4 ms·

I got asked if I had a blog in an interview. I am a software engineer not a self marketer.

by collyw 8y ago

tjr225 8y ago
Yikes! As someone who can't stand being the center of attention and also can't stand talking about themselves (yes I see the irony here), this is terrifying.
zoul 8y ago
I am a software engineer that loves to help others. Nothing to do with self-marketing, at least not intentionally, but a welcomed skill in the team. So the question makes sense to me.
- collyw 8y ago
  I like helping others as well. I don't need to fart about writing blogs to do it.
  - criddell 8y ago
    It does increase your reach though. I work on Windows software and a blog like Raymond Chen's Old New Thing is super valuable.
  - kasey_junk 8y ago
    I have a blog no one knows about. If I’m trying to teach a concept or find something interesting I’ll write it up. The writing process itself acts as a check if I understand something. Then when people have similar questions/problems in the future I can just link. The personal value of the blog makes it worth trying at least.
    - collyw 8y ago
      I have tried it a couple of times (I do have a couple of posts on my github pages). I just don't have the time / motivation combination to do it on a regular basis. I find it quite time consuming writing in a way that makes it clear to others what I am doing. I'll come over to your computer and explain the same concepts in ten minutes that would take me an hour or two to write up and format in a manner that I would want to display publicly. (I find answering questions on Stack Overflow a lot less time consuming to get a useful point across).
      - detaro 8y ago
        And because you don't have time / motivation everyone that has is a self marketer? I agree it's silly to expect every developer to have a blog. I strongly disagree with the only motivation for it being self marketing, or it being a somehow unreasonable question if you have one.
        ryandrake 8y ago
        I agree there are talkers and there are do-ers, and very few who are good at both. They do exist but they are rare. This is true for many professions, not just programmers.
        detaro 8y ago
        Sure. Luckily the blogs written by the two categories are fairly easy to tell apart. Even checking if the domain is medium.com or something else is a good first estimate, but to be sure you should look at the content.
      - zoul 8y ago
        I'll come over to your computer and explain the same concepts in ten minutes that would take me an hour or two to write up and format in a manner that I would want to display publicly. That’s right, but multiplied by the number of people who read it…?
criddell 8y ago
> I am a software engineer not a self marketer. I sure hope that wasn't your answer. Writing a technical blog can also be about sharing what you know or participating in a greater community. Even a non-technical blog can give an interviewer a better sense of who you are and how well you write. I think it's a reasonable question. Writing is an important skill for a software person.
- collyw 8y ago
  > Writing is an important skill for a software person In some roles perhaps, but relatively few roles require it. I am currently working in Spanish and my written Spanish is probably like that of a child.
gkya 8y ago
If you ever used any F/OSS software, or made use of a blog post when solving some problem, you owe to the community a blog or something similar. That can be answering SE questions etc. occasionally or an anonymous blog, not contributing knowledge to the community that saves you many years of work every day is outright selfish. Furhtermore, I don't see what makes self marketing a bad thing given it is of the honest kind. The CV you send to them in order to get the interview is self marketing too, and so are thw clean clothes you wore to that occasion. I cant count how many times a random blog post has saved me blinking weeks. You are being very rude with that statement.
- collyw 8y ago
  > You are being very rude with that statement. If you want to write a blog by all means do so. I have written a handful of blog posts but I don't have the time / motivation to do that in my spare time on a regular basis. I think its silly to assume that all software engineers want to and are good at writing blog posts. Could you explain what is rude about that? > you owe to the community a blog or something similar Do I? Maybe that should be put in the terms and conditions if that is the case. I have a decent score on Stack Overflow from answering questions (~379k people reached apparently), is that good enough for you?
  - gkya 8y ago
    I'm not going to answer the second part, but for the rudeness, you are being rude because you reduce blogging about one's experiences w/ programming and related stuff to self marketing.
    - collyw 8y ago
      You did that. I didn't specify any type of blog. Blogs are more often than not about self marketing. Any why don't you want to answer the second part?
      - gkya 8y ago
        > Any why don't you want to answer the second part? Because I think the answer is obvious. BTW I did not see the Stack Owerflow part, that is the exact kind of compensation for tge greater community I was talking about. Thank you for that. For the other paragraph, well, that's how I read you comment in its context, and I maintain my interpretation. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

I got asked if I had a blog in an interview. I am a software engineer not a self marketer.

by collyw 8y ago

I got asked if I had a blog in an interview. I am a software engineer not a self marketer.

