6 ms·

What, you can't expect a candidate at least have a laptop?

by morkalork 2mo ago

thih9 2mo ago
Some people share laptops, others don’t have one at all and are fine with a tablet or smartphone.
- leoedin 2mo ago
  Are those the people you want to hire for software development jobs though? Honestly I would see that as a huge red flag. In western countries a used laptop costs almost nothing.
  - metalforever 2mo ago
    I’ve personally run into this issue of not having a working laptop in an interview setting. It’s not always money . I just don’t like getting work done on a laptop. I use a desktop. I’ve been staff+ for more than 5 years .
  - marcosdumay 2mo ago
    How dare those unemployed people don't manage to get an exclusive laptop for themselves!
    - leoedin 2mo ago
      I'm talking about hiring a software engineer for a software development job. I have not met a good software engineer who wasn't also some level of geek. I'm thinking of all the great colleagues I've had over the years, and I would be really, really surprised if any of them didn't have some sort of computer at home. These are not "I just use my phone for everything" people. I'm sure there are outliers, but given the low cost of used ex-corporate laptops in the western world, and presumably the candidate's interest in computers and software development, it's a fairly low bar to expect a candidate to have some sort of PC (laptop, desktop, Linux, Windows, Mac - whatever). I wouldn't expect it to be modern or expensive (I do this for a job and barely spend any money on computers these days), but I'd be really surprised if a candidate had nothing available.
  - buran77 2mo ago
    > Are those the people you want to hire for software development jobs though? Why do you think the job posting doesn't explicitly mention "owning a PC" as a requirement? If it's a relevant criterion why not make it clear there? If it's not, why have it at all, only to keep it hidden in your biases? Accepting to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for them. Getting asked to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for you.
    - mrheosuper 2mo ago
      it's a red flag, not hard requirement. Most of talent devs i met usually code in their free time when they were in school. You dont need PC to do that, but it's much more convenient to have your own PC. and with PC is so accessible now (you can even find free PC in some cases), that tells me you are not really passionate about software dev.
    - leoedin 2mo ago
      > Accepting to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for them. Getting asked to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for you. This is a different problem. If a candidate said "I don't want to run the code you send me" it might be a good opportunity to talk through what it does. Maybe I'd set up a VM for them in the cloud, or we could find a mutually acceptable solution. If a candidate says "I don't own a general purpose computing device" then I would really be questioning that candidates interest in computers, and therefore ability to develop and test software for them. > Why do you think the job posting doesn't explicitly mention "owning a PC" as a requirement? The job description also doesn't say "owns clean clothes", but how the candidate presents themselves is certainly a consideration when hiring.
      - buran77 2mo ago
