4 ms·

So her talk was on tech interviews and someone thought she was a recruiter? Doesn't seem that big a stretch...

by cowls 12y ago

DanBC 12y ago
People thought she was not a programmer even though she wrote a book about programming interviews.
- tedunangst 12y ago
  William Poundstone, author of how would you move mt Fuji, is not a programmer, so that's not entirely surprising.
  - gaylemcd 12y ago
    And his book isn't on programming interviews.
    - trynumber9 12y ago
      It is more or less a collection of puzzles used in programming interviews (in that particular book, at Microsoft). He has another titled "Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?" Similar concept, both focused on programming interview puzzles.
      - gaylemcd 12y ago
        No, they're actually not focused on programming interviews. Those sorts of puzzles aren't asked in programming interviews.
    - tedunangst 12y ago
      OK, fine. The next two Amazon books I get for "programming interview", "Elements of Programming Interviews" and "Programming Interviews Exposed", both have three authors each. In both cases, only one of the authors is actually employed as a programmer. The others include an EE professor, a radiologist and two executives. The field is rife with non programming authors. "I wrote a book about programming interviews" does not signal to me that you are, in fact, a programmer. I am happy to believe Gayle is a programmer, but I wouldn't use her book as a credential to support that claim. (And I just realized that I'm replying to Gayle. I didn't read your username before posting. oops. The "you" above wasn't meant to be directed at you personally.)
      - gaylemcd 12y ago
        It's hardly rife with non-programming authors. Elements of Programming Interviews: authors include an algorithms professor, a software engineer, and an engineer/CTO. Programming Interviews Exposed: authors include software engineer, a CEO & VP Technology, and a radiologist. (Note that this book was written a long time ago. The radiologist probably was a programmer at the time.) Ace the Programming Interview: software developer Data Structures and Algorithms Made Easy: software developer Out of 9 authors (including myself), 8 are/were software developers or something else very, very deep in technology. Possibly all 9. Notably, zero are/were recruiters.
      - thenicepostr 12y ago
        What, she's worked a Google, Microsoft and Apple as an engineer. While she may not be currently employed as one, she certainly could be if she wanted.
- troupe 12y ago
  No. Based on the information presented, someone thought she had worked as a recruiter when she was at Google.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    It's really easy to say "Based on the information, nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman, people assumed she was a recruiter". That ignores all the times when people who are given the same information -but about a man- but who don't make the assumption that he was a recruiter.
gaylemcd 12y ago
The talk covered binary trees, breadth first search, dynamic programming, etc. It wasn't focused on fluffy topics. It'd be pretty unlikely to hear a recruiter talk at such a technical level.
- yummyfajitas 12y ago
  You are not the only recruiter with a CS degree.
  - gaylemcd 12y ago
    I'm not even a recruiter.
    - yummyfajitas 12y ago
      I should have been more precise in saying "recruiting consultant".
- danielrpa 12y ago
  Gayle, there is also the question of whether you are a programmer in the sense that you "can program" or if you are a programmer in the sense that you "program for a living". Different people will interpret the term differently. Based on your website and your book, you portray yourself as a Recruiting Consultant. So my assumption after seeing all the material you presented is that you are a programmer in the sense that you CAN program (and possibly well given the success of your book) but you are not necessarily a programmer in the sense that you don't do that for a living. For me, I wouldn't call you a "programmer" unless you did "computer programming" for a living, but that's just how I use the term. I would call you a recruiting consultant, and for me that's no better or worse than "programmer".
  - gaylemcd 12y ago
    Yes, that's fair. If you define "programmer" strictly as someone who currently holds a job title of "software developer", then sure, I'm not a programmer. Nor is, by that definition, a technical founder who's built their entire website. If that's the way you define the term "programmer", then sure, I'm not a programmer. Of course, if you define it in the sense of what someone can do, has been employed specifically to do in the past, and continues to do as a core part of their job, then I am a programmer. But, again, that's not relevant to the situation being described. The situation being described is not someone offhandedly saying that I'm not presently employed as a programmer, or asking about why I'm no longer a programmer [by some definitions]. You, and many other people, are creating new situations and saying "well if someone said X after you did Y, then it's totally reasonable." That's not the situation being described. It's the straw man fallacy. I am describing a specific situation in which someone listened to a talk about data structures, algorithms, big O time, etc (yes, within the context of interviewing) and saying "So when you WERE a recruiter at Google, ...". The information on my website is entirely irrelevant.

