Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

Post by borroka » Tue, Apr 08, 2025, 2:31 PM UTC

WJW wrote: post #333

dagw wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First impressions do count but I think the above poster has a point, a suit can actually harm your chances in an environment where no one wears suits. There are many ways to wear a suit. If you walking in wearing a suit that doesn't fit, doesn't suite (no pun intended) you, and it obviously makes you feel uncomfortable then that could count against you. But you walk in wearing a suit that fits, makes you look good, a…

If there is a de facto dress code and you knowingly go against it, even if you look good in whatever you do wear, it makes you look like you don't understand the prevailing norms. This could lead to worries you might not align with other team norms either.

Post by yks » Tue, Apr 08, 2025, 2:33 PM UTC

borroka wrote: post #437

yks wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please explain from the first principles, why a suit is "aesthetically better" and more dignified than a t-shirt/jeans combo.

In human dynamics, very little is based on “first principles”. Some words are considered vulgar and others are not. Why? Aren't they just a sequence of letters? They certainly are, but those sequences have been assigned a meaning that does not derive from any “first principle”. In the Western world, for a long time, at least 100 years, a suit was considered the proper attire for men. Then expectations changed and now…

Post by throwanem » Tue, Apr 08, 2025, 2:36 PM UTC

grues-dinner wrote: post #370

throwanem wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intimidating a potential hiring manager right up front isn't usually a great play.

With reference to the GP about awkward people, if an adult hiring manager is intimidated by an professional applicant wearing a suit to an interview in good faith (after all, it's widely seen as mark of taking the interview seriously), I think it is perhaps not the applicant who need to learn the social skills. If an interviewer can't tell the difference between a flex and show of good intent, they probably should go…

Post by wat10000 » Tue, Apr 08, 2025, 2:37 PM UTC

jannesan wrote: post #321

Foofoobar12345 wrote: post #134

We get a few thousand fresh grads applying to us each year. It’s practically impossible to interview every one of them. At the same time, any sort of coding assignment we give is easily defeated by AI—so that’s not useful either and there are very few signals there. What we do instead is send out a test - something like a mental ability test - with hundreds of somewhat randomized questions. Many of these are highly v…

As a candidate, this sort of test gives me the worst possible impression of the company. - 0 effort on your side - very stressful for me - completely unrelated to job - ridiculous definition of someone being “smart” Actually, I would not even do the test most likely and I bet many others neither.

Post by 9rx » Tue, Apr 08, 2025, 2:42 PM UTC

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #441

jaredklewis wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - And yeah, you guys, it's time to buy a suit. Others have already commented on this, but do you work in tech? IME getting interviewed by directors and even VPs in t-shirts is the norm. I’ve worn jeans to work my whole career. If anything, I think people in tech have a strong prejudice against people in suits (ie “obviously this person isn’t a real software engineer, they’re wearing a suit.”) Anyway, probably not g…

I was told by a recruiter to "suit up" for an engineering position 15 years ago. I was met by the VP of engineering wearing cutoff jeans. I never listen recruiter sartorial advice.