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Here is how to do a good coding interview if you are a recruiter: 1. Do your homework: know what projects drive the interviewee (what kind of things she likes

Here is how to do a good coding interview if you are a recruiter: 1. Do your homework: know what projects drive the interviewee (what kind of things she likes to code, what recent projects has she been involved in), make sure they are a match for your company projects and goals 2. Ask the interviewee for a git repository and take a careful holistic look at it (commit messages and code, timespan, branches, merges etc...) 3. Go for a 2h lunch with the interviewee in a relaxed environment to check speak communication skills (talk about whatever you think is interesting, if you can't have or don't know how to have 2h lunches you shouldn't be interviewing, check your life first and learn how to enjoy it before doing interviews). 4. Stop asking programmers to write code in 40 minutes. Learn how to respect before expecting respect in return, if you didn't take the time to read through their code repositories then don't ask for a 40 minute code problems.

mwcampbell 9y ago
I think you missed the part where the OP said not all candidates are willing or able to work on open source projects.
- HugoDaniel 9y ago
  Well the .2 "Ask the interviewee for a git repository" can be a private repository. It is a very hard problem to solve if they have no visible code to show but it does happen in other areas. Imagine asking for a management candidate for the private e-mails he shared in certain tricky situations of previous jobs. Or even public e-mails. Or even to take 40 minutes to write in a whiteboard a team statement for a certain conflict scenario. Trust is entailed when recruiting in most areas. But in programming not as much.
  - jonathankoren 9y ago
    > Well the .2 "Ask the interviewee for a git repository" can be a private repository. If someone shares a private git repo, they should not be hired, and in fact should be fired from their current job, and possibly sued. (Think Anthony Levandowski sharing Google lidar designs as an example of his work with Uber.) This isn't promoting trust. This is a violation of trust.
    - HugoDaniel 9y ago
      Yes I agree with you but I was not making the point of sharing a repository you shouldn't share to a recruiter (I do own a few private repositories that I wouldn't mind sharing to recruiters). My point was that seeing code is not as mandatory for a recruitment as we currently make it so. I gave the comparison to management but it happens even in engineering areas. It is worth to know your candidate before asking to write a solution to an air conditioning problem in a whiteboard in 40 minutes when applying to a mechanical engineering position. Specially if your company never solves air conditioning problems.
jonathankoren 9y ago
Not everyone has a public git repository, let alone one that they commit to regularly. You're selecting for people that have tons of time outside of work and want to spend that time basically doing the same thing they get paid to do at work. Also, if they're writing for themselves, what makes you think that it would be production quality rather than just a collection of semiuseful hacks they want to be able to download occasionally?

mwcampbell 9y ago

I think you missed the part where the OP said not all candidates are willing or able to work on open source projects.

HugoDaniel 9y ago
Well the .2 "Ask the interviewee for a git repository" can be a private repository. It is a very hard problem to solve if they have no visible code to show but it does happen in other areas. Imagine asking for a management candidate for the private e-mails he shared in certain tricky situations of previous jobs. Or even public e-mails. Or even to take 40 minutes to write in a whiteboard a team statement for a certain conflict scenario. Trust is entailed when recruiting in most areas. But in programming not as much.
- jonathankoren 9y ago
  > Well the .2 "Ask the interviewee for a git repository" can be a private repository. If someone shares a private git repo, they should not be hired, and in fact should be fired from their current job, and possibly sued. (Think Anthony Levandowski sharing Google lidar designs as an example of his work with Uber.) This isn't promoting trust. This is a violation of trust.
  - HugoDaniel 9y ago
    Yes I agree with you but I was not making the point of sharing a repository you shouldn't share to a recruiter (I do own a few private repositories that I wouldn't mind sharing to recruiters). My point was that seeing code is not as mandatory for a recruitment as we currently make it so. I gave the comparison to management but it happens even in engineering areas. It is worth to know your candidate before asking to write a solution to an air conditioning problem in a whiteboard in 40 minutes when applying to a mechanical engineering position. Specially if your company never solves air conditioning problems.

jonathankoren 9y ago

Not everyone has a public git repository, let alone one that they commit to regularly. You're selecting for people that have tons of time outside of work and want to spend that time basically doing the same thing they get paid to do at work. Also, if they're writing for themselves, what makes you think that it would be production quality rather than just a collection of semiuseful hacks they want to be able to download occasionally?