4 ms·

I ask candidates to list three blog posts that they recently read and enjoyed. Seems to be an easy way to filter out non-serious candidates and script kiddies.

I ask candidates to list three blog posts that they recently read and enjoyed. Seems to be an easy way to filter out non-serious candidates and script kiddies. This has worked with roughly 60 to 70% of the candidates I have interview since I implemented this rule.

jstx1 5y ago
Filtering out people based on a question about the blogs they read sounds kind of horrible. You'll get all noise and no signal. I spend some time on HN and other places reading about stuff related to my field or about software in general. If you asked me that question, I would have zero chance recalling the last things I read. And it would raise a big red flag about whether you know what you're doing. Just because you're filtering some people out, doesn't mean that your filter is good.
- saimiam 5y ago
  I also discuss the posts they read and shared with me during the interview. If they’re simply sharing random posts without understanding it in context, it becomes obvious very quickly. This seems to work to filter out people who don’t like their work enough to read anything related to it and people who like to fake their way thru such tasks by sharing the first three Medium articles they find on the homepage. What makes you question the “knows what they are doing” abilities of someone asking you to name three posts they liked? Is it any different from asking someone what algos they like and why?
  - cutemonster 5y ago
    Also, getting good blog post suggestions seems nice :-) I imagine starting the interview with talking about one of the blog posts can be a good "warming up" / getting to know each other thing
BeFlatXIII 5y ago
Does whether or not they are relevant blogs to the role or industry matter at all to you? My gut feeling is that you would get a better read on the personality of a candidate when they send you links that have little or nothing to do with the job they're applying for. All three links to industry-relevant blogs will tell me is that this candidate aims to please for obvious self-advancement reasons.
- saimiam 5y ago
  I do get blogs linking to random stuff and I discuss those posts on merit. E.g., someone I was interviewing for a web dev intern position sent me a post about a woman coming out as bisexual. This post resonated with him because he felt that in our country, we need to discuss sexuality more freely. So I tried to probe how deeply they had thought about the topic or were they sharing it for its shock value. You're right that it gives me a read on the candidate based on what they share. It's a good filter - if the candidate picks something really basic to share, it shows how well they know their tech. If they choose something more advanced but can't contextualise it, that's a sign that they are faking it to make it. Three industry related posts isn't automatically a red flag to me because the posts may cover different sub-topics.

jstx1 5y ago

Filtering out people based on a question about the blogs they read sounds kind of horrible. You'll get all noise and no signal. I spend some time on HN and other places reading about stuff related to my field or about software in general. If you asked me that question, I would have zero chance recalling the last things I read. And it would raise a big red flag about whether you know what you're doing. Just because you're filtering some people out, doesn't mean that your filter is good.

saimiam 5y ago
I also discuss the posts they read and shared with me during the interview. If they’re simply sharing random posts without understanding it in context, it becomes obvious very quickly. This seems to work to filter out people who don’t like their work enough to read anything related to it and people who like to fake their way thru such tasks by sharing the first three Medium articles they find on the homepage. What makes you question the “knows what they are doing” abilities of someone asking you to name three posts they liked? Is it any different from asking someone what algos they like and why?
- cutemonster 5y ago
  Also, getting good blog post suggestions seems nice :-) I imagine starting the interview with talking about one of the blog posts can be a good "warming up" / getting to know each other thing

BeFlatXIII 5y ago

Does whether or not they are relevant blogs to the role or industry matter at all to you? My gut feeling is that you would get a better read on the personality of a candidate when they send you links that have little or nothing to do with the job they're applying for. All three links to industry-relevant blogs will tell me is that this candidate aims to please for obvious self-advancement reasons.

saimiam 5y ago
I do get blogs linking to random stuff and I discuss those posts on merit. E.g., someone I was interviewing for a web dev intern position sent me a post about a woman coming out as bisexual. This post resonated with him because he felt that in our country, we need to discuss sexuality more freely. So I tried to probe how deeply they had thought about the topic or were they sharing it for its shock value. You're right that it gives me a read on the candidate based on what they share. It's a good filter - if the candidate picks something really basic to share, it shows how well they know their tech. If they choose something more advanced but can't contextualise it, that's a sign that they are faking it to make it. Three industry related posts isn't automatically a red flag to me because the posts may cover different sub-topics.