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if you freeze up in interviews, are you also going to freeze up in developer meetings? Are you really saying that your developer meetings are as high-stakes as

if you freeze up in interviews, are you also going to freeze up in developer meetings? Are you really saying that your developer meetings are as high-stakes as job interviews?

stephencanon 13y ago
I can see it now: second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.
dragonwriter 13y ago
> Are you really saying that your developer meetings are as high-stakes as job interviews? Most certainly aren't, but some are potentially higher stakes (especially with smaller companies), since you and coworkers losing jobs you have -- which can be the price of getting things wrong -- is a bigger stake than you not getting a job that you currently don't have.
- ronaldx 13y ago
  Possibly, a senior front-end developer shouldn't be exclusively responsible for those higher stakes meetings?
- RyanZAG 13y ago
  Woah hold on - you're firing people for getting things wrong in meetings? Most people would be unemployed. Seriously though - if you're creating a high stress meeting like that in a company where people are at risk of getting fired then your culture is going to be terrible with people backstabbing each other so they look good at the next meeting. A company is a team - it's everyone's job to make sure the team is working by helping to fix any mistakes brought up in meetings, not firing people. You are not in competition with your employees. Your employees are not in competition with anyone either. Employees are hired by a company to work together to create things.
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    > Woah hold on - you're firing people for getting things wrong in meetings? Wrong outcomes for meetings have business consequences, which can include people losing their jobs. That's not necessarily "people getting fired for getting things wrong in meetings" -- indeed it generally shouldn't be that except in rather extreme cases of "getting things wrong" -- but it still means that people's jobs are on the line in the meeting and that there is extreme pressure not to make mistakes. Not because your boss will fire you because they don't like your answer, but because the market will punish your company -- potentially cost you and your coworkers their jobs -- if the market doesn't like the outcome of the meeting.
    - RyanZAG 13y ago
      Ah okay, good, that's a more reasonable discussion then. So you're basically saying that a meeting could fail to create value because an employee made mistakes in the meeting as he could not handle the stress. The correct way to solve this for everyone involved is to reduce the amount of stress everyone is under in a meeting and to create an environment conducive to problem solving. This isn't really that hard, a well motivated employee whose rewards and goals align with the company will try his best to create value as it helps him the most as well. If an employee is very bad at meetings, he could also be asked to express his ideas beforehand to someone he feels comfortable with and then that person could help him express his idea in the meeting. The solution of hiring only people who can shout the loudest and brute force their ideas through in combative meetings is not a solution that will create value over the long term. If someone is breaking down in your meeting the problem is the meeting, not the person. Fix the meeting. Even people capable of taking stress is meetings will still perform better if that stress is removed. EDIT: You also shouldn't be making snap judgements in a meeting that will affect the future of the company in the market. If there is a lot of tension in the meeting and the outcome is unclear, postpone the issue a short while until people can work out the issues better. If someone notices that there was a mistake in a previous meeting, work through the mistake in the next meeting and change direction ASAP. And obviously, don't fire anyone for this...
      - 13y ago
Nursie 13y ago
Are job interviews really that high-stakes? There are always more jobs for skilled tech people.
- Bartweiss 13y ago
  There are always more jobs, but not always of equal desirability. Knowing that this company is the only one in the perfect location, on a project that fascinates you is about as high-stakes as it gets.
- MartinCron 13y ago
  People have been told for their entire lives that job interviews are high-stakes situations. Even if it's a job-seeker's market, it's usually a stressful situation. You're in someone else's office, generally outnumbered, and most of the interactions are the kind that make introverts sweat. I don't fault developers who come across as nervous when I interview them.
- bulatb 13y ago
  "More jobs" doesn't really matter if you really want to work at a specific place.

if you freeze up in interviews, are you also going to freeze up in developer meetings? Are you really saying that your developer meetings are as high-stakes as job interviews?

stephencanon 13y ago

I can see it now: second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.

dragonwriter 13y ago

> Are you really saying that your developer meetings are as high-stakes as job interviews? Most certainly aren't, but some are potentially higher stakes (especially with smaller companies), since you and coworkers losing jobs you have -- which can be the price of getting things wrong -- is a bigger stake than you not getting a job that you currently don't have.

ronaldx 13y ago
Possibly, a senior front-end developer shouldn't be exclusively responsible for those higher stakes meetings?
RyanZAG 13y ago
Woah hold on - you're firing people for getting things wrong in meetings? Most people would be unemployed. Seriously though - if you're creating a high stress meeting like that in a company where people are at risk of getting fired then your culture is going to be terrible with people backstabbing each other so they look good at the next meeting. A company is a team - it's everyone's job to make sure the team is working by helping to fix any mistakes brought up in meetings, not firing people. You are not in competition with your employees. Your employees are not in competition with anyone either. Employees are hired by a company to work together to create things.
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > Woah hold on - you're firing people for getting things wrong in meetings? Wrong outcomes for meetings have business consequences, which can include people losing their jobs. That's not necessarily "people getting fired for getting things wrong in meetings" -- indeed it generally shouldn't be that except in rather extreme cases of "getting things wrong" -- but it still means that people's jobs are on the line in the meeting and that there is extreme pressure not to make mistakes. Not because your boss will fire you because they don't like your answer, but because the market will punish your company -- potentially cost you and your coworkers their jobs -- if the market doesn't like the outcome of the meeting.
  - RyanZAG 13y ago
    Ah okay, good, that's a more reasonable discussion then. So you're basically saying that a meeting could fail to create value because an employee made mistakes in the meeting as he could not handle the stress. The correct way to solve this for everyone involved is to reduce the amount of stress everyone is under in a meeting and to create an environment conducive to problem solving. This isn't really that hard, a well motivated employee whose rewards and goals align with the company will try his best to create value as it helps him the most as well. If an employee is very bad at meetings, he could also be asked to express his ideas beforehand to someone he feels comfortable with and then that person could help him express his idea in the meeting. The solution of hiring only people who can shout the loudest and brute force their ideas through in combative meetings is not a solution that will create value over the long term. If someone is breaking down in your meeting the problem is the meeting, not the person. Fix the meeting. Even people capable of taking stress is meetings will still perform better if that stress is removed. EDIT: You also shouldn't be making snap judgements in a meeting that will affect the future of the company in the market. If there is a lot of tension in the meeting and the outcome is unclear, postpone the issue a short while until people can work out the issues better. If someone notices that there was a mistake in a previous meeting, work through the mistake in the next meeting and change direction ASAP. And obviously, don't fire anyone for this...
    - 13y ago

Nursie 13y ago

Are job interviews really that high-stakes? There are always more jobs for skilled tech people.

Bartweiss 13y ago
There are always more jobs, but not always of equal desirability. Knowing that this company is the only one in the perfect location, on a project that fascinates you is about as high-stakes as it gets.
MartinCron 13y ago
People have been told for their entire lives that job interviews are high-stakes situations. Even if it's a job-seeker's market, it's usually a stressful situation. You're in someone else's office, generally outnumbered, and most of the interactions are the kind that make introverts sweat. I don't fault developers who come across as nervous when I interview them.
bulatb 13y ago
"More jobs" doesn't really matter if you really want to work at a specific place.