Post 9gJBH0jGAUIQexxJtA by swetland@rafting.io
 (DIR) More posts by swetland@rafting.io
 (DIR) Post #9gJAldjhbZxuN6Ci2q by ceejbot@rafting.io
       2019-02-28T23:00:51Z
       
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       I just had a thought sparked by a convo with David. Note that this isn't a subtweet or a reaction to whatever the hell the discourse is over on Twitter right now.The thought is this:
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJAvexJvQqV3ALqzI by ceejbot@rafting.io
       2019-02-28T23:02:39Z
       
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       Gonna start giving writing tests in technical interviews for programmers. No more fizzbuzz or "reproduce some famous person's PhD work on the fly on a whiteboard while being stared at". Just "write the docs for this chunk of prewritten code".
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJB9HIQghDlj2id4C by ceejbot@rafting.io
       2019-02-28T23:05:02Z
       
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       Will need to make allowances for varying levels of English-language skills, and I definitely won't be caring about spelling or grammar trivia.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJBCtsfghJAGJOjei by ceejbot@rafting.io
       2019-02-28T23:05:23Z
       
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       The goal is to figure out if the candidate can communicate clearly in a manner they'll need to be communicating all the time on the job, about the single most relevant topic.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJBFNdm0qtZ8hc0oa by jalcine@playvicious.social
       2019-02-28T23:05:45Z
       
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       @ceejbot hmmm Lyft used to do this (in a test - I took one) where they had not only pre-written tests for a project but it explained the need for documentation in each public method / class (Python) that you produced. It wasn't bad for small problems.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJBH0jGAUIQexxJtA by swetland@rafting.io
       2019-02-28T23:05:50Z
       
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       @ceejbot that's similar to "explain what this code does?" / "what's wrong with this code?" -- but I do like the documentation slant on it.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJBLUri42EpHg2zei by ceejbot@rafting.io
       2019-02-28T23:07:17Z
       
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       @swetland Yeah, it starts with "talk about this code", which I think is a great basis for interviews, then pushes it toward the concrete.Need to chew on this some more.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJBRr9k6Glq9hVxSq by ceejbot@rafting.io
       2019-02-28T23:08:29Z
       
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       @jalcine Yeah. Kinda think small is all you can approach in the constraints of interviews.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJEYUgeL2PmMFlNMO by tsturm@mastodon.cloud
       2019-02-28T23:43:17Z
       
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       @ceejbot @jalcine Maybe give them a simple API in code (just the hook methods and a comment each what the code would do) and have them write out API documentation for a few of the calls.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gJH87Fv8Ees1MNHFI by dws@rafting.io
       2019-03-01T00:12:07Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @ceejbot Leaving something sketchy in the code to see if they ask about it can provide useful info.
       
 (DIR) Post #9gK9FO9e60drz2M9Ls by wolfensen@mstdn.io
       2019-03-01T10:18:31Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @ceejbot good idea
       
 (DIR) Post #9gKAZ5CGOFGovtXG88 by 61@en.osm.town
       2019-03-01T10:33:17Z
       
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       @ceejbotDo tech interviews, other than the most cursory of questions, actually work?I have the impression you end up testing the ability of someone to pass am interview rather than whether the person will be a useful member of staff.Then again, I have no experience at all in this area. I'm just asking.@jalcine
       
 (DIR) Post #9gKb48qvRfZc3Z1dyK by ceejbot@rafting.io
       2019-03-01T15:30:13Z
       
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       @61 @jalcine Tech interviews famously do not work.