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True. I've never been asked these kinds of "knowledge" questions in any interview. Nor have I asked them of any candidate. To me, interviewing is more about fi

by ht_th 9y ago

True. I've never been asked these kinds of "knowledge" questions in any interview. Nor have I asked them of any candidate. To me, interviewing is more about finding a fit to the company's and team's culture, than to ascertain if a candidate knows what she is supposed to know. Even if a candidate succeeds in bluffing her way through an interview, she will fall short in the one-month trial period. I like the one-month trial period. I've walked away twice during the trial period from a company because they were a lot less organized than they did appear during the interviews. Similarly, we have let go of a couple of employees during their one-month trial because they were unable to learn fast enough or were too arrogant.

nojvek 9y ago
How does one even hire senior folks on a trial period? So you work at this big co. How about you leave your job and come work for us and we may fire you after a month? The best people are never on the market. You have to get them before they even leave their existing company otherwise someone else will
- ht_th 9y ago
  What's the difference? The intention of employing them is to offer them a permanent contract, but if things do not work out, firing people is hard. So, we almost always have three stages when we employ someone: - one-month trial period - one-year contract - permanent contract For senior people, the trial period is more of a formality as they are often quick to become productive in the organization. Of course, when after a couple of months it is discovered that the new senior and management do have a fundamental difference of opinion with regard to the future of the organization, professionally, or even personally, the end of the one-year contract is the moment to part ways. This can be initiated by employer, employee, or even both, but that depends on the situation.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    What do you offer that makes a contract position attractive versus other companies that will bring you on permanently immediately?
    - ht_th 9y ago
      Nothing. It is quite common to do it like this here in the Netherlands. Of course, once we have a new employee and after a couple of months we think she is a great addition to the team, we will start negotiate for the permanent contract immediately. Our team consists of experienced and above-average educated developers. We are not looking to attract that one 10x developer, nor do we desperately need a senior developer now. We sort of have too many senior level developers; our retention is high. Anyway, we are looking for similarly educated and experienced people that fit our team, and we offer a culture where such a person can thrive. We prefer to take a while longer to find and grow a great match rather than to gamble on potential talent that might leave again soon. On the other hand, we do need new developers, particularly specialists, and we have gotten to the point that we are willing to take more risk. But the organization as a whole is still figuring out how to grow beyond a 10 person post-startup development team towards a 100+ person company (we merged with our biggest partner).
- loopbit 9y ago
  At close to 20 years of experience, I consider myself pretty senior and every job I've has had a 6 months probation period. During that time both the employee and/or the company can terminate the contract giving a small notice - one week in every country I've worked, but it might be different in other places. In most companies you don't even have access to some (or all) benefits - pension, healthcare, shares... - until you pass that period. I don't know about your experience, but from where I come from it's almost a fact of life and one of the things you have to weight when looking to move to a new position.

by ht_th 9y ago

nojvek 9y ago

How does one even hire senior folks on a trial period? So you work at this big co. How about you leave your job and come work for us and we may fire you after a month? The best people are never on the market. You have to get them before they even leave their existing company otherwise someone else will

ht_th 9y ago
What's the difference? The intention of employing them is to offer them a permanent contract, but if things do not work out, firing people is hard. So, we almost always have three stages when we employ someone: - one-month trial period - one-year contract - permanent contract For senior people, the trial period is more of a formality as they are often quick to become productive in the organization. Of course, when after a couple of months it is discovered that the new senior and management do have a fundamental difference of opinion with regard to the future of the organization, professionally, or even personally, the end of the one-year contract is the moment to part ways. This can be initiated by employer, employee, or even both, but that depends on the situation.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  What do you offer that makes a contract position attractive versus other companies that will bring you on permanently immediately?
  - ht_th 9y ago
    Nothing. It is quite common to do it like this here in the Netherlands. Of course, once we have a new employee and after a couple of months we think she is a great addition to the team, we will start negotiate for the permanent contract immediately. Our team consists of experienced and above-average educated developers. We are not looking to attract that one 10x developer, nor do we desperately need a senior developer now. We sort of have too many senior level developers; our retention is high. Anyway, we are looking for similarly educated and experienced people that fit our team, and we offer a culture where such a person can thrive. We prefer to take a while longer to find and grow a great match rather than to gamble on potential talent that might leave again soon. On the other hand, we do need new developers, particularly specialists, and we have gotten to the point that we are willing to take more risk. But the organization as a whole is still figuring out how to grow beyond a 10 person post-startup development team towards a 100+ person company (we merged with our biggest partner).
loopbit 9y ago
At close to 20 years of experience, I consider myself pretty senior and every job I've has had a 6 months probation period. During that time both the employee and/or the company can terminate the contract giving a small notice - one week in every country I've worked, but it might be different in other places. In most companies you don't even have access to some (or all) benefits - pension, healthcare, shares... - until you pass that period. I don't know about your experience, but from where I come from it's almost a fact of life and one of the things you have to weight when looking to move to a new position.