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As someone who is going through many technical interviews right now, and failing all of them, I love this article. (It was actually brought to my attention last

As someone who is going through many technical interviews right now, and failing all of them, I love this article. (It was actually brought to my attention last week.) My technical ability is readily apparent to those who have viewed my work, and by virtue of those who have praised it. I don't claim to be the best programmer in the world, just a competent one. I've also been programming for over 20 years, that might have something to do with it. However, I suck at interviews, in any way shape or form (personality tests, technical tests, you name it). Yet I've aced every job ever given to me, and people love to work with me (even in spite of my salty attitude). To think that you can determine what it is like to work with me over the span of a year within the span of an hour is completely and utterly ridiculous. As it turns out, the little sub-problems they give are the most trivial part of programming. The hard part, the part it takes many years to get any good at, is coherently organizing, documenting, and ensuring the stability of a larger system, particularly concurrently with other programmers. Or designing an algorithm that you can't just Google. Or making a really tough decision about what features to cut or what direction to pivot. Or organizing a vision of what will add the most value for the customer. Or...etc Being an introvert with a monotone voice, general lack of expression, and deadpan sarcastic humor does wonders for personality tests. Most people's default reaction to me (in interviews or otherwise) is that I am a total dick. Which I am, but the kind you don't mind hanging around. I don't do well with programming that has a one hour deadline. But give me a day and I can produce the typical output a programmer would within a day. If I spent all my time practicing for interviews, I'd probably be better at them (with stuff like Top Coder or Interview Cake or whatever). And I think giving these things a whirl is well worth it (not for the sake of winning in interviews). But it is not my life goal to be good at interviews. It is my goal to work in areas I am interested, and continue learning things that are directly relevant to my real-world tasks (sorry, writing a red-black tree on a white board within an hour never happens to me in the real world).

ktRolster 10y ago
But it is not my life goal to be good at interviews. It is my goal to work in areas I am interested, and continue learning things that are directly relevant to my real-world tasks You have to look at the programming career as requiring two skills: the first is programming, and the second is finding a job. That might suck, but it's the nature of a career where you change jobs every three years or so.
- gavanwoolery 10y ago
  Oh, I agree with you, you are totally right. I am mostly speaking from a hypothetical "I wish the world did not operate this way" type of tone. :)
- sotojuan 10y ago
  Sadly true. What sucks is having to choose between working on a fun side project or practicing algorithm or coding interviews (LeetCode, Hacker Rank). I honestly really dislike doing the latter, but I know I have to.
smnscu 10y ago
Did Voxel Quest (http://www.voxelquest.com/ http://www.voxelquest.com/) not work out financially? :( If I had my company I'd hire you in a heartbeat. Might be stupidly obvious, but pinging your network might help – I can't be the only one who would want such a talented programmer on their team. Good luck in your search!
- gavanwoolery 10y ago
  Please read my most recent two blog entries on http://www.voxelquest.com http://www.voxelquest.com where I talk about the current state of things. :) I have pinged my network, and am very grateful for all the job offers that have come of it. However, at least half those offers have come with technical interviews that basically ignore my work experience, or in one case the recruiter could not even determine why my experience was relevant (even though it was). Some offers involved getting paid to continue working on Voxel Quest. However, one such offer was in a remote country where the US dollar is much stronger, and I could not have operated under the salary they were offering (at least, not without moving to their country, which is very far away). At this point I am trying to figure out the "best" path, and that involves many factors, one of which is trying to ease up on the stress I have put my family through. By insistence I have put up Patreon although I am not yet touching the money until I know what my future job is and what that means for VQ (and as mentioned I'm also refunding all the money put into VQ).
  - k__ 10y ago
    It speaks for broken hiring when even skillers like you can't get a job. I always thought I just wasn't as good as I think when I didn't get a job, but I know your work and it is amazing, so hiring companies just don't know what they doing anymore
    - gavanwoolery 10y ago
      Thanks! It honestly does help, because in my current state I find myself heavily second-guessing my own value. That said, I have found the humility to be enlightening :)
collyw 10y ago
Yes, I find it ironical that I was way better at coding tests 15 years ago straight out of University. Nowadays I think longer and write less code. It works better.
- gavanwoolery 10y ago
  One great example is Haseeb, who spent two years of all his life programming. He now commands a $250k salary (which, I say more power to him for exploiting our current interview system). I don't doubt that Haseeb is an excellent programmer. But not everyone has two years to devote to mastering the interview system like him, and there are plenty of skills you won't get just by doing competitive programming. http://haseebq.com/farewell-app-academy-hello-airbnb-part-i/ http://haseebq.com/farewell-app-academy-hello-airbnb-part-i/
  - chjohasbrouck 10y ago
    Wow. I used to know Haseeb during his poker days 8-10 years ago, when he was still playing for dimes/quarters and we were all still using MSN. Can't believe I'm hearing his name again in this context, I had no idea he got into software. He's probably a bad example to make your point with. Haseeb had some moral failings, but he is truly on another level in terms of intellect/drive/vision, and the interviewers at Airbnb probably didn't have a hard time recognizing that. I can't stress enough how smart that guy is. He leaves an impression.
    - gavanwoolery 10y ago
      Small world indeed. :) If it came across otherwise, I have nothing but positive things to say about Haseeb. Still, as with any coder I might praise, any human has gaps in their skillset - and I imagine Haseeb has a few; there is only so much you can learn in 2 years. I say this based on my personal reflection, so I could be wrong. The coder I was 10 years ago was laughably bad compared to the coder I am now, and I spent pretty much every one of those years doing 80+ hours of programming per week. That said, if I had to hire someone fresh out of college, or someone like Haseeb, the choice would easily be Haseeb. :)

