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Our typical filter question is: "are you happy to use PHP, C++, Mongo, Java?" Not that we have those in our stack yet, but it quickly weeds out those that sneer

Our typical filter question is: "are you happy to use PHP, C++, Mongo, Java?" Not that we have those in our stack yet, but it quickly weeds out those that sneer at any or all of that list. Let them destroy someone else's startup with their wanky tech attitude. We are more interested in problem solvers. The best answer we had was from employee # 2 - "if it gets shit done, and we ship, sure, why not?".

Dewie3 11y ago
> The best answer we had was from employee # 2 - "if it gets shit done, and we ship, sure, why not?". He knows how to play the game.
- TillE 11y ago
  Indeed. It's probably not optimal to ask questions where the interviewee can easily guess what you want to hear.
kinghajj 11y ago
Why do they need to be 'happy' about it, though? I'd be willing to use any of those, but I wouldn't enjoy working with them as much as I would with others. Does that mean I have a "wanky" attitude and immediately disqualify me?
- ozim 11y ago
  This one is good question. Why do all hiring people want you to be UBER happy to work for them and if you are not extremely aroused when you think about their company name they will not want to hire you. I can be super happy to work for company after year or so when I get to know how it is to work there. Before that I can be interested or looking forward to get to know how it is working for them.
  - Dewie3 11y ago
    Yes, some employees' obsession with people having to love their jobs is so weird. I can't imagine someone looking at a job description and exclaiming "wow, I love this!". Maybe after a year, though. When they actually know what they're supposed to do, and are invested in the work on some level.
    - Dewie3 11y ago
      > Yes, some employees' Meant to write 'employers'.
  - thirdtruck 11y ago
    They believe (with good reason) that the more excited the candidate, the lower the compensation they'll take to snag that coveted position.
  - zemanel 11y ago
    The real problem is that landlords, grocery stores and, in particular, pubs don't really understand when you tell them that the reason one can't pay that bill is because one hasn't yet came across a role in a super cool company, with wonderful customer experience around a product that one loved to the point of wanting to have sex with it, jazzy open space office and relaxed, integrating company culture, that scores 12 on the Joel Test!
karmajunkie 11y ago
just curious, but if they dispute the idea that those are the best tools, what's your response?
JustSomeNobody 11y ago
Not sure I'd say "shit" during an interview, but other than that I totally agree with #2.
- testingonprod 11y ago
  Why would you not say "shit" during an interview? I wouldn't make it my every other word, but I find nothing wrong in talking to someone as I'd talk to them on a daily basis if I were hired.
  - bshimmin 11y ago
    Because swearing in an interview is unprofessional.
    - eric_h 11y ago
      eh, i think the stigma associated with swearing has started to wane over the last decade or two. Admittedly if you swear every other word, you're not a very good communicator, but the occasional, impassioned (and well selected) swear word can be endearing, even in a professional environment.
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    I have no idea what the interviewer's attitude toward casual swearing is. Once I'm hired, I'll cuss like a sailor, cause by then it's really too late for them to do anything but ask me to keep the profanity down.
  - JustSomeNobody 11y ago
    Because, and maybe I'm old-fashioned, I don't think it is the appropriate place for it. Besides, I try to find other ways to express myself. Swearing, to me, is lazy and I don't want that to be something someone remembers me by.
nawitus 11y ago
You can get "shit done and ship" with practically any technology choice. Ironically, there's probably some other startup which has a similar question, but filters out everyone who is happy to use e.g. PHP.
lostcolony 11y ago
"Are you happy to use technologies we don't actually use, for reasons we aren't discussing with you, to solve problems that haven't been defined?" No. Next question please.
mahyarm 11y ago
So if I'm an android dev, you will disqualify me from using the only practical option of Java?
- throwaway12309 11y ago
  Have you tried Kotlin? Having a blast using it to do Android dev... Compiles sorta fast (comparable to Java) and is a bit saner
gizzlon 11y ago
So, having opinions about the tools you use all day is a bad thing? Does this extend to other tools as well, or just the tech stack?
- beat 11y ago
  Preference != condescension. Or preference <> condescension, if you swing that way. I'm currently dayjobbing in a world of Java on Windows. It's kinda horrible, especially after recent experience with Ruby, Docker, and fully automated infrastructure. But there's more to the job than tool choices. Fifteen years of legacy code has its own interesting challenges to overcome, and the work environment is terrific in many other ways that I probably wouldn't get at a modern startup.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > Preference != condescension. "Not being happy using X" is preference, for sure, but is also not equal to condescension.
    - beat 11y ago
      On the other hand, "Only morons would use X" is condescension.
bsder 11y ago
Well, my answer would be "Not particularly. In particular, PHP is a security nightmare; there are far better options than C++ nowadays; NoSQL stuff tends to be overhyped relative to real databases like PostgreSQL unless we have a zillion customers (and you don't or you would be giving talks at scalability conferences); and Clojure/Scala/whatever is probably better than straight Java although Java isn't actively bad. However, I'm also not going to rewrite a working stack if that's what you guys wrote it in. Revenue rules." So, you wouldn't hire me, and that's probably a good thing.
pm 11y ago
"Do I have to maintain it?"

