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Having interviewed innumerable candidates for software development roles, I seldom used anything resembling these questions. If the candidate had relevant doma

Having interviewed innumerable candidates for software development roles, I seldom used anything resembling these questions. If the candidate had relevant domain knowledge, e.g., financial apps, we’d talk about that. If not, how did that person go about acquiring the relevant knowledge. Same on the development platform. If they weren’t experienced with our suite of technologies, how do they approach learning it. What were they reading currently? Some answers were disqualifying. The most extreme case being an individual who said he was reading “Shades of Gray”. When I clarified that I only cared about technical material, he replied that he only read technical material on the job, not after hours. Pass. Who/what was their favorite development source? Assuming they were good prospects, possibly they would be subjected to more in depth technical interviews with senior staff. Generally, we hired for talent not specific skill sets. As such, we had relatively long tenures with excellent productivity and quality. I considered pure behavioral interviewing to be a horrible way to select new hires. Making the individual uncomfortable seems to be counterproductive. Fortunately, I’m retired now. The various ATS’s cost companies untold millions in missed opportunities as do many HR departments.

Jiro 4y ago
>When I clarified that I only cared about technical material, he replied that he only read technical material on the job, not after hours. He's heard of work/life balance and doesn't want to do work during unpaid hours. Nobody hires a cashier asking "tell me how you've made cashiering an integral part of your whole life or we won't hire you".
- Blackstrat 4y ago
  Work/life balance? Yes, work/life balance matters. On the other hand, when one enters a professional field, the expectation of the employer is that they maintain their value. The employer is paying for productivity. The individual has the responsibility of maintaining and enhancing their knowledge. Those thinking otherwise are opening the door to foreign competition, against which they will lose. And comparing software development to cashiering is apples and oranges.
  - hnfong 4y ago
    You're saying that if I didn't regularly read technical materials after working hours, I'd have lost value after 10+ years of industry experience compared with my 25 year-old self? It seems very narrow minded to think that newer technologies could be "read" by any classical understanding of the word. I mostly learn new tech by cloning github projects and tinkering with them; or pick some interesting subjects and follow whatever scattered pieces of documentation I could find. You're not going to catch any seasoned engineer reading Machine Learning for Dummies. It would be a much more straightforward question if you just asked the candidates what they learned recently.
    - Blackstrat 4y ago
      Read was all encompassing, I.e. how do you learn/keep up? If one doesn’t, one’s value diminishes. Simple as that. Experimentation coupled with reading is common among SEs. It’s not the company’s responsibility to keep them current. The problem I saw emerging over the last decade or so of my career, was a proliferation of individuals that wanted the money, but didn’t want to put in the effort. And that situation only worsened as they gained more tenure. Couple that with new grads or boot camp graduates, all wanting to start somewhere around 6 figures, and the industry has an issue. Hence, many companies have turned to outsourcing.

Jiro 4y ago

>When I clarified that I only cared about technical material, he replied that he only read technical material on the job, not after hours. He's heard of work/life balance and doesn't want to do work during unpaid hours. Nobody hires a cashier asking "tell me how you've made cashiering an integral part of your whole life or we won't hire you".

Blackstrat 4y ago
Work/life balance? Yes, work/life balance matters. On the other hand, when one enters a professional field, the expectation of the employer is that they maintain their value. The employer is paying for productivity. The individual has the responsibility of maintaining and enhancing their knowledge. Those thinking otherwise are opening the door to foreign competition, against which they will lose. And comparing software development to cashiering is apples and oranges.
- hnfong 4y ago
  You're saying that if I didn't regularly read technical materials after working hours, I'd have lost value after 10+ years of industry experience compared with my 25 year-old self? It seems very narrow minded to think that newer technologies could be "read" by any classical understanding of the word. I mostly learn new tech by cloning github projects and tinkering with them; or pick some interesting subjects and follow whatever scattered pieces of documentation I could find. You're not going to catch any seasoned engineer reading Machine Learning for Dummies. It would be a much more straightforward question if you just asked the candidates what they learned recently.
  - Blackstrat 4y ago
    Read was all encompassing, I.e. how do you learn/keep up? If one doesn’t, one’s value diminishes. Simple as that. Experimentation coupled with reading is common among SEs. It’s not the company’s responsibility to keep them current. The problem I saw emerging over the last decade or so of my career, was a proliferation of individuals that wanted the money, but didn’t want to put in the effort. And that situation only worsened as they gained more tenure. Couple that with new grads or boot camp graduates, all wanting to start somewhere around 6 figures, and the industry has an issue. Hence, many companies have turned to outsourcing.