4 ms·

I would hang up on this guy, because he is a total d*ck and I would never work for this type of person. He just wants a machine to do his programming.

scotty79 13y ago
I would be delighted if all job interviews were done like that. I find all social parts cumbersome and unnecessary waste of time.
- testacular 13y ago
  The social parts of programming are a huge part of professional success.
ebiester 13y ago
For a white man, this is reasonable. For someone who is not a white man, this is an advantage because the interviewee is being tested on things that they control, rather than things they don't. (Gender, skin color, national origin, disability...)
- RogerL 13y ago
  Someone that cannot type fast is going to be selected against in this format. Someone for whom the interview language is not their native tongue is going to be selected against in this format. Concrete examples: I work with someone that is a very bad typist. Yet she is very smart and a prolific contributor. (edit: the hint here is that a disability can make you a bad typist, yet a valuable contributor) Another person that I worked with was French and and found textual communication very challenging. I can't imagine either making it through this interview process. Both are minorities by several measures.
  - ebiester 13y ago
    I'd be very surprised to see someone who could comfortably speak in a second language, professionally, but have trouble typing. I say this as someone who has some experience both learning multiple languages and having went through learning to teach English as a foreign language. These people would be exceptions to the rule. The blind audition equalizes for more people than for whom it disadvantages.
    - NoodleIncident 13y ago
      Any sort of condition that affects fine motor control would make it hard to type but not to speak.
    - RogerL 13y ago
      * The blind audition equalizes for more people than for whom it disadvantages.* Maybe. Do you have evidence for this statement? I haven't put myself to any sort of test, but my perception of myself is that I am far more attuned to lapses in English usage in the written form than the spoken. I don't think these interviews are very blinded at all. I can tell if you are ESL (unless you are very, very good), I can often tell if you are younger or older, I can tell if you come from my background or not. As well as if I were meeting you face to face? Of course not! But, how will I select people in each situation? Am I more or less biased in face to face or written communication? We know tests like the SAT have a cultural and racial bias. I should hire programmers because they can deliver value to my company, not because they type like me. When I measure you by a proxy (how well you communicate via IM) I have the chance to make the wrong choice. Don't get me wrong - I think there is a very good chance you are correct in that statement. But I don't believe these interviews are blinded (they are probably most blinded to gender, and least blinded to ESL), and no one has shown that the results are less biased than the alternatives.
- invertedBypass 13y ago
  As a white man, and a software developer, I have never EVER found any prejudicial advantage in being white. Not once. In fact, I have felt distinctly disadvantaged when competing against Asians and Indians. Asians of any variety, south or east, very frequently experience preferential treatment over whites in technical fields. That's no exaggeration, based on my personal experience. Mind you, I don't begrudge anyone for it, but it's certainly a reality I'm tuned into.
  - peteretep 13y ago
    But presumably you've never been any other colour, so it would be hard for you to identify if you were?

scotty79 13y ago

I would be delighted if all job interviews were done like that. I find all social parts cumbersome and unnecessary waste of time.

testacular 13y ago
The social parts of programming are a huge part of professional success.

ebiester 13y ago

For a white man, this is reasonable. For someone who is not a white man, this is an advantage because the interviewee is being tested on things that they control, rather than things they don't. (Gender, skin color, national origin, disability...)

RogerL 13y ago
Someone that cannot type fast is going to be selected against in this format. Someone for whom the interview language is not their native tongue is going to be selected against in this format. Concrete examples: I work with someone that is a very bad typist. Yet she is very smart and a prolific contributor. (edit: the hint here is that a disability can make you a bad typist, yet a valuable contributor) Another person that I worked with was French and and found textual communication very challenging. I can't imagine either making it through this interview process. Both are minorities by several measures.
- ebiester 13y ago
  I'd be very surprised to see someone who could comfortably speak in a second language, professionally, but have trouble typing. I say this as someone who has some experience both learning multiple languages and having went through learning to teach English as a foreign language. These people would be exceptions to the rule. The blind audition equalizes for more people than for whom it disadvantages.
  - NoodleIncident 13y ago
    Any sort of condition that affects fine motor control would make it hard to type but not to speak.
  - RogerL 13y ago
    * The blind audition equalizes for more people than for whom it disadvantages.* Maybe. Do you have evidence for this statement? I haven't put myself to any sort of test, but my perception of myself is that I am far more attuned to lapses in English usage in the written form than the spoken. I don't think these interviews are very blinded at all. I can tell if you are ESL (unless you are very, very good), I can often tell if you are younger or older, I can tell if you come from my background or not. As well as if I were meeting you face to face? Of course not! But, how will I select people in each situation? Am I more or less biased in face to face or written communication? We know tests like the SAT have a cultural and racial bias. I should hire programmers because they can deliver value to my company, not because they type like me. When I measure you by a proxy (how well you communicate via IM) I have the chance to make the wrong choice. Don't get me wrong - I think there is a very good chance you are correct in that statement. But I don't believe these interviews are blinded (they are probably most blinded to gender, and least blinded to ESL), and no one has shown that the results are less biased than the alternatives.
invertedBypass 13y ago
As a white man, and a software developer, I have never EVER found any prejudicial advantage in being white. Not once. In fact, I have felt distinctly disadvantaged when competing against Asians and Indians. Asians of any variety, south or east, very frequently experience preferential treatment over whites in technical fields. That's no exaggeration, based on my personal experience. Mind you, I don't begrudge anyone for it, but it's certainly a reality I'm tuned into.
- peteretep 13y ago
  But presumably you've never been any other colour, so it would be hard for you to identify if you were?