
Grading job candidates via Github API - digi604
http://divio.ch/github
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tzs
I've got 30+ years of experience, in a variety of areas (early console games,
Unix kernel hacking including ports and adding virtual memory and demand
paging to a swapping system, BIOS software that shipped on millions of
motherboards, SCSI drivers and firmware including writing the development
tools and reference software NCR included in their SCSI SDK, PCI compliant
credit card storage system, and much more).

They sent me to "Learn Python the Hard Way". A book aimed at teaching people
with NO programming experience.

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psylence519
You mean to sit there and tell me an automated analysis of a single web site's
knowledge of someone is an ineffective way to judge a person's value?

Well good sir, I just do not accept that.

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hamburglar
Obviously a terrific idea for filtering out the riffraf:

«We love your initiative, Linus Torvalds…» … but you need to improve.

~~~
ibdknox
yeah, It's not clear to me what their criteria could possibly be. Their own
employees seemed to have scored decently well, while heavy weights did
terrible.

I didn't even make their first tier at < 10k

~~~
oellegaard
I can't tell you the exact algorithm, but as we are searching for an intern to
work together with us - we are definitely weighing some things higher than
others.

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IanMechura
This may work for hiring interns but IMO there is a lot more that goes into a
quality Sr. Engineer than can be identified through analyzing a candidates
code commits.

A few examples of engineering qualities which seem to be either looked over or
not respected on this board include...

\- Estimation Skills (can the candidate estimate their own abilities and
identify pitfalls in the upcoming tasks?)

\- Documentation Skills (including diagramming, white boarding, etc)

\- Communication Skills (can the candidate communicate to the recipient on the
level which is required?)

\- Systems Integrations concepts/experience

\- Systems Performance concepts/experience

\- Personality (e.g. can the candidate accept that their proposed solution is
not the best in the room and go on to implement another proposal)

\- Politics (can the candidate navigate the politics inherent in an IT
organization or are they always burdened by conflict)

In my experience anyone can learn to code, and most people can put together an
application, but to become a great performer in any IT organization, the soft-
skills are even more important than the coding skills.

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grogs
Interesting idea. Obviously, plenty of good people do not use github though.

This should be used to allow programmers to skip the phone interview stage,
filter people in. However, it it should not filter people out... Just give
others a phone interview.

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talmand
Is this a joke? It doesn't seem very serious.

As for companies that would consider such a thing, what happens if someone
does not, will not, or can not commit their work to Github?

Should I just commit stuff to Github just so I can say I did?

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oellegaard
You can still apply at <https://www.divio.ch/en/jobs/> with a regular
application if you would prefer that.

~~~
talmand
Not that I want to apply, but the preference seems to have been clearly
stated. Are you saying there is no preference to GitHub users? How can someone
determine that since the page seems heavily in favor of it?

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waffle_ss
Just forking a bunch of Django/Python repos got >20K points and a "Not bad!
Maybe you have what it takes" message[1].

[1]: <http://i.imgur.com/cbkUK.png>

~~~
hamburglar
I just figured it out. They're looking for software testers.

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angersock
Here, let's try it on somebody we should all recognize:

<https://www.divio.ch/github/u/dhh/>

Welp. Huh. Looks like the creator of Rails isn't getting an internship.

~~~
oellegaard
Of course not :-) We are a Django shop ;)

~~~
angersock
Well played sir or madam!

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mikestew
Let's hope prospective interns aren't grading potential internships based on
whether the company's web server melts down an hour after a post on hacker
news. :-) All I get is a 500 error.

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nicolethenerd
I think the true filter here is "You are going to get [blablablah] per month,
to spend on beer." Non-drinkers need not apply.

Ah well, at least they're up front about some of their priorities.

~~~
SpiderX
I know. I don't even drink alcohol or use facebook or github, looks like I'm
screwed.

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SoftwarePatent
Why would someone with a 31334 github profile want an internship? They can get
a regular job making regular money.

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lucian1900
GitHub's popularity makes hg users sad :)

