4 ms·

Where I work we have a "programming test". You get a simple problem, two hours, your own laptop (or one provided to you, as you like), full access to the intern

Where I work we have a "programming test". You get a simple problem, two hours, your own laptop (or one provided to you, as you like), full access to the internet, and a room by yourself. The problems are doable in about 1/2 the time. Still not quite like a real situation where you bounce ideas off other folks, take a break and go for a walk when you're stuck, etc, but it's closer than the whiteboard coding nonesense. But I have seen folks coming highly recommended with "architect potential", "top of the heap", etc, who turn out to be 100% useless. And I mean useless as in "it's more work overall when they work on something than if they wouldn't have worked on it in the first place".

Luyt 12y ago
> I have seen folks coming highly recommended Who did recommend those useless candidates to you? A recruiter, perhaps? Read this horror story: http://bostik.iki.fi/aivoituksia/pages/recruiter-anxiety.html http://bostik.iki.fi/aivoituksia/pages/recruiter-anxiety.htm... The good developers generally have no trouble finding jobs, and therefore don't need recruiters' help. With the best and the brightest taken off the pool, the recruiters are mostly left with merely the mediocre and the bad ones. This in turn has collateral effects: any developer coming in via a recruiter already carries the stigma of "not good enough to find job on their own".