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Re:I applied for a SW role at FedEx and had to take this biz... by ChrisMarshallNY on Monday February 12, 2024 @04:28PM (#39350766)
That was the way that I interviewed. I never gave a coding test in my life.

I never made a technical error, but I think that I did hire a couple of folks, over the years, that didn't integrate into the team that well. Not sure the personality test would have made a difference.

Sometimes, the only way that you can tell how someone will do, is start working with them.

Re:I applied for a SW role at FedEx and had to take this biz... by mistrial9 on Monday February 12, 2024 @05:04PM (#39351177)
the first time I saw a pressure-interview for high skill coders was on campus at Apple, and the interviewing team was from Microsoft HQ. The project was audio-related and required excellent coding skills and knowledge of digital sound and associated mathematics. This was in the early 1990s IIR.

After complete astonishment at the focus on "performance coding" also known as obey my commands now.. by tech-bros from MSFT, the immediate thought was "this is a new style of engineering management that emphasizes the authority of the interviewer over talent and skill fitting"

Re:I applied for a SW role at FedEx and had to take this biz... by ChrisMarshallNY on Monday February 12, 2024 @05:42PM (#39351550)
Well, when I was younger, I would have been more responsive to that.

Not anymore.

I've been shipping (as opposed to "writing") software, for my entire adult life. That means start-to-finish, and continuing support, afterwards. In the last dozen years, I've had over 20 apps in the Apple App Store (but I deprecate them, so it's probably only five or six, now), done alone.

I can do the stuff, and I can prove it. I have a gigantic library of code, out there, along with a great deal of blog posts, teaching courses, and whatnot.

If someone wants to find out about me, they could get a really good idea, in about fifteen minutes of searching. I make it a point, to be public about my work (if possible -the app I just released is not open-source).

But it surprises me, that they are more interested in 50-line academic exercises. I've actually been told that "I probably faked" my portfolio.