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0 pointschaostheory12y ago0 comments

Well then how am I going to figure out whether or not you can code? The only thing I can think of is an expensive two week trial period which doesn't make sense since I feel that most programmers will either submit work or submit to a pop quiz.

0 comments

9 comments · 3 top-level

toomuchtodo12y ago· 3 in thread

Good developers cost, what, $120K-150K/year?

If a two week trial period is "expensive" to you, you don't have the budget for someone in that pay range.

chaostheoryOP12y ago

Time is an expensive resource for even teams in large corporations. Most often you'll be spending a week or two going over the context and rationale of existing stuff. This gets worse the larger and older the company.

mikeash12y ago

It's expensive in other ways though.

A programmers who is currently employed but thinking about moving on probably won't agree to a two-week trial period because of the substantial risk that they get rejected afterwards and end up unemployed. That makes the trial period expensive to him. In turn, it makes it expensive to the employer as well, because you'll filter out good people.

toomuchtodo12y ago

Can they not do this two-week project after hours? Must it be in your office, on your schedule? Where you code, the hours you code, these do not matter. The code is what matters.

1 more reply

zura12y ago· 2 in thread

You can figure out by discussing past experience, projects.

chaostheoryOP12y ago

This is the easiest for people to fabricate and it makes it harder to discern good people from bad, especially when you can't actually look at the product of that experience.

zura12y ago

I think it is quite easy to get to the level of discussions where one needs to be very smart to fabricate...

As for coding during the interview, I can't concentrate (get in the "zone") even when my wife watches me behind. So it is not about the stress, but the way how a programmer works.

acuozzo12y ago· 1 in thread

> Well then how am I going to figure out whether or not you can code?

Provide the candidate with a PC representative of what you'd give to him/her during the course of his/her's employment and assign an ~one-hour-long programming assignment to complete while you sit nearby.

If the candidate needs a particular program (e.g., "I don't like Vim. I prefer to write my code in VILE!"), then give it to 'em.

chaostheoryOP12y ago

This is still another variant of the pop quiz... but a better one.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

9 comments · 3 top-level

toomuchtodo12y ago· 3 in thread

Good developers cost, what, $120K-150K/year?

If a two week trial period is "expensive" to you, you don't have the budget for someone in that pay range.

chaostheoryOP12y ago

mikeash12y ago

It's expensive in other ways though.

toomuchtodo12y ago

Can they not do this two-week project after hours? Must it be in your office, on your schedule? Where you code, the hours you code, these do not matter. The code is what matters.

1 more reply

zura12y ago· 2 in thread

You can figure out by discussing past experience, projects.

chaostheoryOP12y ago

This is the easiest for people to fabricate and it makes it harder to discern good people from bad, especially when you can't actually look at the product of that experience.

zura12y ago

I think it is quite easy to get to the level of discussions where one needs to be very smart to fabricate...

As for coding during the interview, I can't concentrate (get in the "zone") even when my wife watches me behind. So it is not about the stress, but the way how a programmer works.

acuozzo12y ago· 1 in thread

> Well then how am I going to figure out whether or not you can code?

If the candidate needs a particular program (e.g., "I don't like Vim. I prefer to write my code in VILE!"), then give it to 'em.

chaostheoryOP12y ago

This is still another variant of the pop quiz... but a better one.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse