5 ms·

I 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 l

I 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 ago
Veterinarians 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 ago
  Even 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 ago
1. “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 ago
  I just took it to mean they were a veterinarian and now they work as a programmer.
  - mint2 6y ago
    But the first is in present tense, and the second says jobs not fields. It’s enough to be very unclear.
- hycaria 6y ago
  I 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.

bena 6y ago

Veterinarians 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 ago
Even 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 ago

1. “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 ago
I just took it to mean they were a veterinarian and now they work as a programmer.
- mint2 6y ago
  But the first is in present tense, and the second says jobs not fields. It’s enough to be very unclear.
hycaria 6y ago
I 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.