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Ask HN: Coding Ability Evaluations

5 points by colinprince 2y ago

Looking at the most recent "Who is hiring?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40846428 I'm wondering how many of the Developer positions you have advertised will include evaluations of coding ability? And, do you out-source the evaluation to a third party or do you have an in-house test?

talldayo 2y ago
> I'm wondering how many of the Developer positions you have advertised will include evaluations of coding ability? Probably most of them. There's no way to know for sure since there are so many companies hiring, but I can assure you that the vast majority of "real jobs" will confer a technical interview. Of those, most of the tech interviews are usually hosted in-house (in my experience).
shreyarajpal 2y ago
> And, do you out-source the evaluation to a third party or do you have an in-house test? As an early stage startup, the answer is no. We're primarily hiring engineers, and coding ability is one of the key metrics of their success. As an early founder I find it hard to outsource the evaluation of one of key hiring decisions.
muzani 2y ago
Haven't interviewed in a while, but it's crazy to hire without a technical evaluation. Just do fizzbuzz if you want a broad filter. If you're feeling a little more adventurous, ask them to reverse a linked list. Many applicants will fail it. Some will fail because you'll find them pasting the exact same C solution as the other applicants despite it being a JS interview.
- b20000 2y ago
  No.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - yshklarov 2y ago
    Could you elaborate?
    - b20000 2y ago
      You can ask candidates for a piece of code they've written in the past and discuss the code with them. That should be adequate.
- dakiol 2y ago
  > Reverse a linked list I don’t think I can do that without a browser. I can write pseudocode to do it without problem, but in general, writing code that compiles without the help of Google (documentation, manuals) is something I don’t usually do. That’s because I have worked with different programming languages and never memorized one very well.

5 points by colinprince 2y ago

talldayo 2y ago

> I'm wondering how many of the Developer positions you have advertised will include evaluations of coding ability? Probably most of them. There's no way to know for sure since there are so many companies hiring, but I can assure you that the vast majority of "real jobs" will confer a technical interview. Of those, most of the tech interviews are usually hosted in-house (in my experience).

shreyarajpal 2y ago

> And, do you out-source the evaluation to a third party or do you have an in-house test? As an early stage startup, the answer is no. We're primarily hiring engineers, and coding ability is one of the key metrics of their success. As an early founder I find it hard to outsource the evaluation of one of key hiring decisions.

muzani 2y ago

Haven't interviewed in a while, but it's crazy to hire without a technical evaluation. Just do fizzbuzz if you want a broad filter. If you're feeling a little more adventurous, ask them to reverse a linked list. Many applicants will fail it. Some will fail because you'll find them pasting the exact same C solution as the other applicants despite it being a JS interview.

b20000 2y ago
No.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- yshklarov 2y ago
  Could you elaborate?
  - b20000 2y ago
    You can ask candidates for a piece of code they've written in the past and discuss the code with them. That should be adequate.
dakiol 2y ago
> Reverse a linked list I don’t think I can do that without a browser. I can write pseudocode to do it without problem, but in general, writing code that compiles without the help of Google (documentation, manuals) is something I don’t usually do. That’s because I have worked with different programming languages and never memorized one very well.