3 ms·

I don't believe any company without a big brand or insane salaries can really reject candidates because of bad Github profile pictures or bad code from years ag

I don't believe any company without a big brand or insane salaries can really reject candidates because of bad Github profile pictures or bad code from years ago when the candidate was still a student.

znpy 6y ago
I have java code in my github from 2008, when I was in high school. I really hope I won't be judged on that. If anything, I don't even code for a living anymore (went into system administration/devops engineering).
skhg 6y ago
It’s not unreasonable to expect a candidate to groom their public profile before using it as part of a job application. If they have some bad, old code they’re not proud of, why not make it private temporarily?
- picks_at_nits 6y ago
  Let me reframe this: You are the director of engineering. I am a manager reporting to you. You ask me to hire and lead a team to build X, which will generate $Y in revenue. But I tell you that everything is delayed, because I'm having trouble finding good hires. "What's the problem," you ask, "let's pair up and go through the funnel." And I reject resumes because I don't like the profile pictures or some old homework assignments. Do you accept my argument that the company has to wait on $Y in revenue until I find some candidates who have nicely formatted github profiles and a blemish-less history of code, even code not written for professional purposes? Or do you replace me with a manager who is focused on shipping a product using whatever team of misfits and uglies they can hire, provided they can actually do the job? --- It's not unreasonable to prefer that candidates make our job as hiring managers easier, but at the end of the day, the hopes and dreams of an entire organization rests upon our ability to hire people who can do the job. If our funnel is bursting with great people, we can disqualify unlucky people with little consequence. But for most companies, it's better to hire good engineers that have flaws in their presentation than to wait in the hopes that someone will present well, have the job skills, and be willing to accept the offer we can afford to make.

znpy 6y ago

I have java code in my github from 2008, when I was in high school. I really hope I won't be judged on that. If anything, I don't even code for a living anymore (went into system administration/devops engineering).

skhg 6y ago

It’s not unreasonable to expect a candidate to groom their public profile before using it as part of a job application. If they have some bad, old code they’re not proud of, why not make it private temporarily?

picks_at_nits 6y ago
Let me reframe this: You are the director of engineering. I am a manager reporting to you. You ask me to hire and lead a team to build X, which will generate $Y in revenue. But I tell you that everything is delayed, because I'm having trouble finding good hires. "What's the problem," you ask, "let's pair up and go through the funnel." And I reject resumes because I don't like the profile pictures or some old homework assignments. Do you accept my argument that the company has to wait on $Y in revenue until I find some candidates who have nicely formatted github profiles and a blemish-less history of code, even code not written for professional purposes? Or do you replace me with a manager who is focused on shipping a product using whatever team of misfits and uglies they can hire, provided they can actually do the job? --- It's not unreasonable to prefer that candidates make our job as hiring managers easier, but at the end of the day, the hopes and dreams of an entire organization rests upon our ability to hire people who can do the job. If our funnel is bursting with great people, we can disqualify unlucky people with little consequence. But for most companies, it's better to hire good engineers that have flaws in their presentation than to wait in the hopes that someone will present well, have the job skills, and be willing to accept the offer we can afford to make.