much about my potential employer as they want to know about me.