4 ms·

At first I thought this is obviously bullshit. But then, trivia-style algorithm questions are probably not a good way to evaluate future day-to-day performance

At first I thought this is obviously bullshit. But then, trivia-style algorithm questions are probably not a good way to evaluate future day-to-day performance on the job either. I don't think there's a proven way to evaluate candidates, but in the end they all boil down to spending an hour or two with another, and seeing how you get along. Playing a game in that time seems less stressful than algorithm questions. So unless you are only interested in seeing how they perform under stress, it does seem like a sensible aproach.

em-bee 7y ago
that's why i like pair programming in interviews. let's just work together for a bit. no trivia or algorithms, but problem solving and communication.
- poisonborz 7y ago
  Honesty I wouldn't like that, on either side. On one hand it's time consuming, since you simply have to ask other things also - and if you make the problem too simple or easily guessable, you null the benefits of pair programming. Also I see enough nervous candidates to think their performance wouldn't be realistic in an interview situation. When you solve problems together as colleagues it's a really good method, but as test, its awkward.
  - em-bee 7y ago
    what other things do i have to ask? your CV tells me your skills. the programming session tells me if we can communicate and work together on a code problem. that's all i need to know. the rest is formalities. the test is only as awkward as every interview is. interviews are awkward because of how we treat the situation, not because of what we do during the interview. the key point is to put the candidate at ease as much as i can. i usually get positive feedback from candidates about my interviews, so i must be doing something right. i have been on the other side of this as well. and i felt that the code task i was given was way to easy to be a skills test, but i also realized that any challenge worth my level of experience would not possibly fit into a one-hour interview session.
- bloopernova 7y ago
  It's things like this that make me wish I could sit in on developer interviews more. People I interview are generally on the systems administration and operations side. For those positions I'm trying to get a sense of troubleshooting ability, teamwork capability, ability to admit you were wrong, creativity, how thorough your documentation will be, how descriptive your ticket detail will be, attitude towards projects vs reactive work, and whether you want to be a maker or a doer. I'd love to see how a pair programming interview works, and I know that I'd be utterly awful as a candidate in such a process. Hopefully I'd learn something ;)

em-bee 7y ago

that's why i like pair programming in interviews. let's just work together for a bit. no trivia or algorithms, but problem solving and communication.

poisonborz 7y ago
Honesty I wouldn't like that, on either side. On one hand it's time consuming, since you simply have to ask other things also - and if you make the problem too simple or easily guessable, you null the benefits of pair programming. Also I see enough nervous candidates to think their performance wouldn't be realistic in an interview situation. When you solve problems together as colleagues it's a really good method, but as test, its awkward.
- em-bee 7y ago
  what other things do i have to ask? your CV tells me your skills. the programming session tells me if we can communicate and work together on a code problem. that's all i need to know. the rest is formalities. the test is only as awkward as every interview is. interviews are awkward because of how we treat the situation, not because of what we do during the interview. the key point is to put the candidate at ease as much as i can. i usually get positive feedback from candidates about my interviews, so i must be doing something right. i have been on the other side of this as well. and i felt that the code task i was given was way to easy to be a skills test, but i also realized that any challenge worth my level of experience would not possibly fit into a one-hour interview session.
bloopernova 7y ago
It's things like this that make me wish I could sit in on developer interviews more. People I interview are generally on the systems administration and operations side. For those positions I'm trying to get a sense of troubleshooting ability, teamwork capability, ability to admit you were wrong, creativity, how thorough your documentation will be, how descriptive your ticket detail will be, attitude towards projects vs reactive work, and whether you want to be a maker or a doer. I'd love to see how a pair programming interview works, and I know that I'd be utterly awful as a candidate in such a process. Hopefully I'd learn something ;)