4 ms·

> Most people are pretty competent and will rise to q challenge. My experience is exactly the opposite. Most people are actually incompetent.

• sokoloff 4y ago
  I think the applicant pool might be mostly incompetent. I don’t think the employed programmer pool is mostly incompetent. When a competent applicant goes through interviews with 3 companies, they probably get hired. When an incompetent applicant goes through interviews with 3 companies and doesn’t get an offer, they don’t de-materialize but instead keep applying, adding to the adversity in the pool of applicants.
  • lapcat 4y ago
    Are these wealthy applicants who don't need a job? If you're applying for jobs, then you either get a job, in which case you become an employed programmer, and thus competent in your eyes, or you eventually run out of money. Difficult to remain unemployed for a long period of time.
    • sokoloff 4y ago
      Whether they’re working through their previous severance package or waiting tables, anyone who takes more interviews than average to be hired will be over-represented in the application pool, for the exact reason you describe [they need money] plus they are more likely to be involuntarily termed and put back into the pool. It’s not that being employed makes them competent in my eyes, but rather that being competent makes them more likely to be employed.
      • lapcat 4y ago
        > anyone who takes more interviews than average to be hired What is the average? My impression is that even "top" candidates take a lot of interviews, which gives them a lot of options and possibly multiple job offers that they can use to drive up the price in negotiations.