[dcposch]

I've interviewed a lot of software engineer candidates. It's always surprising how often people with impressive resumes, including computer science degrees from good-to-great universities, can't code at all.

I'm not talking about trick "do you remember A* search" questions. I'm talking about the ability to write a basic program and to reason about what it will do.

I've seen this across the gamut, from new grads to staff engineers.

Part of this is selection bias: those folks probably apply to many companies before they slip through somewhere, so they're overrepresented as interviewees.

My sense is that it's becoming more common. Undergrad CS has ever more people who are in it for reasons unrelated to enjoyment or curiosity.

[lordnacho]

Plenty of people here on HN will tell you they choke in interview situations. A lot of people just aren't comfortable and it gets to them.

That said there are people who really can't code, from my experience working with such folks.