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It amazes me people still actually do this. Why would you, in 2019, not just ask a person to bring their laptop with their preferred development environment set
by gfodor 7y ago
It amazes me people still actually do this. Why would you, in 2019, not just ask a person to bring their laptop with their preferred development environment set up on it and ask them to solve some basic coding exercises there instead.
Physically writing code with a marker on a wall seems akin to asking a mechanic applying for a job to demonstrate their skill at repairing cars by performing a 'repair' on a miniature car made of lego bricks.
Edit: one thing I noticed once I started having candidates work on their own laptop was a) some very unqualified people slipped through the screen and this can be obvious when they have no programming tools on their personal machine and b) you can learn a lot quickly from seeing someone use their own machine -- you get a clean signal if they are adept at using their text editor, git, build tools, etc, without risk of a contrived setup making it a false negative.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- rolltiide 7y agoSquare’s interview was like that a few years ago. Even has pair programming with the interviewer. Most fun I had in an interview! Still stings when you thought you had a positive experience but they didnt think so. Only other time I had that experience was with first dates that I thought went well.
- gfodor 7y agoYep nobody likes getting turned down by a potential employer, but it stings 'less' if you feel like you were treated fairly and given an objective, un-biased forum to showcase your skills. Nothing is more demoralizing than being able to replay in your head the point in the interview where you got 'dinged' for something ridiculous due to a quirk of the process like marker-based-programming and feeling that sent you on the trajectory for a rejection. In those scenarios, it can even be a self-fullfilling prophecy, since if you are intimidated by marker-based-programming it can just lead to little mistakes due to nerves that ultimately cost you the job.
- rolltiide 7y ago> Nothing is more demoralizing than being able to reply in your head the point in the interview where you got 'dinged' for something ridiculous due to a quirk of the process like marker-based-programming and feeling that sent you on the trajectory for a rejection. Honestly, I'm so desensitized to that so I don't feel that way. I go in expecting a random brain teaser that I BS my way through. I actually land most jobs by recycling interview questions and answers from prior interviews. "Let me know if you've seen this question before" NOPE But more companies have also done more core competency related exercises with IDE's set up or take home exercises. Haven't been paid for a take home exercise yet, but I'm hearing thats happening a little more too. I think a lot of startups in the bay area are content that their employees will stay for around 18 months, so they dont need the brainteaser rationale that they need to interview an engineer on the idea that they change teams.
- erik_seaberg 7y agoI hope you don't ding them on speed. "My own machine" has an ergo keyboard because typing hunched over a small laptop is always awkward.