Re:Why we don't hire programmers based on puzzles and tricks
by ZoFreX on Friday February 22, 2013 @06:03PM
(#5267517)
I've played musical instruments and sung in front of hundreds of people, it's stressful but I'm confident I could code under the same circumstances.
I have panic attacks if I feel too enclosed, particularly big crowds in small spaces. I would definitely fail to code FizzBuzz if I was having a panic attack! But if I needed to, I could disguise it pretty well. You might not notice that I was having a panic attack.
Stress isn't linear, so you can't really extrapolate from it that well.
Also, I would question whether absolutely everybody on your team needs to be exposed to lots of stress. Sure, some people have to care about live systems crashing (as one example of a majorly stressful event), but not everybody, surely?
Personally, interviews don't stress me out and I can do whiteboard coding tests no problem. A big component of that is because I went to the right schools and they rigorously trained me on that from a young age. I don't think it's fair that it's easier for me to get a job than someone whose grandmother was less well off (she paid for my schooling).
I have panic attacks if I feel too enclosed, particularly big crowds in small spaces. I would definitely fail to code FizzBuzz if I was having a panic attack! But if I needed to, I could disguise it pretty well. You might not notice that I was having a panic attack.
Stress isn't linear, so you can't really extrapolate from it that well.
Also, I would question whether absolutely everybody on your team needs to be exposed to lots of stress. Sure, some people have to care about live systems crashing (as one example of a majorly stressful event), but not everybody, surely?
Personally, interviews don't stress me out and I can do whiteboard coding tests no problem. A big component of that is because I went to the right schools and they rigorously trained me on that from a young age. I don't think it's fair that it's easier for me to get a job than someone whose grandmother was less well off (she paid for my schooling).