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I get at least 5 phone calls from recruiters a week, being a contractor. The amount of times i get someone that asks me something like: Recruiter: "We're loo

I get at least 5 phone calls from recruiters a week, being a contractor. The amount of times i get someone that asks me something like: Recruiter: "We're looking for someone with React experience, do you have that?" Me: "Yes" Them: "Ok, how about Javascript?" I want to explain to them but i end up just saying yes to every acronym on their list since they've no idea what they're asking for.

empath75 9y ago
Actual recruiting call: "I have an opening for someone with mesosphere and machine learning experience." "Well, I don't have any of those, but I have used docker a little bit." "Great, I'd like you to interview."
beager 9y ago
It's funny because in a different context, that's exactly a sequence of questions that I as an engineer would ask: > Do you have experience with React? > Okay, do you have experience writing pure, vanilla JavaScript? Absent a framework like jQuery or Backbone or Angular? The second question can often screen out people who simply maintain framework apps rather than those who actually know JS.
- nulagrithom 9y ago
  Are you assuming that people who haven't maintained a vanilla JS app don't actually know JS?
  - beager 9y ago
    Not at all. I'm getting at the fact that many frontend devs don't know JavaScript, they just know cut-and-paste jQuery or how to fiddle with/maintain React/Angular components in a large app.
    - cema 9y ago
      I doubt you can really just cut-n-paste jQuery in any nontrivial web app...
      - beager 9y ago
        Correct, and that's one way to decisively filter out people who haven't worked on a nontrivial web app.
- John23832 9y ago
  Exactly. A nuanced question like that is beneficial... but it has to be clear that there is that nuance.
dkersten 9y ago
As I posted in another comment in this thread, I can actually truthfully answer that with "Yes, No". I've got plenty of React experience, but in Clojurescript and not Javascript. I would obviously fail the interview, rightfully, since I wouldn't be much good on a Javascript team using React. But I do know React. (Okok, in reality, I'd learn. Its not that I don't know any JS at all, I do, but I avoid it as much as possible so when I write JS, its pretty bad hacky JS, and I can read it)

empath75 9y ago

Actual recruiting call: "I have an opening for someone with mesosphere and machine learning experience." "Well, I don't have any of those, but I have used docker a little bit." "Great, I'd like you to interview."

beager 9y ago

It's funny because in a different context, that's exactly a sequence of questions that I as an engineer would ask: > Do you have experience with React? > Okay, do you have experience writing pure, vanilla JavaScript? Absent a framework like jQuery or Backbone or Angular? The second question can often screen out people who simply maintain framework apps rather than those who actually know JS.

nulagrithom 9y ago
Are you assuming that people who haven't maintained a vanilla JS app don't actually know JS?
- beager 9y ago
  Not at all. I'm getting at the fact that many frontend devs don't know JavaScript, they just know cut-and-paste jQuery or how to fiddle with/maintain React/Angular components in a large app.
  - cema 9y ago
    I doubt you can really just cut-n-paste jQuery in any nontrivial web app...
    - beager 9y ago
      Correct, and that's one way to decisively filter out people who haven't worked on a nontrivial web app.
John23832 9y ago
Exactly. A nuanced question like that is beneficial... but it has to be clear that there is that nuance.

dkersten 9y ago

As I posted in another comment in this thread, I can actually truthfully answer that with "Yes, No". I've got plenty of React experience, but in Clojurescript and not Javascript. I would obviously fail the interview, rightfully, since I wouldn't be much good on a Javascript team using React. But I do know React. (Okok, in reality, I'd learn. Its not that I don't know any JS at all, I do, but I avoid it as much as possible so when I write JS, its pretty bad hacky JS, and I can read it)