Yikes! As someone who can't stand being the center of attention and also can't stand talking about themselves (yes I see the irony here), this is terrifying.

zoul 8y ago

I am a software engineer that loves to help others. Nothing to do with self-marketing, at least not intentionally, but a welcomed skill in the team. So the question makes sense to me.

collyw 8y ago
I like helping others as well. I don't need to fart about writing blogs to do it.
- criddell 8y ago
  It does increase your reach though. I work on Windows software and a blog like Raymond Chen's Old New Thing is super valuable.
- kasey_junk 8y ago
  I have a blog no one knows about. If I’m trying to teach a concept or find something interesting I’ll write it up. The writing process itself acts as a check if I understand something. Then when people have similar questions/problems in the future I can just link. The personal value of the blog makes it worth trying at least.
  - collyw 8y ago
    I have tried it a couple of times (I do have a couple of posts on my github pages). I just don't have the time / motivation combination to do it on a regular basis. I find it quite time consuming writing in a way that makes it clear to others what I am doing. I'll come over to your computer and explain the same concepts in ten minutes that would take me an hour or two to write up and format in a manner that I would want to display publicly. (I find answering questions on Stack Overflow a lot less time consuming to get a useful point across).
    - detaro 8y ago
      And because you don't have time / motivation everyone that has is a self marketer? I agree it's silly to expect every developer to have a blog. I strongly disagree with the only motivation for it being self marketing, or it being a somehow unreasonable question if you have one.
      - ryandrake 8y ago
        I agree there are talkers and there are do-ers, and very few who are good at both. They do exist but they are rare. This is true for many professions, not just programmers.
        detaro 8y ago
        Sure. Luckily the blogs written by the two categories are fairly easy to tell apart. Even checking if the domain is medium.com or something else is a good first estimate, but to be sure you should look at the content.
    - zoul 8y ago
      I'll come over to your computer and explain the same concepts in ten minutes that would take me an hour or two to write up and format in a manner that I would want to display publicly. That’s right, but multiplied by the number of people who read it…?

criddell 8y ago

> I am a software engineer not a self marketer. I sure hope that wasn't your answer. Writing a technical blog can also be about sharing what you know or participating in a greater community. Even a non-technical blog can give an interviewer a better sense of who you are and how well you write. I think it's a reasonable question. Writing is an important skill for a software person.

collyw 8y ago
> Writing is an important skill for a software person In some roles perhaps, but relatively few roles require it. I am currently working in Spanish and my written Spanish is probably like that of a child.

gkya 8y ago

If you ever used any F/OSS software, or made use of a blog post when solving some problem, you owe to the community a blog or something similar. That can be answering SE questions etc. occasionally or an anonymous blog, not contributing knowledge to the community that saves you many years of work every day is outright selfish. Furhtermore, I don't see what makes self marketing a bad thing given it is of the honest kind. The CV you send to them in order to get the interview is self marketing too, and so are thw clean clothes you wore to that occasion. I cant count how many times a random blog post has saved me blinking weeks. You are being very rude with that statement.

collyw 8y ago
> You are being very rude with that statement. If you want to write a blog by all means do so. I have written a handful of blog posts but I don't have the time / motivation to do that in my spare time on a regular basis. I think its silly to assume that all software engineers want to and are good at writing blog posts. Could you explain what is rude about that? > you owe to the community a blog or something similar Do I? Maybe that should be put in the terms and conditions if that is the case. I have a decent score on Stack Overflow from answering questions (~379k people reached apparently), is that good enough for you?
- gkya 8y ago
  I'm not going to answer the second part, but for the rudeness, you are being rude because you reduce blogging about one's experiences w/ programming and related stuff to self marketing.
  - collyw 8y ago
    You did that. I didn't specify any type of blog. Blogs are more often than not about self marketing. Any why don't you want to answer the second part?
    - gkya 8y ago
      > Any why don't you want to answer the second part? Because I think the answer is obvious. BTW I did not see the Stack Owerflow part, that is the exact kind of compensation for tge greater community I was talking about. Thank you for that. For the other paragraph, well, that's how I read you comment in its context, and I maintain my interpretation. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.