        > This is a different problem. Obviously. I just figured I'd point you to the real red flags you missed instead of the "I find it weird so it's a problem" thing. > The job description also doesn't say "owns clean clothes" That's a false parallel. A commenter higher up already pointed out to you that the candidate could own a tablet. An iPad Pro M5 is faster than most laptops, perfectly good for coding, and not able to run any of the crap sent out by the interviewer which likely expects desktop OSes. The advert also shouldn't mention such a thing. Some people work remotely, others could honestly tell you they'll get better clothes from the first salary. If you're interviewing someone, they're the best at the job but you stumble on this, it's definitely a red flag. For the candidate, to look elsewhere. Why would you want to work for an employer who focuses more on the sweat stains on your armpit than the actual work or your character? And now let me paint a different picture to understand the magnitude of the unfairness in your logic. I assume you are the Leo Rampen from the website you advertise in your profile. How many red flags do you count from someone advertising a blog which at the time of writing this has a certificate expired more than a month ago, and the last content update is more than a decade old? How does this reflect on a multi-disciplinary HW/SW engineer who even works on things as critical as satellites? This is to say, don't focus of flagging trivialities. You'll probably look in all the wrong places.
  - chrisandchris 2mo ago
    So if you hire a plumber as a plumbing company you expect him to have plumbing-material available and to do plumbing in his free-time? There are people that do like not to do work in their free time.
- ButlerianJihad 2mo ago
  I don’t own a personal vehicle, and you would not believe the types of jobs that were simply inaccessible to me because of that. They apparently couldn’t ask directly whether I owned a car, but the coded question is: “Do you have Reliable Transportation?” <wink wink> and that was a confusing question to me, at face value; I would reply with candor, “I take public transit!” which of course gave away my situation every time.
  - ghaff 2mo ago
    Every job I had post-school effectively required that I owned a car and knew how to operate it--whether to go into an office or for frictionless business travel. In one or two cases, I could maybe have gotten off with flying and then renting (or taking some other form of transportation where available).
s_dev 2mo ago
What if your laptop is broken? You should be restricted from getting a job? What about if you just landed in the US and didn't want to have to present it to the authorities to scan and plan on buying a new one because they are cheaper there. What about if a family member was currently using it. There are plenty of valid reasons why you might not have a laptop in general or at the moment in your life.
- redox99 2mo ago
  Then you should find a way around it. If an applicant can't even manage to get a laptop for a few hours I rather hire someone else. In extreme cases we can work it out but you should have something that makes up for the extra annoyance compared to 99% of applicants.
  - mock-possum 2mo ago
    Wow your suggestion is “let them eat cake?” Do you actually believe what you’re saying, or have you not thought it through?
    - CookieCrisp 2mo ago
      What reality are you living in?
    - fsckboy 2mo ago
      there are people out there who don't want to hold your hand. stop advocating that we discriminate against them because you feel you need your hand held.
  - metalforever 2mo ago
    I’m a lead engineer and have been Staff plus for more than 5 years. I’ve actually personally run into this problem (not having a working laptop for an interview). I don’t really do laptops well because it’s not a good environment to get work done in. I can see a large screen(s) desktop setup better and prefer that.
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
Hamuko 2mo ago
I've done all of my recent interviews on an iPad.
iberator 2mo ago
I got my last job and I didn't own a laptop as I was homeless. Had to borrow it from a mate. It happens:)

