3 ms·

I recently wrote about how eng hiring is not nearly as meritocratic as it could be. As soon as a company gets large enough to have non-technical people doing fi

by leeny 13y ago

I recently wrote about how eng hiring is not nearly as meritocratic as it could be. As soon as a company gets large enough to have non-technical people doing filtering, people who don't look great on paper end up getting cut before anyone even gets to see their code. http://blog.alinelerner.com/silicon-valley-hiring-is-not-a-meritocracy/ http://blog.alinelerner.com/silicon-valley-hiring-is-not-a-m... I would love to see more stories like this, for both engineers and non-engineers alike.

namelezz 13y ago
InterviewStreet, Codility, and Hackermeter may not be the right tools to test a candidate's skills. During the in person interview or phone interview, if a candidate is not clear what the interviewer is asking, s/he can ask questions. If a candidate gets stuck on an online site, who should s/he talk to? If a candidate does not understand the question, how is s/he supported to answer it?
- pekk 13y ago
  These sites aren't for candidates, they're not intended to test a candidate's skills and they're definitely not intended to help a candidate get a job. They are intended to filter out candidates. If you have to ask a question, if you get stuck, then you buckled under the pressure and how can you be expected to do real work with bosses and clients giving you vague specs and yelling at you? We only want A players. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. But the corollary to this is that the industry is really not measuring or even very interested in skills other than interviewing-under-pressure skills.
  - namelezz 13y ago
    You are saying that "not understanding a question" means "being under pressure" How so? )!@#$%^&*( <- Do you understand what that means? "how can you be expected to do real work with bosses and clients giving you vague specs and yelling at you?" Asking questions, communicating with your boss and clients. I would love to learn what an A player would do in that situation.

by leeny 13y ago

namelezz 13y ago

InterviewStreet, Codility, and Hackermeter may not be the right tools to test a candidate's skills. During the in person interview or phone interview, if a candidate is not clear what the interviewer is asking, s/he can ask questions. If a candidate gets stuck on an online site, who should s/he talk to? If a candidate does not understand the question, how is s/he supported to answer it?

pekk 13y ago
These sites aren't for candidates, they're not intended to test a candidate's skills and they're definitely not intended to help a candidate get a job. They are intended to filter out candidates. If you have to ask a question, if you get stuck, then you buckled under the pressure and how can you be expected to do real work with bosses and clients giving you vague specs and yelling at you? We only want A players. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. But the corollary to this is that the industry is really not measuring or even very interested in skills other than interviewing-under-pressure skills.
- namelezz 13y ago
  You are saying that "not understanding a question" means "being under pressure" How so? )!@#$%^&*( <- Do you understand what that means? "how can you be expected to do real work with bosses and clients giving you vague specs and yelling at you?" Asking questions, communicating with your boss and clients. I would love to learn what an A player would do in that situation.