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Great points. I've got no problem with practicing stuff I don't understand (that's pretty fun usually). If they say something should take X hours or less thoug

Great points. I've got no problem with practicing stuff I don't understand (that's pretty fun usually). If they say something should take X hours or less though, and I'd take at least double that, it worries me. Maybe the job is just beyond my skill level right now, I'm not sure.

pincubator 12y ago
You should also keep in mind that most of those companies expect applicants to practice that kind of puzzles/code challenges before. A couple of years ago, I was also in a similar state-of-mind with you, but when I get to know people who got good developer jobs at top companies, they all suggested me to study code challenges/puzzles that can be found online. So imho, you should do more research on what type of questions people get to asked in the companies you are looking for, and just practice.
tfigment 12y ago
I'm a manager of a small team and 2x wouldn't bother me too much as long as it was completed well enough that I didn't feel the need to rewrite it before it goes to production. Small things caught during code reviews don't bother me too much. Major gaps in fundamental understanding bother me a lot. I currently have an ops guy trying to transition to development and he is seriously 10x on the 4 tasks I've given him recently and I will not use his work in production even after that work. He does the meetup thing and can talk the talk but I've had to completely write 3 of the 4 items myself and the 4th sits in the back of my mind. Only reason he still works for me is its hard to fill this specific ops role and he does that ok though I'm questioning that now as well. If you are 10x slower then yes please stop now. Don't let that discourage you as you don't sound that far off the mark and maybe it will click but it does sound like you are probably at a disadvantage technically. If you get the opportunity focus on something else that differentiates you from the rest like documentation practices.

pincubator 12y ago

You should also keep in mind that most of those companies expect applicants to practice that kind of puzzles/code challenges before. A couple of years ago, I was also in a similar state-of-mind with you, but when I get to know people who got good developer jobs at top companies, they all suggested me to study code challenges/puzzles that can be found online. So imho, you should do more research on what type of questions people get to asked in the companies you are looking for, and just practice.

tfigment 12y ago

I'm a manager of a small team and 2x wouldn't bother me too much as long as it was completed well enough that I didn't feel the need to rewrite it before it goes to production. Small things caught during code reviews don't bother me too much. Major gaps in fundamental understanding bother me a lot. I currently have an ops guy trying to transition to development and he is seriously 10x on the 4 tasks I've given him recently and I will not use his work in production even after that work. He does the meetup thing and can talk the talk but I've had to completely write 3 of the 4 items myself and the 4th sits in the back of my mind. Only reason he still works for me is its hard to fill this specific ops role and he does that ok though I'm questioning that now as well. If you are 10x slower then yes please stop now. Don't let that discourage you as you don't sound that far off the mark and maybe it will click but it does sound like you are probably at a disadvantage technically. If you get the opportunity focus on something else that differentiates you from the rest like documentation practices.