[kwlug disc.] OT? Getting work in the field

[donald tees]

Chris Bruner wrote:  . Well said.
> The last time I hired someone, I was sent a ton of applicants from 
> Conestoga College, I quickly devised a test with some very ugly c code 
> that involved pointers and other weird stuff. The idea was to tell me 
> what number the program would produce.   It eliminated all the 
> Conestoga College people right away. Some of them barely knew what a 
> computer was, yet all had passed their programming courses. The guy I 
> ended  up hiring didn't figure out my test either, but he sat and 
> puzzled it out very methodically.  I think I was more impressed with 
> this then if he had gotten the answer right (he messed up at the very 
> end).  He was great, and I must say that if I ever hire anyone to 
> program again, I'd use the same method.  How people approach a problem 
> helps show what they are like to work with.
>
> He had a degree.
>
Hiring is a bitch.  Years ago (this was in the 70's) nobody had their 
own machine.  I use to go into the terminal room at 4 in the morning, 
and recruit.  Worked like a charm.  There have been massive studies done 
on questions for applicants to determine skills.  The only question that 
consistently jives with results  has proven to be "what do you like to 
do?"  If the answer is "write code", then there is a correspondence with 
coding ability.  Unfortunately, applicants know that, and lie.

I think though, if you hate writing code, you will not finish a computer 
science degree ... there is just too much code that has to be written.  
If you love it, then you will probably struggle through.  So it is a 
litmus test.

I expect a good job candidate to bring code with them. The best ones 
like to demo it, but probably only one in twenty does. If they have code 
they are willing to brag about, I'm 90% convinced. If they are willing 
to fight over it, make it 99%.

Donald