What, you can't expect a candidate at least have a laptop?

thih9 2mo ago

Some people share laptops, others don’t have one at all and are fine with a tablet or smartphone.

leoedin 2mo ago
Are those the people you want to hire for software development jobs though? Honestly I would see that as a huge red flag. In western countries a used laptop costs almost nothing.
- metalforever 2mo ago
  I’ve personally run into this issue of not having a working laptop in an interview setting. It’s not always money . I just don’t like getting work done on a laptop. I use a desktop. I’ve been staff+ for more than 5 years .
- marcosdumay 2mo ago
  How dare those unemployed people don't manage to get an exclusive laptop for themselves!
  - leoedin 2mo ago
    I'm talking about hiring a software engineer for a software development job. I have not met a good software engineer who wasn't also some level of geek. I'm thinking of all the great colleagues I've had over the years, and I would be really, really surprised if any of them didn't have some sort of computer at home. These are not "I just use my phone for everything" people. I'm sure there are outliers, but given the low cost of used ex-corporate laptops in the western world, and presumably the candidate's interest in computers and software development, it's a fairly low bar to expect a candidate to have some sort of PC (laptop, desktop, Linux, Windows, Mac - whatever). I wouldn't expect it to be modern or expensive (I do this for a job and barely spend any money on computers these days), but I'd be really surprised if a candidate had nothing available.
- buran77 2mo ago
  > Are those the people you want to hire for software development jobs though? Why do you think the job posting doesn't explicitly mention "owning a PC" as a requirement? If it's a relevant criterion why not make it clear there? If it's not, why have it at all, only to keep it hidden in your biases? Accepting to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for them. Getting asked to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for you.
  - mrheosuper 2mo ago
    it's a red flag, not hard requirement. Most of talent devs i met usually code in their free time when they were in school. You dont need PC to do that, but it's much more convenient to have your own PC. and with PC is so accessible now (you can even find free PC in some cases), that tells me you are not really passionate about software dev.
  - leoedin 2mo ago
    > Accepting to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for them. Getting asked to run random code sent by someone you don't know should be a red flag for you. This is a different problem. If a candidate said "I don't want to run the code you send me" it might be a good opportunity to talk through what it does. Maybe I'd set up a VM for them in the cloud, or we could find a mutually acceptable solution. If a candidate says "I don't own a general purpose computing device" then I would really be questioning that candidates interest in computers, and therefore ability to develop and test software for them. > Why do you think the job posting doesn't explicitly mention "owning a PC" as a requirement? The job description also doesn't say "owns clean clothes", but how the candidate presents themselves is certainly a consideration when hiring.
    - buran77 2mo ago
      > This is a different problem. Obviously. I just figured I'd point you to the real red flags you missed instead of the "I find it weird so it's a problem" thing. > The job description also doesn't say "owns clean clothes" That's a false parallel. A commenter higher up already pointed out to you that the candidate could own a tablet. An iPad Pro M5 is faster than most laptops, perfectly good for coding, and not able to run any of the crap sent out by the interviewer which likely expects desktop OSes. The advert also shouldn't mention such a thing. Some people work remotely, others could honestly tell you they'll get better clothes from the first salary. If you're interviewing someone, they're the best at the job but you stumble on this, it's definitely a red flag. For the candidate, to look elsewhere. Why would you want to work for an employer who focuses more on the sweat stains on your armpit than the actual work or your character? And now let me paint a different picture to understand the magnitude of the unfairness in your logic. I assume you are the Leo Rampen from the website you advertise in your profile. How many red flags do you count from someone advertising a blog which at the time of writing this has a certificate expired more than a month ago, and the last content update is more than a decade old? How does this reflect on a multi-disciplinary HW/SW engineer who even works on things as critical as satellites? This is to say, don't focus of flagging trivialities. You'll probably look in all the wrong places.
- chrisandchris 2mo ago
  So if you hire a plumber as a plumbing company you expect him to have plumbing-material available and to do plumbing in his free-time? There are people that do like not to do work in their free time.
ButlerianJihad 2mo ago
I don’t own a personal vehicle, and you would not believe the types of jobs that were simply inaccessible to me because of that. They apparently couldn’t ask directly whether I owned a car, but the coded question is: “Do you have Reliable Transportation?” <wink wink> and that was a confusing question to me, at face value; I would reply with candor, “I take public transit!” which of course gave away my situation every time.
- ghaff 2mo ago
  Every job I had post-school effectively required that I owned a car and knew how to operate it--whether to go into an office or for frictionless business travel. In one or two cases, I could maybe have gotten off with flying and then renting (or taking some other form of transportation where available).

s_dev 2mo ago

What if your laptop is broken? You should be restricted from getting a job? What about if you just landed in the US and didn't want to have to present it to the authorities to scan and plan on buying a new one because they are cheaper there. What about if a family member was currently using it. There are plenty of valid reasons why you might not have a laptop in general or at the moment in your life.

redox99 2mo ago
Then you should find a way around it. If an applicant can't even manage to get a laptop for a few hours I rather hire someone else. In extreme cases we can work it out but you should have something that makes up for the extra annoyance compared to 99% of applicants.
- mock-possum 2mo ago
  Wow your suggestion is “let them eat cake?” Do you actually believe what you’re saying, or have you not thought it through?
  - CookieCrisp 2mo ago
    What reality are you living in?
  - fsckboy 2mo ago
    there are people out there who don't want to hold your hand. stop advocating that we discriminate against them because you feel you need your hand held.
- metalforever 2mo ago
  I’m a lead engineer and have been Staff plus for more than 5 years. I’ve actually personally run into this problem (not having a working laptop for an interview). I don’t really do laptops well because it’s not a good environment to get work done in. I can see a large screen(s) desktop setup better and prefer that.

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

Hamuko 2mo ago

I've done all of my recent interviews on an iPad.

iberator 2mo ago

I got my last job and I didn't own a laptop as I was homeless. Had to borrow it from a mate. It happens:)