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I'm 50. High School was a long time ago. I love Ubuntu, and I love Java (they were looking for people for Enterprise Java tooling), but the inane high school qu

I'm 50. High School was a long time ago. I love Ubuntu, and I love Java (they were looking for people for Enterprise Java tooling), but the inane high school questions were, for me, a strong indicator that "oldies need not apply." Mr Shuttleworth has said - here - that he's confident this set of questions is picking the right people, so I'm taking him at his word and not wasting my time or theirs.

adfm 4y ago
It used to be that tech companies and startups were for the young, but now that every company is a tech company (bringing along all the societal baggage) we’ll see more of the same systemic incompetence, but mostly from companies that still think they can move fast and break things. It’s a new ballgame and regulatory agencies are paying attention.
itake 4y ago
That is an interesting point about this (potentially) being age discrimination.
- shubb 4y ago
  I worry about grade inflation as well - a 1990s 1st means you are in the top 10% of students but a 2023 1st just means you are in the top 40%. Very different hurdles to clear.
indrora 4y ago
I'm in my 30s (and, fair warning, worked with Greg for a short while, he's a smart chap) and recently applied for a spot at Canonical. On these sorts of questions I just answered "N/A" or "not measured". A recruiter reached out to me and wanted me to take what I can only but describe as the equivalent of Phrenology and personality quiz through a coding quiz. I reached out to the recruiter and informed him that such things are likely illegal in the US and on top of that, I'd stated on my resume that I do not participate in Leetcode, etc. What shocked me was the response: "Thank you for your withdrawal of interest in working at Canonical." I've been a sometimes-active member of the Ubuntu community, contributing to various parts of their wiki until that became less usable, as well as providing help on their IRC channels, occasionally stepping in to help a package maintainer here and there, etc. For the position that they were hiring for (developer relations advocate), you'd think I'm the kind of person they beg for, but it really shows that they wouldn't hire the people who volunteer their time.
- dcminter 4y ago
  The inferred subtext of "we only hire yes men" put me off as much as anything. Who wants to work with a company full of them? Life's too short for that.
smsm42 4y ago
> "oldies need not apply." Also foreigners that studied in systems that do not have easy analogue to the American GPA. Also autodidacts. Also people not suffering fools gladly.

adfm 4y ago

It used to be that tech companies and startups were for the young, but now that every company is a tech company (bringing along all the societal baggage) we’ll see more of the same systemic incompetence, but mostly from companies that still think they can move fast and break things. It’s a new ballgame and regulatory agencies are paying attention.

itake 4y ago

That is an interesting point about this (potentially) being age discrimination.

shubb 4y ago
I worry about grade inflation as well - a 1990s 1st means you are in the top 10% of students but a 2023 1st just means you are in the top 40%. Very different hurdles to clear.

indrora 4y ago

I'm in my 30s (and, fair warning, worked with Greg for a short while, he's a smart chap) and recently applied for a spot at Canonical. On these sorts of questions I just answered "N/A" or "not measured". A recruiter reached out to me and wanted me to take what I can only but describe as the equivalent of Phrenology and personality quiz through a coding quiz. I reached out to the recruiter and informed him that such things are likely illegal in the US and on top of that, I'd stated on my resume that I do not participate in Leetcode, etc. What shocked me was the response: "Thank you for your withdrawal of interest in working at Canonical." I've been a sometimes-active member of the Ubuntu community, contributing to various parts of their wiki until that became less usable, as well as providing help on their IRC channels, occasionally stepping in to help a package maintainer here and there, etc. For the position that they were hiring for (developer relations advocate), you'd think I'm the kind of person they beg for, but it really shows that they wouldn't hire the people who volunteer their time.

dcminter 4y ago
The inferred subtext of "we only hire yes men" put me off as much as anything. Who wants to work with a company full of them? Life's too short for that.

smsm42 4y ago

> "oldies need not apply." Also foreigners that studied in systems that do not have easy analogue to the American GPA. Also autodidacts. Also people not suffering fools gladly.