3 ms·

I suspect most 10+ years experience guys are actually 10 * 1 year experience guys. When you have someone like that in front of you in an interview, it is quite

by hcho 12y ago

I suspect most 10+ years experience guys are actually 10 * 1 year experience guys. When you have someone like that in front of you in an interview, it is quite difficult to look past the fact that the person has no respect to his job.

csmdev 12y ago
So people that specialize in a field and become experts have no respect for the job. But the ones that hop around each year based on what's "hot" are better.
- collyw 12y ago
  I work with 10 * 1 year guys at work - my team leader. I know more languages than him, and I still write better SQL than him (one of the things he does know). Making an effort to learn something new doesn't stop you specialising in other areas. Also sticking to a one set of technologies doesn't mean you will automatically get good at them.
  - csmdev 12y ago
    Did you stop and think why he is the team leader and not you? Maybe having a deeper understanding of something is more important than playing with multiple things at once. Always switching technologies will get you only basic knowledge in each of them. Going past the surface requires daily use and years of constant evolution. That's how you become an expert in something. Deeper understanding. Not broader.
    - johnnyfaehell 12y ago
      Being a good team leader and being a good developer aren't the same thing. You can be an amazing team leader but suck at being a developer. There are a lot of team leads that are team leads just because they got there first. I've seen one who struggled at basic problem solving. However I get what you mean. The guy does seem to be a bit up himself.
      - collyw 12y ago
        Agreed, but he isn't good at that either!
    - collyw 12y ago
      He was in the right place at the right time and got lucky. Not through any competence. Always switching technologies won't get you in depth knowledge, but it will show you different, possibly better approaches. I would say a bit of both experience, as well as learning new ways of doing things helps. I learned Java at university. Inheritance and Polymorhpism were like black boxes until I learned Perl afterwards, and the mechanisms are there in front of you (OOP in Perl is a bit of a hack, but it makes it transparent how it works). That (and other features of Perl) helped my understanding of Java.
- hcho 12y ago
  10 * 1 year people don't specialize in anything. They just repeat the first year experience 10 times.
codeonfire 12y ago
This is such a dishonest meme that's of course popular because it plays on natural biases and there are way more people without ten years of experience. An equivalently dishonest statement would be "anyone who repeats the 10 is really 10*1 meme are just junior devs trying to compensate for their lack of skill and experience." Which of those broad generalizations is probable more true?
pkinsky 12y ago
How do you distinguish between 10*1 years experience and 10 years experience? Is the former assumed until proven otherwise?
- hcho 12y ago
  I have a work sample test with questions at increasing difficulties. They don't do any better than a junior dev. After having interviewed over a hundred candidates I can now tell in the first minutes of the meeting. They generally apply for a role they never have done before, are overdressed for the occasion and talk flawlessly with confidence.

by hcho 12y ago

csmdev 12y ago

So people that specialize in a field and become experts have no respect for the job. But the ones that hop around each year based on what's "hot" are better.

collyw 12y ago
I work with 10 * 1 year guys at work - my team leader. I know more languages than him, and I still write better SQL than him (one of the things he does know). Making an effort to learn something new doesn't stop you specialising in other areas. Also sticking to a one set of technologies doesn't mean you will automatically get good at them.
- csmdev 12y ago
  Did you stop and think why he is the team leader and not you? Maybe having a deeper understanding of something is more important than playing with multiple things at once. Always switching technologies will get you only basic knowledge in each of them. Going past the surface requires daily use and years of constant evolution. That's how you become an expert in something. Deeper understanding. Not broader.
  - johnnyfaehell 12y ago
    Being a good team leader and being a good developer aren't the same thing. You can be an amazing team leader but suck at being a developer. There are a lot of team leads that are team leads just because they got there first. I've seen one who struggled at basic problem solving. However I get what you mean. The guy does seem to be a bit up himself.
    - collyw 12y ago
      Agreed, but he isn't good at that either!
  - collyw 12y ago
    He was in the right place at the right time and got lucky. Not through any competence. Always switching technologies won't get you in depth knowledge, but it will show you different, possibly better approaches. I would say a bit of both experience, as well as learning new ways of doing things helps. I learned Java at university. Inheritance and Polymorhpism were like black boxes until I learned Perl afterwards, and the mechanisms are there in front of you (OOP in Perl is a bit of a hack, but it makes it transparent how it works). That (and other features of Perl) helped my understanding of Java.
hcho 12y ago
10 * 1 year people don't specialize in anything. They just repeat the first year experience 10 times.

codeonfire 12y ago

This is such a dishonest meme that's of course popular because it plays on natural biases and there are way more people without ten years of experience. An equivalently dishonest statement would be "anyone who repeats the 10 is really 10*1 meme are just junior devs trying to compensate for their lack of skill and experience." Which of those broad generalizations is probable more true?

pkinsky 12y ago

How do you distinguish between 10*1 years experience and 10 years experience? Is the former assumed until proven otherwise?

hcho 12y ago
I have a work sample test with questions at increasing difficulties. They don't do any better than a junior dev. After having interviewed over a hundred candidates I can now tell in the first minutes of the meeting. They generally apply for a role they never have done before, are overdressed for the occasion and talk flawlessly with confidence.