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The other possibility is that the good people already have jobs, and it is the ones who aren't good who repeatedly apply for positions. Also, we already had ev

The other possibility is that the good people already have jobs, and it is the ones who aren't good who repeatedly apply for positions. Also, we already had everyone on the team go through the test. I went through it myself before seeing the questions, and then tweaked it afterwards removing things I thought weren't going to give a good enough signal to noise ratio. It's not like we're pulling up the ladder behind us or something. Maybe we have high standards, but I've worked on teams before where hiring was less strict and there are people capable of getting negative work done. I'm not going to risk having these people on my team, even if it artificially bumps up my hiring numbers.

ubernostrum 9y ago
I'm going to point you to these: https://danluu.com/hiring-lemons/ https://danluu.com/hiring-lemons/ https://danluu.com/programmer-moneyball/ https://danluu.com/programmer-moneyball/ Which you should read, along with the multiple other things linked from them about interviewing and hiring. I can make a very similar argument from long experience, but Dan is more HN-trendy and thus more likely to be believed.
- snovv_crash 9y ago
  I'd already read both of those, and yes I take chances on people who are smart but don't fit the mold, so to speak. I've hired straight grads from performance arts universities, and I've hired people with 15 years of industry experience who are changing from a related field. So please take your condescending preconceptions elsewhere; the only thing I care about is whether they can do the job, and if they will be pleasant to work with. Unless you've been exposed to the raw resume data that gets sent, you have no idea what I'm dealing with, and how unqualified the majority of applicants are. I'm an engineer myself, from an unknown university, in a foreign country. My degree isn't even in CS, and I had better problem solving / coding skills straight out of high school than the majority of the applicants.
  - ubernostrum 9y ago
    I've run plenty of interviews, thanks. And as a result I've developed some strong opinions on what's wrong with them, and it's not that some monstrous fraction of people are completely unable to code or solve problems.

ubernostrum 9y ago

I'm going to point you to these: https://danluu.com/hiring-lemons/ https://danluu.com/hiring-lemons/ https://danluu.com/programmer-moneyball/ https://danluu.com/programmer-moneyball/ Which you should read, along with the multiple other things linked from them about interviewing and hiring. I can make a very similar argument from long experience, but Dan is more HN-trendy and thus more likely to be believed.

snovv_crash 9y ago
I'd already read both of those, and yes I take chances on people who are smart but don't fit the mold, so to speak. I've hired straight grads from performance arts universities, and I've hired people with 15 years of industry experience who are changing from a related field. So please take your condescending preconceptions elsewhere; the only thing I care about is whether they can do the job, and if they will be pleasant to work with. Unless you've been exposed to the raw resume data that gets sent, you have no idea what I'm dealing with, and how unqualified the majority of applicants are. I'm an engineer myself, from an unknown university, in a foreign country. My degree isn't even in CS, and I had better problem solving / coding skills straight out of high school than the majority of the applicants.
- ubernostrum 9y ago
  I've run plenty of interviews, thanks. And as a result I've developed some strong opinions on what's wrong with them, and it's not that some monstrous fraction of people are completely unable to code or solve problems.