[mcphage]

> Furthermore, given the extreme volume of applications, the companies feel that they can afford to "hire the best" by adopting particularly rigorous processes.

Do you think that this process actually selects for the best programmers? Like, is it too rigorous, or is it instead measuring something adjacent but distinct from the best developer? If they can’t use it to hire senior talent, then that doesn’t sound like "hiring the best".

[romanhn]

I most certainly do not, hence the quotes :-) In fact, I think it actively selects _against_ the best candidates. Basically, it's optimized to quickly cut out the long tail of subpar employees (per whatever definition they might have), which happens at the expense of those that are unable to pass but would still be awesome (lack of prep, lack of opportunities, anxiety issues, etc) and those that can't be bothered (a lot of experienced folks fall in here). The process might work for the mid-to-upper band of candidates, but anyone outside of that, on either end, is left behind (with exceptions of course). Companies are totally cool with that, because the long tail is quite a problem at that scale.