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0 pointsscarface_742y ago0 comments

> I think many more people have the opportunity to grind leetcode than have the opportunity to "take the time to learn a new to you technology

The difference is that you are an active programmer, you’re actually programming. I graduated in 1996. I had to learn “new to me technology* as part of my job for 25 years on the job. I’ve never had to do anything approaching leetcode on my day to day job.

I’ve learned on the job:

- infrastructure and networking

- C++

- Perl

- JavaScript

- VB6

- C#

- Python

- litterally 3 dozen AWS technologies

- databases (OLAP, OLTP, key/value, document, etc)

- how to manage large projects

And pick up soft skills

> Do you think you're measuring something objective about their ability to do the job?

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. That’s where behavioral question comes from.

> To the extent that you are, do you think what you're measuring is something different / better than "has decent general intelligence

None of the behavioral traits I mention have any correlation to intelligence. I didn’t wake up one morning and learn how to communicate effectively .

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3 comments · 1 top-level

lmm2y ago· 2 in thread

> I had to learn “new to me technology* as part of my job for 25 years on the job.

Right, I'm saying that's a rarer privilege than being able to do leetcode or similar (whether during work hours or not).

> None of the behavioral traits I mention have any correlation to intelligence. I didn’t wake up one morning and learn how to communicate effectively .

If you think being able to communicate effectively has nothing to do with intelligence you're crazy. (Of course, it probably has have even more to do with having a common class experience than with intelligence)

scarface_74OP2y ago

> Right, I'm saying that's a rarer privilege than being able to do leetcode or similar (whether during work hours or not).

How long have you been working? I doubt very seriously that anyone who works professionally hasn’t had to learn some new technology on the job. Out of the 2.7 million working software developers, I could say that almost all of them had to learn new to them technologies on the job. Also almost none of them did anything approaching leetcode on the job.

> If you think being able to communicate effectively has nothing to do with intelligence you're crazy. (Of course, it probably has have even more to do with having a common class experience than with intelligence)

What exactly point are you trying to make? That if I need someone who can communicate affectingly I should test that by using leetcode?

Yes, you can learn how to be an effective communicator much easier than you can learn how to pass a coding interview.

lmm2y ago

> I doubt very seriously that anyone who works professionally hasn’t had to learn some new technology on the job. Out of the 2.7 million working software developers, I could say that almost all of them had to learn new to them technologies on the job.

Sure. It's a great way to hire people who already have professional-class jobs, mostly already software developers.

> Yes, you can learn how to be an effective communicator much easier than you can learn how to pass a coding interview.

People from the "wrong" class aren't generally ineffective communicators, they just have a communication style that's adapted to their circumstances. PMC communication styles are easy to learn if you have access to an environment where everyone else is using them, but very hard otherwise. (Also, by your own logic if the communication style is easier to learn wouldn't you want to hire people for the harder skill and teach them the communication style on the job?)

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