ktRolster 10y ago

But it is not my life goal to be good at interviews. It is my goal to work in areas I am interested, and continue learning things that are directly relevant to my real-world tasks You have to look at the programming career as requiring two skills: the first is programming, and the second is finding a job. That might suck, but it's the nature of a career where you change jobs every three years or so.

gavanwoolery 10y ago
Oh, I agree with you, you are totally right. I am mostly speaking from a hypothetical "I wish the world did not operate this way" type of tone. :)
sotojuan 10y ago
Sadly true. What sucks is having to choose between working on a fun side project or practicing algorithm or coding interviews (LeetCode, Hacker Rank). I honestly really dislike doing the latter, but I know I have to.

smnscu 10y ago

Did Voxel Quest (http://www.voxelquest.com/ http://www.voxelquest.com/) not work out financially? :( If I had my company I'd hire you in a heartbeat. Might be stupidly obvious, but pinging your network might help – I can't be the only one who would want such a talented programmer on their team. Good luck in your search!

gavanwoolery 10y ago
Please read my most recent two blog entries on http://www.voxelquest.com http://www.voxelquest.com where I talk about the current state of things. :) I have pinged my network, and am very grateful for all the job offers that have come of it. However, at least half those offers have come with technical interviews that basically ignore my work experience, or in one case the recruiter could not even determine why my experience was relevant (even though it was). Some offers involved getting paid to continue working on Voxel Quest. However, one such offer was in a remote country where the US dollar is much stronger, and I could not have operated under the salary they were offering (at least, not without moving to their country, which is very far away). At this point I am trying to figure out the "best" path, and that involves many factors, one of which is trying to ease up on the stress I have put my family through. By insistence I have put up Patreon although I am not yet touching the money until I know what my future job is and what that means for VQ (and as mentioned I'm also refunding all the money put into VQ).
- k__ 10y ago
  It speaks for broken hiring when even skillers like you can't get a job. I always thought I just wasn't as good as I think when I didn't get a job, but I know your work and it is amazing, so hiring companies just don't know what they doing anymore
  - gavanwoolery 10y ago
    Thanks! It honestly does help, because in my current state I find myself heavily second-guessing my own value. That said, I have found the humility to be enlightening :)

collyw 10y ago

Yes, I find it ironical that I was way better at coding tests 15 years ago straight out of University. Nowadays I think longer and write less code. It works better.

gavanwoolery 10y ago
One great example is Haseeb, who spent two years of all his life programming. He now commands a $250k salary (which, I say more power to him for exploiting our current interview system). I don't doubt that Haseeb is an excellent programmer. But not everyone has two years to devote to mastering the interview system like him, and there are plenty of skills you won't get just by doing competitive programming. http://haseebq.com/farewell-app-academy-hello-airbnb-part-i/ http://haseebq.com/farewell-app-academy-hello-airbnb-part-i/
- chjohasbrouck 10y ago
  Wow. I used to know Haseeb during his poker days 8-10 years ago, when he was still playing for dimes/quarters and we were all still using MSN. Can't believe I'm hearing his name again in this context, I had no idea he got into software. He's probably a bad example to make your point with. Haseeb had some moral failings, but he is truly on another level in terms of intellect/drive/vision, and the interviewers at Airbnb probably didn't have a hard time recognizing that. I can't stress enough how smart that guy is. He leaves an impression.
  - gavanwoolery 10y ago
    Small world indeed. :) If it came across otherwise, I have nothing but positive things to say about Haseeb. Still, as with any coder I might praise, any human has gaps in their skillset - and I imagine Haseeb has a few; there is only so much you can learn in 2 years. I say this based on my personal reflection, so I could be wrong. The coder I was 10 years ago was laughably bad compared to the coder I am now, and I spent pretty much every one of those years doing 80+ hours of programming per week. That said, if I had to hire someone fresh out of college, or someone like Haseeb, the choice would easily be Haseeb. :)