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The problem with that is that we can't be sure that it is their code. And let's be honest, it doesn't really work for designers either. Because the problems of
by bena 6y ago
The problem with that is that we can't be sure that it is their code.
And let's be honest, it doesn't really work for designers either. Because the problems of hiring programmers isn't unique to programmers. Hiring gets harder the more you need out of your workers.
Take any reasonably skilled position, hiring is incredibly difficult because it's hard to evaluate a person's skill in the blind. Hell, it can be difficult even when we do have ways to evaluate skill.
Take any major sports league. The draft is essentially teams hiring players. And they've spent the entire year evaluating hundreds, if not thousands of players to find out which ones are good enough to be hired. They have games to look at, stats to pore over, people to talk to about these players. And they get it wrong often.
Finding good people is a hard problem to solve.
- hycaria 6y agoI am a veterinarian and recruiting is way more straightforward. You’re not going to test the person on the spot. It’s way more about personality fit, what you like/dislike to do, and where you see yourself a few years later down the road. And then a real paid tryout. Also I just changed jobs and was able to write code quickly because they were recruiting with tasks in mind for me. Sometimes it feels like the position is just opened to have more velocity on the sprints.
- bena 6y agoVeterinarians have boards and licenses, right? I can't hang a shingle as a vet on a whim. That's a very clear filter. All the vetting of whether or not someone can perform the job is done before they even get to you. However, anyone can call themselves a programmer and apply to programming jobs and there's no way to tell if they're capable or not until they're at it. And even previous job experience isn't a strong signal of competence. I've inherited code bases from people who left for other programming jobs where the code they left behind was just a mess inside.
- hycaria 6y agoEven boards and licences won’t keep one from being a bad recruit. It has the same value as a CS degree I guess most people applying will have, and you’ll still be whiteboarded.
- mint2 6y ago1. “I am a veterinarian and recruiting is way more straightforward” 2. “Also I just changed jobs and was able to write code quickly because they were recruiting with tasks in mind for me.” Is no one else confused by this? How common is a coding veterinarian and why do veterinarians write code?
- bena 6y agoI just took it to mean they were a veterinarian and now they work as a programmer.
- mint2 6y agoBut the first is in present tense, and the second says jobs not fields. It’s enough to be very unclear.
- hycaria 6y agoI program as a day job and kept a small nightly gig as a veterinarian, which was indeed my degree. How common is coding as a hobby? I used to code as a teenager as many here. Made the switch for many reasons.