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by CodeMage 3278 days ago
Why? You already gave the candidate a "take home assignment". That assignment should involve interesting trade-offs. If it doesn't, tweak it until it does. Why not discuss that code?

I'm the kind of guy who still likes to code on the side, at home, for fun, after all these years, but I'm also aware that not everyone is like that. Maybe that's one of your filters -- maybe you're looking for people who prefer coding to be 90% of their lives -- but that would be a big red flag in my book. I've seen too many companies who think that they are entitled to employees who will give them everything for next-to-nothing in return.
1 comments
marcgg 3278 days ago
Sometimes we do discuss this code if the candidate prefers. But it's still a somewhat "fake" code made for the only purpose to apply at the company. Most people would find it more interesting to discuss code they spent weeks on.

Finally we are not looking for any specific profile, but so far almost every person found a piece of code to share from their career. We don't get thousands of applicants, so maybe we're not seeing the issue just yet. If it turns out to be a problem, we'll change the process :)

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jcalabro 3278 days ago
>"We accept any kind of code, be it a kata made during a workshop or a side project"

>"But it's still a somewhat "fake" code made for the only purpose to apply at the company"

The code I write for side projects is not "production quality" because I do it for my own entertainment. I would never feel comfortable showing it off in an interview because it doesn't represent me professionally. All of my positions have been strictly closed-source.

Additionally, the code I write for side projects is usually unlike the work I'd be doing professionally. I'm a web developer but most of the side projects I work on are either dinky little video games or open source hardware.

I'll cede that I do find my side projects more interesting to talk about but I generally try and write "high-ish quality code" (not "fake") for the take home interview projects that I've had to do.

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marcgg 3278 days ago
As I mentioned in the article, we don't expect the code presented to be "perfect" code. If you've managed to get a side project running very quickly thanks to tradeoffs you've made, it's also interesting. It's really just a way to have a place to discuss choices.
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