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Comment: Brain teasers are rubbish (Score 1) 672

by LSD-OBS (#38612632) Attached to: Are Brain Teasers Good Hiring Criteria?

I concur wholeheartedly. I could tell you that manhole covers are round because the manhole is round. But this doesn't relate in any way to actually solving problems by developing algorithms, or to how you approach a large code base, or how rapidly you learn our particular problem domain, or how reliable you are, or how readable your code is, or if you're capable of working to specification.

I do a phone interview to make sure the candidate and I understand each other, and to filter out bullshitters. Then I give them a test which should take half an hour to complete. I make my decision to hire almost entirely on the solution they provide, although the manager-types always want to interview the candidate.

Google's hiring process stinks of shit and red herring to me. You might as well be hiring an accountant on the basis of how well they do at crosswords.

Comment: It's quite simple (Score 1) 997

by LSD-OBS (#34875460) Attached to: Are 10-11 Hour Programming Days Feasible?

Working 10, 12, even 18 hours a day for weeks on end is no problem as long as you have nothing else in your life and you REALLY LIKE the work you're doing. This is exceedingly rare, but I have spent a few years of my life doing just that and it was rewarding in its way.

However, being MADE to work substantially more than 40 hours a week is counter-productive. The staff tire and become unmotivated, and some will leave, which (as should be obvious) costs the team more time than it's worth in recruiting new productive staff.

"Protozoa are small, and bacteria are small, but viruses are smaller than the both put together."

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