Dewie3 11y ago

> The best answer we had was from employee # 2 - "if it gets shit done, and we ship, sure, why not?". He knows how to play the game.

TillE 11y ago
Indeed. It's probably not optimal to ask questions where the interviewee can easily guess what you want to hear.

kinghajj 11y ago

Why do they need to be 'happy' about it, though? I'd be willing to use any of those, but I wouldn't enjoy working with them as much as I would with others. Does that mean I have a "wanky" attitude and immediately disqualify me?

ozim 11y ago
This one is good question. Why do all hiring people want you to be UBER happy to work for them and if you are not extremely aroused when you think about their company name they will not want to hire you. I can be super happy to work for company after year or so when I get to know how it is to work there. Before that I can be interested or looking forward to get to know how it is working for them.
- Dewie3 11y ago
  Yes, some employees' obsession with people having to love their jobs is so weird. I can't imagine someone looking at a job description and exclaiming "wow, I love this!". Maybe after a year, though. When they actually know what they're supposed to do, and are invested in the work on some level.
  - Dewie3 11y ago
    > Yes, some employees' Meant to write 'employers'.
- thirdtruck 11y ago
  They believe (with good reason) that the more excited the candidate, the lower the compensation they'll take to snag that coveted position.
- zemanel 11y ago
  The real problem is that landlords, grocery stores and, in particular, pubs don't really understand when you tell them that the reason one can't pay that bill is because one hasn't yet came across a role in a super cool company, with wonderful customer experience around a product that one loved to the point of wanting to have sex with it, jazzy open space office and relaxed, integrating company culture, that scores 12 on the Joel Test!

karmajunkie 11y ago

just curious, but if they dispute the idea that those are the best tools, what's your response?

JustSomeNobody 11y ago

Not sure I'd say "shit" during an interview, but other than that I totally agree with #2.

testingonprod 11y ago
Why would you not say "shit" during an interview? I wouldn't make it my every other word, but I find nothing wrong in talking to someone as I'd talk to them on a daily basis if I were hired.
- bshimmin 11y ago
  Because swearing in an interview is unprofessional.
  - eric_h 11y ago
    eh, i think the stigma associated with swearing has started to wane over the last decade or two. Admittedly if you swear every other word, you're not a very good communicator, but the occasional, impassioned (and well selected) swear word can be endearing, even in a professional environment.
- s73v3r 11y ago
  I have no idea what the interviewer's attitude toward casual swearing is. Once I'm hired, I'll cuss like a sailor, cause by then it's really too late for them to do anything but ask me to keep the profanity down.
- JustSomeNobody 11y ago
  Because, and maybe I'm old-fashioned, I don't think it is the appropriate place for it. Besides, I try to find other ways to express myself. Swearing, to me, is lazy and I don't want that to be something someone remembers me by.

nawitus 11y ago

You can get "shit done and ship" with practically any technology choice. Ironically, there's probably some other startup which has a similar question, but filters out everyone who is happy to use e.g. PHP.

lostcolony 11y ago

"Are you happy to use technologies we don't actually use, for reasons we aren't discussing with you, to solve problems that haven't been defined?" No. Next question please.

mahyarm 11y ago

So if I'm an android dev, you will disqualify me from using the only practical option of Java?

throwaway12309 11y ago
Have you tried Kotlin? Having a blast using it to do Android dev... Compiles sorta fast (comparable to Java) and is a bit saner

gizzlon 11y ago

So, having opinions about the tools you use all day is a bad thing? Does this extend to other tools as well, or just the tech stack?

beat 11y ago
Preference != condescension. Or preference <> condescension, if you swing that way. I'm currently dayjobbing in a world of Java on Windows. It's kinda horrible, especially after recent experience with Ruby, Docker, and fully automated infrastructure. But there's more to the job than tool choices. Fifteen years of legacy code has its own interesting challenges to overcome, and the work environment is terrific in many other ways that I probably wouldn't get at a modern startup.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > Preference != condescension. "Not being happy using X" is preference, for sure, but is also not equal to condescension.
  - beat 11y ago
    On the other hand, "Only morons would use X" is condescension.

bsder 11y ago

Well, my answer would be "Not particularly. In particular, PHP is a security nightmare; there are far better options than C++ nowadays; NoSQL stuff tends to be overhyped relative to real databases like PostgreSQL unless we have a zillion customers (and you don't or you would be giving talks at scalability conferences); and Clojure/Scala/whatever is probably better than straight Java although Java isn't actively bad. However, I'm also not going to rewrite a working stack if that's what you guys wrote it in. Revenue rules." So, you wouldn't hire me, and that's probably a good thing.

pm 11y ago

"Do I have to maintain it?"