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I've been in a hiring manager role (tech lead / manager) for almost 14 years and this has always been true: Lots of knowledge out there - but the ability to wri
by kellyfj 12y ago
I've been in a hiring manager role (tech lead / manager) for almost 14 years and this has always been true: Lots of knowledge out there - but the ability to write a basic function cleanly and correctly is rare.
There are tons of people with credentials and good looking resumes but my experience is that less than 1 in 5 of them can code a Fibonacci function let alone FizzBuzz. I don't care if it's iterative or recursive as long as it's right.
I think the core issue is the CS courses emphasize knowledge WAY TOO MUCH over experience of writing tons of code on a team. In addition, resumes have WAY too much noise compared to signal - that's why people's networks (and tools like GitHub) are so important.
I've also been in organizations where teams hired people I passed on (they did multiple interviews in our org) and those that did not pass the Fibonacci test not only bombed in their organizations but also hired MORE bad programmers and they all got RIFfed. Those that pass the Fibonacci test do pretty darn good on my teams.
Amazing how a simple programming test can be such a solid predictor . . .
I also screen for other things - knowledge, good communication skills and if they have a good sense of their own abilities. It also blows my mind how super confident kids walk in expecting to nail an interview - but again can't code a simple function to save their lives.
But Fibonacci continues to blow my mind - so simple and yet so hard. Just add two variables in a loop . . .
BTW I have found in general women are generally better programmers than men as a percentage of those interviewed.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoMy father felt very strongly that women were better naval officers than were men. He also felt very strongly that the soviets were far better than his fellow americans. He regarded most military personnel as total slackers.