4 ms·

Posts like this pop up pretty frequently. The format is usually… > I hate tech interviews, they’re a poor proxy for real work. > Here are some ways they’re si

Posts like this pop up pretty frequently. The format is usually… > I hate tech interviews, they’re a poor proxy for real work. > Here are some ways they’re silly (some examples follow). > A good interview would not have these bad features, maybe someone should do that. What I’ve observed in 12 years of practice is — It works; things go south quickly if you don’t do rigorous technical interviewing. There is huge variance between interviewers, in both accuracy and bedside manner. The most effective signal by far (close to 100%) is: someone I already trust technically who has worked with them says they’re good, and is willing to stake their reputation on it. I enthusiastically skip the more tedious parts of interviewing in these cases. Interesting things I’ve seen, experienced, or practiced: Long trial contracts to hire, no exceptions. Buys you accuracy at the cost of reduced candidate pool. Willingness to fire quickly (first 30 days) — in practice similar to above. This is often advocated for but rarely implemented. De-emphasize interview, heavily game-plan and weigh reference calls; do a lot of them (5+). This works if you have the technique to blow past the boilerplate endorsements.

dfadsadsf 5y ago
> The most effective signal by far (close to 100%) is: someone I already trust technically who has worked with them says they’re good, and is willing to stake their reputation on it. I enthusiastically skip the more tedious parts of interviewing in these cases. This works in small companies where somebody you refer will likely work directly with you and your reputation is at stake. This breaks at around 100 people or so. If you refer somebody to big company, chances are you will never work with them directly and your reputation is not at stake. Why not help out a unqualified friend at a cost to big faceless company?
- thenanyu 5y ago
  I’ve seen it work in companies at scale, though it’s not universal. Teams are still on the order of 20 or so and the dynamics still apply. Beyond that, you’re right — but even at huge companies a lot of exec hiring is done that way. I got hired into a big i-bank through a couple of Facebook messages. We ticked all the HR boxes but it was a done deal. Happens all the time
  - nsonha 5y ago
    > a lot of exec hiring is done that way that's fine because they don't do jack anyway, a good exec just need to not come up with stupid ideas and should let the people who know stuff run everything.
TrueGeek 5y ago
> Long trial contracts to hire I don't understand these. If I'm going to do this (as a candidate) then why not just do independent consulting / contracting and charge a higher rate? Only once was I offered a contract to hire and I assumed it meant the hiring manager hadn't yet secured the FTE req. When I asked for clarification he just said "that's how we do things here". I explained that a significant portion of their pitch was spent talking about their stellar benefits when they were trying to recruit me and now I wouldn't receive any of those. He said I'd get those in 6 months. I took it as a red flag and passed.

dfadsadsf 5y ago

> The most effective signal by far (close to 100%) is: someone I already trust technically who has worked with them says they’re good, and is willing to stake their reputation on it. I enthusiastically skip the more tedious parts of interviewing in these cases. This works in small companies where somebody you refer will likely work directly with you and your reputation is at stake. This breaks at around 100 people or so. If you refer somebody to big company, chances are you will never work with them directly and your reputation is not at stake. Why not help out a unqualified friend at a cost to big faceless company?

thenanyu 5y ago
I’ve seen it work in companies at scale, though it’s not universal. Teams are still on the order of 20 or so and the dynamics still apply. Beyond that, you’re right — but even at huge companies a lot of exec hiring is done that way. I got hired into a big i-bank through a couple of Facebook messages. We ticked all the HR boxes but it was a done deal. Happens all the time
- nsonha 5y ago
  > a lot of exec hiring is done that way that's fine because they don't do jack anyway, a good exec just need to not come up with stupid ideas and should let the people who know stuff run everything.

TrueGeek 5y ago

> Long trial contracts to hire I don't understand these. If I'm going to do this (as a candidate) then why not just do independent consulting / contracting and charge a higher rate? Only once was I offered a contract to hire and I assumed it meant the hiring manager hadn't yet secured the FTE req. When I asked for clarification he just said "that's how we do things here". I explained that a significant portion of their pitch was spent talking about their stellar benefits when they were trying to recruit me and now I wouldn't receive any of those. He said I'd get those in 6 months. I took it as a red flag and passed.