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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 co

by leoedin 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo ago
How dare those unemployed people don't manage to get an exclusive laptop for themselves!
- leoedin 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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.

by leoedin 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo ago

How dare those unemployed people don't manage to get an exclusive laptop for themselves!

leoedin 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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 1mo 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.