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The author’s memory is remarkable. I hardly remember my own name that far back, LOL. Back then, I knew I would always struggle with those types of interviews, s
by zhxiaoliang 4mo ago
The author’s memory is remarkable. I hardly remember my own name that far back, LOL. Back then, I knew I would always struggle with those types of interviews, so I always carried a floppy disk with me to them. The disk contained a few programs I had written, and I would simply tell the interviewers, “Don’t give me a quiz. I’m terrible at it, so if you do, I’m out.” However, if they were willing to look at my capabilities, I would share a few of my programs. That approach actually worked most of the time and got me the jobs. The good old days!
- mikepurvis 4mo agoI can tell this is from forever ago by floppy disk.
- mvdtnz 4mo agoThat's an IRL save icon for anyone who's wondering.
- kakacik 4mo ago3D printed to the finest details, heck it can even store like half a picture. I fondly recall pirating Strike Commander on 35 floppies, it took quite a few sessions to transfer this since there was quite often some data reading error... good memories, feel like from 5 centuries ago
- zhxiaoliang 4mo agoYes, but it feels like yesterday...
- chistev 4mo agoWhy did that approach change?
- zhxiaoliang 4mo agoI’m not sure if that strategy still works in today’s job market. It might still be, but I’m not the one to answer since I haven’t been on a job interview in quite some time.
- joezydeco 4mo agoI work in embedded systems. I always carry a few (small) projects with me in a backpack with a power supply and bring them out if certain topics allow me to do a show-and-tell. I also carry a binder. Each page is a one-page description of a project with a color photo of the system and a bulled-point list of all technologies inside. It's a great conversation starter. Hasn't failed me yet.
- HeyLaughingBoy 4mo ago10 years after I was hired, one of the interviewers still remembered me showing him a small board that I'd designed, even though he was a Windows MFC programmer and didn't know the first thing about microcontrollers. I've made great hires who had binders just like you described.
- ta8903 4mo agoSurely the modern equivalent to that is having public git repositories.
- HarHarVeryFunny 4mo agoPerhaps, but has "I'm not doing your whiteboard challenge - check out my git repositories instead!" ever worked for you?!
- zhxiaoliang 4mo agoHaha, for some reason when phrased like that I get a bad feeling about the outcome of the interview.
- animal531 4mo agoMemory is a funny thing. I also take months to learn new names, but I can tell you that my second interview ever was for a company which did low level SCADA work. Even though I never took that job or worked in any such related field I can still tell you what it stands for.
- TimByte 4mo agoNames disappear instantly, but some oddly specific technical acronym from one interview decades ago gets burned into ROM
- TimByte 4mo agoA small floppy full of actual programs probably said much more about your ability than a whiteboard quiz ever could