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Instead, I offer to share a private GitHub repository, (if not some open source) with the prospective employer. It offers them the ability to see how my code c

by cik 4y ago

Instead, I offer to share a private GitHub repository, (if not some open source) with the prospective employer. It offers them the ability to see how my code changed over time, how it ended up, and the quality and calibre I may or may not devote to projects. It invites a conversation, in depth, about software construction, quality, and decision making from the point of view of real work. It also tells me if a company wants to simply filter. If the organization is unwilling to invest in a candidate interview, as I do to be interviewed - I in turn learn a lot, and decline to pursue accordingly.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
My experience is that employers refuse to do this (I have dozens of repos, with tens of thousands of lines of code, entire shipping applications, a decade of checkin history, dozens of Web articles, and hundreds of pages of documentation and project planning artifacts). I even had one indicate that “I probably faked it.” It was jaw-dropping. In fact, I have so much stuff out there, in the public realm (I’ve been doing open-source software for decades), that employers could easily evaluate me technically, without ever contacting me, and all they’d need to find out, is whether or not I’d be a decent team fit. I suspect that the main reason they ignore my portfolio, is that they have already decided that they aren’t going to hire me, and don’t want to waste their time, reviewing my work.
manuelabeledo 4y ago
This is what I do as well. It also helps me filter out companies that are either too lazy, or too strict in their procedures, or both, i.e. there is no value in asking the same questions, regardless of candidate’s resume. As an example, a month or so ago I went through a couple rounds of interviews with this company. I told them forthright that I wasn’t doing any code assessments, and if they wanted to, they could take a look at my GitHub account. They seem willing to consider. Third round comes in and they ask me to write some sorting algorithm, to which I refuse. Ironically enough, one of my repos does have an implementation of an advanced data structure, so they could as well just take a look at it.

by cik 4y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

My experience is that employers refuse to do this (I have dozens of repos, with tens of thousands of lines of code, entire shipping applications, a decade of checkin history, dozens of Web articles, and hundreds of pages of documentation and project planning artifacts). I even had one indicate that “I probably faked it.” It was jaw-dropping. In fact, I have so much stuff out there, in the public realm (I’ve been doing open-source software for decades), that employers could easily evaluate me technically, without ever contacting me, and all they’d need to find out, is whether or not I’d be a decent team fit. I suspect that the main reason they ignore my portfolio, is that they have already decided that they aren’t going to hire me, and don’t want to waste their time, reviewing my work.

manuelabeledo 4y ago

This is what I do as well. It also helps me filter out companies that are either too lazy, or too strict in their procedures, or both, i.e. there is no value in asking the same questions, regardless of candidate’s resume. As an example, a month or so ago I went through a couple rounds of interviews with this company. I told them forthright that I wasn’t doing any code assessments, and if they wanted to, they could take a look at my GitHub account. They seem willing to consider. Third round comes in and they ask me to write some sorting algorithm, to which I refuse. Ironically enough, one of my repos does have an implementation of an advanced data structure, so they could as well just take a look at it.