So her talk was on tech interviews and someone thought she was a recruiter? Doesn't seem that big a stretch...

by cowls 12y ago

So her talk was on tech interviews and someone thought she was a recruiter? Doesn't seem that big a stretch...

DanBC 12y ago

People thought she was not a programmer even though she wrote a book about programming interviews.

tedunangst 12y ago
William Poundstone, author of how would you move mt Fuji, is not a programmer, so that's not entirely surprising.
- gaylemcd 12y ago
  And his book isn't on programming interviews.
  - trynumber9 12y ago
    It is more or less a collection of puzzles used in programming interviews (in that particular book, at Microsoft). He has another titled "Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?" Similar concept, both focused on programming interview puzzles.
    - gaylemcd 12y ago
      No, they're actually not focused on programming interviews. Those sorts of puzzles aren't asked in programming interviews.
  - tedunangst 12y ago
    OK, fine. The next two Amazon books I get for "programming interview", "Elements of Programming Interviews" and "Programming Interviews Exposed", both have three authors each. In both cases, only one of the authors is actually employed as a programmer. The others include an EE professor, a radiologist and two executives. The field is rife with non programming authors. "I wrote a book about programming interviews" does not signal to me that you are, in fact, a programmer. I am happy to believe Gayle is a programmer, but I wouldn't use her book as a credential to support that claim. (And I just realized that I'm replying to Gayle. I didn't read your username before posting. oops. The "you" above wasn't meant to be directed at you personally.)
    - gaylemcd 12y ago
      It's hardly rife with non-programming authors. Elements of Programming Interviews: authors include an algorithms professor, a software engineer, and an engineer/CTO. Programming Interviews Exposed: authors include software engineer, a CEO & VP Technology, and a radiologist. (Note that this book was written a long time ago. The radiologist probably was a programmer at the time.) Ace the Programming Interview: software developer Data Structures and Algorithms Made Easy: software developer Out of 9 authors (including myself), 8 are/were software developers or something else very, very deep in technology. Possibly all 9. Notably, zero are/were recruiters.
    - thenicepostr 12y ago
      What, she's worked a Google, Microsoft and Apple as an engineer. While she may not be currently employed as one, she certainly could be if she wanted.
troupe 12y ago
No. Based on the information presented, someone thought she had worked as a recruiter when she was at Google.
- DanBC 12y ago
  It's really easy to say "Based on the information, nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman, people assumed she was a recruiter". That ignores all the times when people who are given the same information -but about a man- but who don't make the assumption that he was a recruiter.

gaylemcd 12y ago

The talk covered binary trees, breadth first search, dynamic programming, etc. It wasn't focused on fluffy topics. It'd be pretty unlikely to hear a recruiter talk at such a technical level.

yummyfajitas 12y ago
You are not the only recruiter with a CS degree.
- gaylemcd 12y ago
  I'm not even a recruiter.
  - yummyfajitas 12y ago
    I should have been more precise in saying "recruiting consultant".
danielrpa 12y ago
Gayle, there is also the question of whether you are a programmer in the sense that you "can program" or if you are a programmer in the sense that you "program for a living". Different people will interpret the term differently. Based on your website and your book, you portray yourself as a Recruiting Consultant. So my assumption after seeing all the material you presented is that you are a programmer in the sense that you CAN program (and possibly well given the success of your book) but you are not necessarily a programmer in the sense that you don't do that for a living. For me, I wouldn't call you a "programmer" unless you did "computer programming" for a living, but that's just how I use the term. I would call you a recruiting consultant, and for me that's no better or worse than "programmer".
- gaylemcd 12y ago
  Yes, that's fair. If you define "programmer" strictly as someone who currently holds a job title of "software developer", then sure, I'm not a programmer. Nor is, by that definition, a technical founder who's built their entire website. If that's the way you define the term "programmer", then sure, I'm not a programmer. Of course, if you define it in the sense of what someone can do, has been employed specifically to do in the past, and continues to do as a core part of their job, then I am a programmer. But, again, that's not relevant to the situation being described. The situation being described is not someone offhandedly saying that I'm not presently employed as a programmer, or asking about why I'm no longer a programmer [by some definitions]. You, and many other people, are creating new situations and saying "well if someone said X after you did Y, then it's totally reasonable." That's not the situation being described. It's the straw man fallacy. I am describing a specific situation in which someone listened to a talk about data structures, algorithms, big O time, etc (yes, within the context of interviewing) and saying "So when you WERE a recruiter at Google, ...". The information on my website is entirely irrelevant.