4 ms·
> I have hired people as well, any capable engineer is able to prove its worth in a couple technical interviews at most. There is so much more to being a good
by jjk166 4y ago
> I have hired people as well, any capable engineer is able to prove its worth in a couple technical interviews at most.
There is so much more to being a good employee than just the ability to demonstrate technical aptitude. How do they handle a crisis, how well do they cooperate with other employees, how's their work ethic, how diplomatic is their communication? The aspect of the engineers you hired which you chose to highlight was that they stayed for years - how did them solving a technical problem give you insight into their long term personal life plans?
I've seen countless brilliant engineers who I would never in a million years hire. I'd much rather teach a good employee how to be a good engineer than teach a good engineer how to be a good employee.
- blagie 4y agoLast time I managed a team, the worst employee was technically brilliant. He was a former professor at a good university. He basically went off and did his own thing, mostly unrelated to what the rest of the organization wanted or needed. He disregarded corporate policy, including in ways which might have exposed us to liability. For example, we deal with highly-sensitive, regulated personal information. He copied files onto his own laptop, where he also downloaded and ran warez he found on sketchy web sites. That was the tip of a very deep iceberg. I think I spent more than half of my management time on issues related to him. He left for a different team within the org, and later, left the organization. He's now at a FAANG, analysing sensitive personal information. I'm not surprised he passed their interview process. There might even be a good spot for him there, but NOT dealing with sensitive, personal information.