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Things become memes (they used to be called stereotypes) because there's enough truth behind them to make them relevant and "sticky" The programming in your fr

Things become memes (they used to be called stereotypes) because there's enough truth behind them to make them relevant and "sticky" The programming in your free time comes up all the time because people, like the OP, see it as a signal. If you do it, you're good. If you don't, you're bad. And specific to your point - "do you code in your free time" as an interview question - if it didn't provide you with signal that you thought was useful in determining the quality of a candidate, you wouldn't ask it. So, why are you (interviewers in general) asking it?

lmilcin 6y ago
Because I want to get to know the person a little bit, professionally. Because I want to learn if the person has some traits that correlate well with doing a good job later. I don't think it is going to be very controversial when I say that people who are enthusiastic about programming, have experience completing projects, can solve difficult problems, can show they have knowledge of concepts, are intelligent and know how to work with other people tend to do just that -- perform better at their jobs. Also, I don't ask "do you code in your free time". I ask for any projects private or professional they have been working on recently that they think are fun and interesting.