[thirtythree]

These posts come up often on HN and I always comment in agreement. I am the same. I have 7+ years experience and have worked on successful projects. I rarely have bugs in production (I can't remember any actually). I maintain projects that are 5+ years old so I know my code stands the test of time. (5 years might not be a lot to some I guess). I've mentored junior programmers and I spend my time reading about tech/programming stuff. I've probably listened to most of the software engineering daily podcasts.

I would still fail a programming interview.

[olingera]

I'm a team lead who gets rave reviews from pretty much every client and senior manager I work with. I did an interview a couple months ago and was basically verbally assaulted with trivia questions I couldn't answer. Something people need to realize is that just because interviewers are in a position of power doesn't mean they know what they're doing and it doesn't mean there's something wrong with you if you fail one. Maybe you just don't fit their specific role, maybe they have a stupid evaluation model, maybe your skills are just not quite there. None of that is a statement about your general ability or worth as a human being. We need to stop defining ourselves by our jobs and how well we fit into the incentive structure of the economy and particular organizations. To everyone on this thread who is feeling like shit: you have value, don't let a fucking abstract entity like a business or a shitty interviewer or even a lack of a specific skill convince you otherwise. There's more to life than selling your talents for money.

[j_autumn]

Thank you for these words, i needed it.