[icey]

Code samples are informative to hiring managers for a few reasons:

1. They immediately weed out the people who apply to a hundred jobs at once without actually considering the position.

2. It tells managers if the applicant understands the job. If the job is for an algorithm heavy position, does the code sample reflect knowledge in that arena or did they send a half-assed fizzbuzz implementation?

3. It gives some insight into taste. If a job applicant submits code that looks like crap it speaks to the quality of code you can expect to see from them. On the flip side, I've also seen beautiful code submitted from someone I didn't have in my top 5 list of people to talk to and it ended up getting them a job.

In the end, you shouldn't be offended by the request. It's not uncommon to get over 200 responses for a job opening, most of those coming from people who haven't really read it. It's a nice way to filter out bad submissions without resorting to using terrible HR software that analyzes resumes for keywords.

[mkramlich]

Another big factor, which I don't think you said explicitly, is that oftentimes the majority of applicants for a software development position seem to lack the actual ability to write code. There are many horror stories from folks doing hiring where they experienced applicants who seemed to lack the ability to write even simple, small applications. Granted, some of those situations could have been caused by pressure and nervousness, but other times it isn't. Some of those folks just can't code at all, but they applied anyway.

[icey]

It's something I didn't mention, but you're completely right.

The past 3 positions I've hired for have had essentially identical applicant spectrums:

* 80% completely ignored the requirements and didn't provide requested the information. Our listings contain one or two questions to make sure they've been read. Things like "What is your favorite programming language?" or "What is your favorite technical blog?"

* Another 10% were not qualified as per the listing

* Half of the remaining 10% did not pass HR screening - usually this meant they were jerks to the HR lady or didn't have good references * Less than half of the remaining 5% were able to perform at any capacity during our very simple coding exercise.

By simple I mean things like "write a function that accepts an integer and returns the next largest prime" or "write a function that interpolates two strings".

We have fairly liberal hiring practices, but insist on being able to do the job we're hiring for. I feel sorry for any company that doesn't have a technical interview process in place.

[ekidd]

In my experience, the horror stories are the _norm_ when interviewing for publicly-listed positions. I understand that some people don't perform well under pressure, but even so, that doesn't explain some of the things I've seen.

For example, if you list C as your primary programming language, and you need a copy of K&R to remember that functions use "{}" brackets, you're not getting hired. I mean, please respect me enough to spend 30 minutes cramming before trying to bluff your way into a job.

My rule of thumb: Do not hire programmers without asking them to write code! Shy people who don't work well under pressure can submit github repositories instead.