4 ms·

It's really easy to catch these scammers. Ask for a non-trivial code or work sample, something they have written. Actually take the time to read through the cod

It's really easy to catch these scammers. Ask for a non-trivial code or work sample, something they have written. Actually take the time to read through the code and understand at least a part of it. In an interview, ask them some questions about it. People who actually wrote the code or did the thing can talk at length about about what they did, the history behind it, trade offs, have colorful stories about it, etc. I don't even care exactly about the technical details of it, I'm looking for signals that they are a liar. If they say they don't remember, that's a red flag. If they can't describe how something works, that's a bigger red flag. You're not looking for photographic memory, but it's very obvious once you do it a few times who is real and who is lying. It's common sense, if you don't put in at least a tiny bit of effort in your hiring process, you can only expect to attract similar low effort candidates.

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wijwp 2y ago
"Ask for a non-trivial code or work sample, something they have written." I haven't written non-proprietary code in a decade.
- spongebobstoes 2y ago
  Spending a few hours to write some open source code seems like a reasonable tradeoff to get a high paying job. It is surprising to me that folks looking for a new job would not do this proactively.
  - mywittyname 2y ago
    Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at it. This includes contributions to a widely used OSS project. YMMV, but all the high paying jobs I've received were due to knowing the tech stack they used and being able to walk through the projects that I've done in detail. Admittedly, the last time I changed jobs was 2024, so things might be different now.
    - polishdude20 2y ago
      Exactly, the most I've gotten from my personal projects has been a "oh cool".
    - no_wizard 2y ago
      >Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at i If it helps, I do! When someone has this available on their resume, I will look around. It allows me to ask better questions, for starts. Unfortunately, what I have found, is for every one person who has a legitimate track record of contributions and/or working/worked on projects beyond the basics, there are 100 people who simply do a bunch of cookie cutter projects to make their Github look good, but everything is shallow. Ironically, those with the cookie cutter projects set themselves up to get weeded out easily, as there is a clear pattern of 'learning to pass the test' rather than learning to learn
    - rahimnathwani 2y ago
      no interviewer has ever looked at it How do you know this? Did you challenge every interviewer to tell you whether they'd looked at any of the code on your personal github page? If I review code on someone's github page, that doesn't mean I'll proactively ask them about it in an interview.
- alkonaut 2y ago
  Everyone can produce _something_ they have written. Yes there are people who literally clock in at work and code 8-5 for 10 years and never touched a hobby project or contributed to an OSS project. And you might not want to filter that group out completely. But if I was in that group and I was considering switching jobs, I'd definitely make sure I had some of that proprietary code stashed away so I could show a potential future employer. Yes you won't be allowed to do that. And it would be understandable if in some cases (like you work as a defense contractor) it's completely impossible. But for most people it should be possible to show something.
droopyEyelids 2y ago
Very easy but time-consuming
- aforwardslash 2y ago
  If one cant take 30mins to vet a candidate code sample, one should not be hiring. Or working in anything that requires proper reasoning - its akin to not writing tests or do code reviews because "they take time".
polishdude20 2y ago
> If they say they don't remember, that's a red flag. If I just have to give a code example of mine on the spot during an interview with no prep, I'm sure as hell not going to remember why I took a certain approach unless there are comments.
giancarlostoro 2y ago
> If they say they don't remember, that's a red flag. Is it? I can think of projects I've worked on that have come up with friends that I have no idea how they worked anymore, just barely if at all. If the project was within the last 2 years, then yeah, but if its 8 year old plus code, I don't expect anyone to remember. However, they could have looked at it when they sent it over and refresh their minds.
- rahimnathwani 2y ago
  OK, so ask them for something they've written in the past 2 years.
  - giancarlostoro 2y ago
    Everything I've written in the past 2 years is either proprietary or deeply private to me.

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wijwp 2y ago

"Ask for a non-trivial code or work sample, something they have written." I haven't written non-proprietary code in a decade.

spongebobstoes 2y ago
Spending a few hours to write some open source code seems like a reasonable tradeoff to get a high paying job. It is surprising to me that folks looking for a new job would not do this proactively.
- mywittyname 2y ago
  Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at it. This includes contributions to a widely used OSS project. YMMV, but all the high paying jobs I've received were due to knowing the tech stack they used and being able to walk through the projects that I've done in detail. Admittedly, the last time I changed jobs was 2024, so things might be different now.
  - polishdude20 2y ago
    Exactly, the most I've gotten from my personal projects has been a "oh cool".
  - no_wizard 2y ago
    >Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at i If it helps, I do! When someone has this available on their resume, I will look around. It allows me to ask better questions, for starts. Unfortunately, what I have found, is for every one person who has a legitimate track record of contributions and/or working/worked on projects beyond the basics, there are 100 people who simply do a bunch of cookie cutter projects to make their Github look good, but everything is shallow. Ironically, those with the cookie cutter projects set themselves up to get weeded out easily, as there is a clear pattern of 'learning to pass the test' rather than learning to learn
  - rahimnathwani 2y ago
    no interviewer has ever looked at it How do you know this? Did you challenge every interviewer to tell you whether they'd looked at any of the code on your personal github page? If I review code on someone's github page, that doesn't mean I'll proactively ask them about it in an interview.
alkonaut 2y ago
Everyone can produce _something_ they have written. Yes there are people who literally clock in at work and code 8-5 for 10 years and never touched a hobby project or contributed to an OSS project. And you might not want to filter that group out completely. But if I was in that group and I was considering switching jobs, I'd definitely make sure I had some of that proprietary code stashed away so I could show a potential future employer. Yes you won't be allowed to do that. And it would be understandable if in some cases (like you work as a defense contractor) it's completely impossible. But for most people it should be possible to show something.

droopyEyelids 2y ago

Very easy but time-consuming

aforwardslash 2y ago
If one cant take 30mins to vet a candidate code sample, one should not be hiring. Or working in anything that requires proper reasoning - its akin to not writing tests or do code reviews because "they take time".

polishdude20 2y ago

> If they say they don't remember, that's a red flag. If I just have to give a code example of mine on the spot during an interview with no prep, I'm sure as hell not going to remember why I took a certain approach unless there are comments.

giancarlostoro 2y ago

> If they say they don't remember, that's a red flag. Is it? I can think of projects I've worked on that have come up with friends that I have no idea how they worked anymore, just barely if at all. If the project was within the last 2 years, then yeah, but if its 8 year old plus code, I don't expect anyone to remember. However, they could have looked at it when they sent it over and refresh their minds.

rahimnathwani 2y ago
OK, so ask them for something they've written in the past 2 years.
- giancarlostoro 2y ago
  Everything I've written in the past 2 years is either proprietary or deeply private to me.