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Anyone who has interviewed more than a handful of developers knows this is true. It is a very painful experience for both sides of the table. Any kind of eviden

by _se 5y ago

Anyone who has interviewed more than a handful of developers knows this is true. It is a very painful experience for both sides of the table. Any kind of evidence is difficult to provide without potentially leaking personal information - unless you just want pipeline stats, which could just as easily be made up if you're not believing what the other person is saying...

VincentEvans 5y ago
And yet somehow I’ve managed to not encounter any of those fabled Paula Bean developers. Though I did encounter a fair share of the other kind - toxic know-it-alls who are immediately dismissive of anyone who doesn’t immediately regurgitate some in-crowd trivia that they favor, and are quick to call them idiots.
- bennyelv 5y ago
  Maybe so, I wouldn’t dismiss your claim of that experience. I have encountered them in teams that I’ve inherited, and although I don’t find that it’s the majority of applicants at interview it’s a significant proportion and you get no indication of it from other parts of the interview. I’m talking about people who struggle to work out that they need a loop. Being able to talk about playing the piano is not the same as being able to play the piano.
  - VincentEvans 5y ago
    I’ve conducted probably approaching a 100 interviews in my career. I don’t know if it’s a low or a high number, being that I am not a recruiter. My interview approach is simple - I talk to people about the things they’ve done and ask questions based on that. I discuss higher level concepts and don’t worry about syntax. I take about one hour, sometimes a little longer. I have never hired or recommended a hire of a dud. 80% of the people in this industry write CRUD apps, web apps at that, or simple API backends for said apps. Some of course create new languages and kernels, and I don’t know what an interview process needs to be for that skillset, but for 80% what I do is perfectly adequate.

by _se 5y ago

VincentEvans 5y ago

And yet somehow I’ve managed to not encounter any of those fabled Paula Bean developers. Though I did encounter a fair share of the other kind - toxic know-it-alls who are immediately dismissive of anyone who doesn’t immediately regurgitate some in-crowd trivia that they favor, and are quick to call them idiots.

bennyelv 5y ago
Maybe so, I wouldn’t dismiss your claim of that experience. I have encountered them in teams that I’ve inherited, and although I don’t find that it’s the majority of applicants at interview it’s a significant proportion and you get no indication of it from other parts of the interview. I’m talking about people who struggle to work out that they need a loop. Being able to talk about playing the piano is not the same as being able to play the piano.
- VincentEvans 5y ago
  I’ve conducted probably approaching a 100 interviews in my career. I don’t know if it’s a low or a high number, being that I am not a recruiter. My interview approach is simple - I talk to people about the things they’ve done and ask questions based on that. I discuss higher level concepts and don’t worry about syntax. I take about one hour, sometimes a little longer. I have never hired or recommended a hire of a dud. 80% of the people in this industry write CRUD apps, web apps at that, or simple API backends for said apps. Some of course create new languages and kernels, and I don’t know what an interview process needs to be for that skillset, but for 80% what I do is perfectly adequate.