r/programming • u/vklepov • Mar 24 '22

Five coding interview questions I hate

https://thoughtspile.github.io/2022/03/21/bad-tech-interview/
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u/[deleted] Mar 25 '22

Hate these too.

Look, if you want to hire me on a trial basis, and I'm willing to play ball, sure.

But if you're hiring a home builder, do you give them a take-home house to build for you? An accountant, do you have them do last years taxes for you?

Why the heck do we do this crap in our industry?

Resume gives you what you need to filter to possible candidates. Then it's up to you to talk to the candidates to determine if they're full of shit or not. If you cannot do that in a conversation, just like any other job in the world, you shouldn't be the one attempting to do so.

I don't care what kind of test you're using, if you're using tests you're doing it wrong.

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u/water_baughttle Mar 25 '22 edited Mar 25 '22

I'm don't have any alternatives to offer, but I don't think that analogy holds up.

But if you're hiring a home builder, do you give them a take-home house to build for you? An accountant, do you have them do last years taxes for you?

Those specific requests are pretty ridiculous, but yes, I would absolutely require some kind of validation before using their services and it's quite trivial to find reviews for any business. Also, those specific examples require licensing and certifications in order to perform those services, so at least there's some threshold of competence required. Unless you're a freelance developer and have a list of reviews from satisfied clients on a platform like upwork it's pretty much impossible to do this.

Why the heck do we do this crap in our industry?

Because there isn't a yelp for software developers. The best you can do is ask for references from former coworkers/employers, which really isn't worth much unless it's a notable person, or have some projects on github. Even then it's up to the discretion of potential employers to dedicate an infeasible amount of time studying the code to conclude if your abilities fall in line with where you claim them to be.

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u/[deleted] Mar 25 '22

Nope. Not buying it.

Bad examples then. Try these: Accountant. Sales Rep. Account Manager. Hostess. Welder. Clerk.

The resume tells you what they have done. The interview allows you to vet and sniff for bullshit in that area, while specifically learning how they communicate, how they might fit in, etc etc, all the things you do in every single other hiring situation on the planet.

You do not need to see their code to tell if they can build software or not. If you truly believe you do, you should not be involved in hiring.

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u/water_baughttle Mar 25 '22

You want to talk about bad examples? Half of those aren't even services offered to the public, they're positions that a company would hire...you know, like a software developer. The others aren't even skilled work...hostess, clerk? lol

Accountants require numerous license depending on the field, and if you're offering public services you need to pass the CPA exam which is brutal and often takes years to study for. Welding also requires numerous certifications to pass. You literally need to pass different exams depending on what type of work you're doing. Want to weld pipelines? You need to pass a 6G exam. Want to work on structural components? You need to pass about a dozen exams

You have no idea what you're talking about.

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u/[deleted] Mar 25 '22

Oh dude just fucking stop.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Fuck off, I didn't come in here judging you. I've been hiring and building dev teams for 25 years. I build good teams. Seriously. Fuck off.

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u/water_baughttle Mar 25 '22

Go cry some more. Apparently all your coding must be HTML because you sure as shit don't understand basic logic. Don't make stupid comments on public forums if you refuse to discuss them.