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"Ask for a non-trivial code or work sample, something they have written." I haven't written non-proprietary code in a decade.

by wijwp 1y ago

spongebobstoes 1y ago
Spending a few hours to write some open source code seems like a reasonable tradeoff to get a high paying job. It is surprising to me that folks looking for a new job would not do this proactively.
- mywittyname 1y ago
  Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at it. This includes contributions to a widely used OSS project. YMMV, but all the high paying jobs I've received were due to knowing the tech stack they used and being able to walk through the projects that I've done in detail. Admittedly, the last time I changed jobs was 2024, so things might be different now.
  - polishdude20 1y ago
    Exactly, the most I've gotten from my personal projects has been a "oh cool".
  - no_wizard 1y ago
    >Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at i If it helps, I do! When someone has this available on their resume, I will look around. It allows me to ask better questions, for starts. Unfortunately, what I have found, is for every one person who has a legitimate track record of contributions and/or working/worked on projects beyond the basics, there are 100 people who simply do a bunch of cookie cutter projects to make their Github look good, but everything is shallow. Ironically, those with the cookie cutter projects set themselves up to get weeded out easily, as there is a clear pattern of 'learning to pass the test' rather than learning to learn
  - rahimnathwani 1y ago
    no interviewer has ever looked at it How do you know this? Did you challenge every interviewer to tell you whether they'd looked at any of the code on your personal github page? If I review code on someone's github page, that doesn't mean I'll proactively ask them about it in an interview.
alkonaut 1y ago
Everyone can produce _something_ they have written. Yes there are people who literally clock in at work and code 8-5 for 10 years and never touched a hobby project or contributed to an OSS project. And you might not want to filter that group out completely. But if I was in that group and I was considering switching jobs, I'd definitely make sure I had some of that proprietary code stashed away so I could show a potential future employer. Yes you won't be allowed to do that. And it would be understandable if in some cases (like you work as a defense contractor) it's completely impossible. But for most people it should be possible to show something.

"Ask for a non-trivial code or work sample, something they have written." I haven't written non-proprietary code in a decade.

by wijwp 1y ago

"Ask for a non-trivial code or work sample, something they have written." I haven't written non-proprietary code in a decade.

spongebobstoes 1y ago

Spending a few hours to write some open source code seems like a reasonable tradeoff to get a high paying job. It is surprising to me that folks looking for a new job would not do this proactively.

mywittyname 1y ago
Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at it. This includes contributions to a widely used OSS project. YMMV, but all the high paying jobs I've received were due to knowing the tech stack they used and being able to walk through the projects that I've done in detail. Admittedly, the last time I changed jobs was 2024, so things might be different now.
- polishdude20 1y ago
  Exactly, the most I've gotten from my personal projects has been a "oh cool".
- no_wizard 1y ago
  >Because interviewers don't care. I have tons of code on my personal github page and even thought it's listed on my resume/linkedin, no interviewer has ever looked at i If it helps, I do! When someone has this available on their resume, I will look around. It allows me to ask better questions, for starts. Unfortunately, what I have found, is for every one person who has a legitimate track record of contributions and/or working/worked on projects beyond the basics, there are 100 people who simply do a bunch of cookie cutter projects to make their Github look good, but everything is shallow. Ironically, those with the cookie cutter projects set themselves up to get weeded out easily, as there is a clear pattern of 'learning to pass the test' rather than learning to learn
- rahimnathwani 1y ago
  no interviewer has ever looked at it How do you know this? Did you challenge every interviewer to tell you whether they'd looked at any of the code on your personal github page? If I review code on someone's github page, that doesn't mean I'll proactively ask them about it in an interview.

alkonaut 1y ago

Everyone can produce _something_ they have written. Yes there are people who literally clock in at work and code 8-5 for 10 years and never touched a hobby project or contributed to an OSS project. And you might not want to filter that group out completely. But if I was in that group and I was considering switching jobs, I'd definitely make sure I had some of that proprietary code stashed away so I could show a potential future employer. Yes you won't be allowed to do that. And it would be understandable if in some cases (like you work as a defense contractor) it's completely impossible. But for most people it should be possible to show something.