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Interviewing is stupid simple. [...] Maybe if you are a college grad with 0 real life experience then maybe interview prep is necessary... don't know. I could

Interviewing is stupid simple. [...] Maybe if you are a college grad with 0 real life experience then maybe interview prep is necessary... don't know. I could be biased though. The last place I interviewed at they knew who I was, something about my software, and some of my online controversies before I even walked in the door. Yes, this is bias. Most candidates aren't being hunted by employers. It's the other way around. It's quite the opposite of "simple." It's a soul-crushing experience of being denied at every interview because you can't think out loud or do whiteboard coding and don't have a social media portfolio presence to fall back on. The only simple part is how simple it is to reject a candidate based on the personal prejudices of just one of the five different interviewers you have to meet with.

austincheney 10y ago
> Most candidates aren't being hunted by employers. I call this the talent gap. When you are a newb or completely lack either experience or confidence in your skills life is harder. You have massively increased competition for lower paying jobs filled with more menial tasks. I have been there too. If a candidate doesn't want to be there they will invest in themselves outside the office. I spent as much time as I could writing open source software and language parsers while on military deployments. Most developers I know are frequently hounded by recruiters because the demand for senior developers is stupid ridiculous.
- danellis 10y ago
  > Most developers I know are frequently hounded by recruiters because the demand for senior developers is stupid ridiculous. Maybe in your bubble. My experience is that very few recruiters are hounding me, because most of them don't know I exist. I don't live or work in a tech hub, I don't work for a famous company, and I haven't published anything. I don't think that's a particularly unusual position to be in. It's absolutely nothing to do with talent or experience, though.
  - netscape101 9y ago
    " I haven't published anything" Don't want to be rude but this is 100% your own fault and problem. What are you doing about this? I have two github profiles with code, I've spoken at conferences and I've got an active linkedin profile(yes I hate linkedin believe me), but this is the art of promoting yourself. If you are not writing open source code or talking on mailing lists or even IRC then how do you expect people to know who you are?
- sillysaurus3 10y ago
  Most developers I know are frequently hounded by recruiters because the demand for senior developers is stupid ridiculous. Yes, but the next step is actually interviewing at companies. It's obviously the best strategy to coax an employer into being interested in you, rather than the other way around. But most employers typically have an interview funnel, which I think is what people are talking about here. It sounds like you're referring to an employer actively seeking out a specific candidate that they're interested in. While that does happen, it's probably not the typical interview experience.
  - austincheney 10y ago
    Talking to people is a life skill. That is what interviewing is. You aren't going to learn this from inside a CS textbook. Whether you are seeking the job or they are seeking you is largely irrelevant. Being an extreme introvert isn't an issue here either, although it did cause me to pass out in the taxi to the airport once after a 6 hour interview. Just be honest (immediately so), be humble, and have confidence that you will do your very best. What ever happens after that you don't really control. It is okay to be nervous, but keep it in context. Nobody is shooting at you. You aren't drowning. Your housing isn't burning down. It is just a conversation.
    - sanderjd 10y ago
      You seem to be talking about a very different kind of interview than what anybody else here is talking about. The kind that is "just a conversation" is still more difficult than you're making it out to be for a lot of people, but it's definitely easier than the full day of whiteboard coding and no open ended conversation style that every big company uses and every wanna-be big company parrots.
      - ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
        I agree, though it can be a little jarring going into what you expect to be a whiteboard interview, and just answering questions verbally. Its nice, certainly, but if you're not expecting it (and why would you, given the odds) it can take a bit to get your footing.

austincheney 10y ago

> Most candidates aren't being hunted by employers. I call this the talent gap. When you are a newb or completely lack either experience or confidence in your skills life is harder. You have massively increased competition for lower paying jobs filled with more menial tasks. I have been there too. If a candidate doesn't want to be there they will invest in themselves outside the office. I spent as much time as I could writing open source software and language parsers while on military deployments. Most developers I know are frequently hounded by recruiters because the demand for senior developers is stupid ridiculous.

danellis 10y ago
> Most developers I know are frequently hounded by recruiters because the demand for senior developers is stupid ridiculous. Maybe in your bubble. My experience is that very few recruiters are hounding me, because most of them don't know I exist. I don't live or work in a tech hub, I don't work for a famous company, and I haven't published anything. I don't think that's a particularly unusual position to be in. It's absolutely nothing to do with talent or experience, though.
- netscape101 9y ago
  " I haven't published anything" Don't want to be rude but this is 100% your own fault and problem. What are you doing about this? I have two github profiles with code, I've spoken at conferences and I've got an active linkedin profile(yes I hate linkedin believe me), but this is the art of promoting yourself. If you are not writing open source code or talking on mailing lists or even IRC then how do you expect people to know who you are?
sillysaurus3 10y ago
Most developers I know are frequently hounded by recruiters because the demand for senior developers is stupid ridiculous. Yes, but the next step is actually interviewing at companies. It's obviously the best strategy to coax an employer into being interested in you, rather than the other way around. But most employers typically have an interview funnel, which I think is what people are talking about here. It sounds like you're referring to an employer actively seeking out a specific candidate that they're interested in. While that does happen, it's probably not the typical interview experience.
- austincheney 10y ago
  Talking to people is a life skill. That is what interviewing is. You aren't going to learn this from inside a CS textbook. Whether you are seeking the job or they are seeking you is largely irrelevant. Being an extreme introvert isn't an issue here either, although it did cause me to pass out in the taxi to the airport once after a 6 hour interview. Just be honest (immediately so), be humble, and have confidence that you will do your very best. What ever happens after that you don't really control. It is okay to be nervous, but keep it in context. Nobody is shooting at you. You aren't drowning. Your housing isn't burning down. It is just a conversation.
  - sanderjd 10y ago
    You seem to be talking about a very different kind of interview than what anybody else here is talking about. The kind that is "just a conversation" is still more difficult than you're making it out to be for a lot of people, but it's definitely easier than the full day of whiteboard coding and no open ended conversation style that every big company uses and every wanna-be big company parrots.
    - ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
      I agree, though it can be a little jarring going into what you expect to be a whiteboard interview, and just answering questions verbally. Its nice, certainly, but if you're not expecting it (and why would you, given the odds) it can take a bit to get your footing.