Please stop the coding challenges
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Please stop the coding challenges
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Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#2> When was the last time you had to debug an ancient codebase without documentation or help from a team?
Is this a joke?
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#3> This is like asking a Ruby developer to debug PHP as a test of flexibility.
Sounds like an OK test to me. Great (senior) developers should be able to do that kind of thing. Categorizing yourself exclusively as "a Ruby developer" is a career trap.
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#4Remember that in other fields like medicine, finance, academia, and law, getting in involves 5+ years of hoop jumping and commitment signaling that have nothing to do with the final job.
We are blessed.
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#5> When was the last time you had to debug an ancient codebase without documentation or help from a team? Is this a joke?
As a consultant this is my bread and butter, so it's kind of funny.
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#6Pretty common artifact that take-home challenges are being more widespread now that the labor pool is oversupplied with tech talent looking for jobs. Companies need new ways to filter for candidates that are willing to do whatever it takes and work the hardest. The easiest way to do so is give them a "three hour" take-home assignment and see if they are willing to do it.
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#7> When was the last time you had to debug an ancient codebase without documentation or help from a team?
I've had to do this at some level in every job.
Somebody left. The code was left to rot, whether it was a separate codebase or it was an entirely separate project. I got assigned to fix it. Sure, I had a team, but nobody knew more than I did, so it was just other devs who might have another perspective.
Collaboration and support might be standard, but mostly in the form of other smart people, not always documentation, up to date software, or people who know anything about the code.
I personally prefer these kinds of challenges as they mean I don't need to maintain two skillsets.
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#8I'm fine with tests, but only if companies pay a standard fee (say, $100) for a dev's time. If a company doesn't respect your time during the interview process, it probably won't while you're on the job.
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#9> When was the last time you had to debug an ancient codebase without documentation or help from a team? Is this a joke?
That was my reaction, too.
My answer to that question: I'm doing it right now, and have had to do it at least occasionally in almost every job I've ever had.
Re: Please stop the coding challenges
#10No, I don't think I will. Thanks for the suggestion though.