

Ask HN: What is the FizzBuzz test for hiring an engineering manager? - abtinf


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codeonfire
There is no FizzBuzz test for an engineering manager. Managers are not chosen
due to a measurable skill, they are chosen based on political factors,
previous job titles, contacts, and a huge number of other reasons. Sometimes
they are hired simply to fire people for a month or two, then are fired
themselves. Measurable, productive work is what everyone else does.

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geocar
I think management that can't code cannot evaluate or understand the products
and outcomes of an engineering team.

However, in the spirit of the question: I ask them what do they do that ships.
I mostly want to know if I can personally deal with them because communicating
upwards is difficult, but I am most troubled by a simple answer (e.g. Scrum,
Pair, etc).

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jlengrand
I know a famous equivalent that has been used to hire a manager. The company
back in the time was searching for a guy able to "think out of the box".

You'll find the answer on google in seconds if you search, so take a minute to
think about it by yourself ^^

The question was simple : You are in the middle of nowhere, riding a two-seats
car during a storm. Stopping to a stop sign, you see three people waiting at a
bus stop. \- the girl of your dreams \- your best friend \- an old granny on
her way to die

What do you do?

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codenut
Whats the goal here?

Regardless, I will ask my besfriend to drive my old granny to the hospital and
stay at the bus stop with my dream girl in the middle of the storm.

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jlengrand
Probably the same as when an employer asked my girlfriend if she was a virgin
during an interview.

In french, virgin and virgo (zodiac sign) are the same word.

It puts yourself in situations you don't expect. You have to use your guts,
and not your knowledge to answer those :)

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rosenjon
It's a simple coding test that asks you to write s program that prints Fizz,
Buzz or FizzBuzz, usually depending on the multiple of some number. I.e.
multiple of 3 print fizz, multiple of 5 print buzz, multiples of both 5 and 3
print fizzbuzz. Usually it will ask you to do this for numbers from 1 to 100,
or something like that.

It's basically a way to weed out people who don't know how to write any code.

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martinwnet
I'm pretty sure the questioner knows what Fizz Buzz is, but they are asking
what an equivalent test would be for an engineering manager.

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dgunn
So you want an equally bad way of hiring managers as fizzbuzz is for hiring
engineers? Odd request...

