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I felt this way too until I was made to start giving interviews. However low a bar you're imagining, I assure you I've seen "strong on paper" candidates who fai

I felt this way too until I was made to start giving interviews. However low a bar you're imagining, I assure you I've seen "strong on paper" candidates who failed to meet a lower one. I don't know if people are lying, or people cheated through school, or talked other people into doing their work at the jobs they claim to have had, but it's really astonishing how unable to write code they can be. However, the particularly insidious candidates are the ones who have developed a skill for talking about software/programming but can't actually write code no matter how much help or prodding they are given. As soon as you accidentally hire one of those, the case for technical interviews becomes a lot stronger.

song 6y ago
I was going to write a similar comment when I saw yours. We've recently hired someone who was great on paper, was adept at talking about software/programming and was able to present some code he allegedly wrote and explain it. He seemed like a great fit based on the discussions but we hadn't actually given him a whiteboard interview. Once he joined the company he proceeded to actually be completely unable to write a single working piece of code. Everything he wrote needed to be reviewed and had major glaring issues. When confronted about it, he would say that he couldn't figure it out so decided to just commit his unfinished code. That guy was senior, had worked for 20 years and is really good at talking but when it comes to actually developing software, he is completely utterly incompetent.
- ryandrake 6y ago
  I am constantly surprised at how many Brillant Paula Bean [1] developers are out there successfully interviewing, getting hired and BS-ing their way through jobs. I've always wondered if this is as prevalent in other industries outside of software. 1: https://thedailywtf.com/articles/The_Brillant_Paula_Bean https://thedailywtf.com/articles/The_Brillant_Paula_Bean

song 6y ago

I was going to write a similar comment when I saw yours. We've recently hired someone who was great on paper, was adept at talking about software/programming and was able to present some code he allegedly wrote and explain it. He seemed like a great fit based on the discussions but we hadn't actually given him a whiteboard interview. Once he joined the company he proceeded to actually be completely unable to write a single working piece of code. Everything he wrote needed to be reviewed and had major glaring issues. When confronted about it, he would say that he couldn't figure it out so decided to just commit his unfinished code. That guy was senior, had worked for 20 years and is really good at talking but when it comes to actually developing software, he is completely utterly incompetent.

ryandrake 6y ago
I am constantly surprised at how many Brillant Paula Bean [1] developers are out there successfully interviewing, getting hired and BS-ing their way through jobs. I've always wondered if this is as prevalent in other industries outside of software. 1: https://thedailywtf.com/articles/The_Brillant_Paula_Bean https://thedailywtf.com/articles/The_Brillant_Paula_Bean