5 ms·

Happy for you, but this is an oddly cynical take. Just because you are 55, you don't get special treatment. If you're interviewing for Staff or Senior Staff pos

by websap 4y ago

Happy for you, but this is an oddly cynical take. Just because you are 55, you don't get special treatment. If you're interviewing for Staff or Senior Staff positions (assuming that's the role, with your years of experience), it would be discrimination if someone else was subjected to a different interview process than yours.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
Well, if you interview senior staff, with the same techniques you use to interview junior staff, don’t be surprised, at the results. I interviewed senior engineers (for a marquee corporation), for 25 years. I have some actual experience, here. I never made any technical mistakes. Everyone I hired was technically, up to snuff. The mistakes tended to be in how they worked in the team. > it would be discrimination if someone else was subjected to a different interview process than yours. And I really have to take exception to this. Every interview I ever did, was tailored to the applicant. There's absolutely no legal basis for this stance. There's a few "obvious" discriminatory things ("All our girls start in the typing pool," etc.), but people aren't cookies, and "cookie cutter" interview processes are for "cookie" positions. Our HR was very clear on what did, and did not, count as legally discriminatory behavior. HR was run by the Corporate General Counsel, and we managers were required to understand the legal ramifications of our duties. The OP was talking about senior staff. These are folks that will have Responsibility for significant projects, will need to act as leaders and mentors, and will be the ones to take "point" on the corporate brand and public profile. Treating them as "cookies" is, in my opinion, less than wise. If you pit me against some kid, right out of college, that has been spending three hours (of their current employer's time), every day, for the last month, practicing leetcode, you'll get someone that is very good at doing quick, meaningless tests. It won't tell you much about how they'll perform in the breach, or when asked to architect a large-scale, heterogenous system (which is what I'm fairly good at). Not sure how un-discriminatory the process is, there... In any case, it's all water under the bridge, now. A few companies didn't get me. I doubt that anyone is crying in their beer over it, and things turned out well, for me. All's well, that ends well, eh?
- websap 4y ago
  > I never made any technical mistakes. Everyone I hired was technically, up to snuff. This itself would be a huge red flag in any interview process. If you think you never made any technical directions. It's a false dichotomy to believe either tailor make the interview process or treat everyone like a college hire. Senior staff / staff positions also have a particular process, including writing exercises, explaining complex decisions, writing code, talking about system design and the various trade-offs. > Every interview I ever did, was tailored to the applicant. How do you make sure that your / someone else's biases don't creep into the interview if it's being tailor made. What kind of diversity did you have at your previous job where the interviews were tailor made?
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    Hey, I won't engage. I did well enough, so some very tough people kept me in my position for a long time. When they finally rolled up my department, the person with the least tenure had a decade. These were all senior-level C++ algorithm engineers. We did image processing pipelines for one of the most famous imaging companies on earth. But feel free to judge me. You won't be alone.
    - websap 4y ago
      You have victim mentality. Odds aren't stacked against you, most people in this industry don't care how old you are. Though statements like this show that you would be a hard person to work with: 1. There seems to be considerable resentment towards us older folks. 2. But feel free to judge me. You won't be alone. You seem to be accusing companies and younger people of ageism, but I'm yet to hear a concrete example. From reading what you wrote, I can say it seems you seem to be exhibiting an adverse reaction to young people doing well. > If you pit me against some kid, right out of college, that has been spending three hours (of their current employer's time), every day, for the last month, practicing leetcode, you'll get someone that is very good at doing quick, meaningless tests. Not sure how you got to the conclusion that younger engineers are stealing time from their employers to leetcode. I wish you the best, and hope you get a chance to analyze your biases.

by websap 4y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

Well, if you interview senior staff, with the same techniques you use to interview junior staff, don’t be surprised, at the results. I interviewed senior engineers (for a marquee corporation), for 25 years. I have some actual experience, here. I never made any technical mistakes. Everyone I hired was technically, up to snuff. The mistakes tended to be in how they worked in the team. > it would be discrimination if someone else was subjected to a different interview process than yours. And I really have to take exception to this. Every interview I ever did, was tailored to the applicant. There's absolutely no legal basis for this stance. There's a few "obvious" discriminatory things ("All our girls start in the typing pool," etc.), but people aren't cookies, and "cookie cutter" interview processes are for "cookie" positions. Our HR was very clear on what did, and did not, count as legally discriminatory behavior. HR was run by the Corporate General Counsel, and we managers were required to understand the legal ramifications of our duties. The OP was talking about senior staff. These are folks that will have Responsibility for significant projects, will need to act as leaders and mentors, and will be the ones to take "point" on the corporate brand and public profile. Treating them as "cookies" is, in my opinion, less than wise. If you pit me against some kid, right out of college, that has been spending three hours (of their current employer's time), every day, for the last month, practicing leetcode, you'll get someone that is very good at doing quick, meaningless tests. It won't tell you much about how they'll perform in the breach, or when asked to architect a large-scale, heterogenous system (which is what I'm fairly good at). Not sure how un-discriminatory the process is, there... In any case, it's all water under the bridge, now. A few companies didn't get me. I doubt that anyone is crying in their beer over it, and things turned out well, for me. All's well, that ends well, eh?

websap 4y ago
> I never made any technical mistakes. Everyone I hired was technically, up to snuff. This itself would be a huge red flag in any interview process. If you think you never made any technical directions. It's a false dichotomy to believe either tailor make the interview process or treat everyone like a college hire. Senior staff / staff positions also have a particular process, including writing exercises, explaining complex decisions, writing code, talking about system design and the various trade-offs. > Every interview I ever did, was tailored to the applicant. How do you make sure that your / someone else's biases don't creep into the interview if it's being tailor made. What kind of diversity did you have at your previous job where the interviews were tailor made?
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  Hey, I won't engage. I did well enough, so some very tough people kept me in my position for a long time. When they finally rolled up my department, the person with the least tenure had a decade. These were all senior-level C++ algorithm engineers. We did image processing pipelines for one of the most famous imaging companies on earth. But feel free to judge me. You won't be alone.
  - websap 4y ago
    You have victim mentality. Odds aren't stacked against you, most people in this industry don't care how old you are. Though statements like this show that you would be a hard person to work with: 1. There seems to be considerable resentment towards us older folks. 2. But feel free to judge me. You won't be alone. You seem to be accusing companies and younger people of ageism, but I'm yet to hear a concrete example. From reading what you wrote, I can say it seems you seem to be exhibiting an adverse reaction to young people doing well. > If you pit me against some kid, right out of college, that has been spending three hours (of their current employer's time), every day, for the last month, practicing leetcode, you'll get someone that is very good at doing quick, meaningless tests. Not sure how you got to the conclusion that younger engineers are stealing time from their employers to leetcode. I wish you the best, and hope you get a chance to analyze your biases.