I went to their website and applied.
Software engineering interview experiences don't have to be terrible.
Thread on my best software engineering interview experience.
👇🏼 (Thanks @PaulYacoubian for the idea)
I went to their website and applied.
They had an open field that said "Tell me something we should know about you".
I wrote about how I was a career switcher, had kids, went to school while working full time, etc.
They emailed me back a few days later and sent me a calendly link to schedule my first interview.
Letting the candidate choose a time for an interview is a small detail but is great for reducing candidate stress.
My interviewer mentioned and asked tons of questions about the free-response field I had filled out earlier.
1- Pair programming with one engineer. Pass/Fail to next round
2- Pair programming session with 3 engineers in one day. Pass/Fail to next round
3- Talks with executive folks
4 - Offer
All the people I paired with were friendly and low-ego.
I spoke with ~10 people each time I interviewed, and I could tell that each of them had read my application closely.
They showed a general interest in me!
Contrast this to other interviews I've had where they seemed almost bothered I was there
I never felt in the dark.
They biased towards responding quickly. The whole interview felt well thought out.
The interview closely approximated what a day in the life of working at the company would be like. No algorithm questions.
The talks with the executives went great too. They were transparent about the needs, what they were looking for, growth trajectory, etc.
The offer was for an internship in NYC. I live in Texas. Couldn't miss his birth.
I felt bad but they were very understanding. The recruiter also recently found out they were having a child and he sounded excited for us!
We chatted back and forth for a few weeks over email on babies, software development, etc.
It felt very human and it made a huge impression on me.
I emailed the recruiter and he started the process over for me again. It was mostly the same but just as pleasant.
More from Software
The Great Software Stagnation is real, but we have to understand it to fight it. The CAUSE of the TGSS is not "teh interwebs". The cause is the "direct manipulation" paradigm : the "worst idea in computer science" \1
Progress in CS comes from discovering ever more abstract and expressive languages to tell the computer to do something. But replacing "tell the computer to do something in language" with "do it yourself using these gestures" halts that progress. \2
Stagnation started in the 1970s after the first GUIs were invented. Every genre of software that gives users a "friendly" GUI interface, effectively freezes progress at that level of abstraction / expressivity. Because we can never abandon old direct manipulation metaphors \3
The 1990s were simply the point when most people in the world finally got access to a personal computer with a GUI. So that's where we see most of the ideas frozen. \4
It's no surprise that the improvements @jonathoda cites, that are still taking place are improvements in textual representation : \5
The Great Software\xa0Stagnation https://t.co/A6peSPERaU
— Jonathan Edwards (@jonathoda) January 1, 2021
Progress in CS comes from discovering ever more abstract and expressive languages to tell the computer to do something. But replacing "tell the computer to do something in language" with "do it yourself using these gestures" halts that progress. \2
Stagnation started in the 1970s after the first GUIs were invented. Every genre of software that gives users a "friendly" GUI interface, effectively freezes progress at that level of abstraction / expressivity. Because we can never abandon old direct manipulation metaphors \3
The 1990s were simply the point when most people in the world finally got access to a personal computer with a GUI. So that's where we see most of the ideas frozen. \4
It's no surprise that the improvements @jonathoda cites, that are still taking place are improvements in textual representation : \5
🚨 🦮 Seven ways to test for accessibility using only what is already in browser developer tools of Chromium browsers https://t.co/C7kdbigHGE
@MSEdgeDev @EdgeDevTools @ChromiumDev
#tools #accessibility #browsers
Also, a thread: 👇🏼
Issues pane, powered by @webhintio, listing accessibility issues with explanations why these are problems, links to more info and direct links to the tools where to fix the problem. https://t.co/4K5RynHhbg
The inspect element overlay showing accessibility relevant information of the element, including contrast information, ARIA name, role and if it can be focused via keyboard.
Colour picker with contrast information offering colours that are AA/AAA compliant. You can also see compliant colours indicated by a line on the colour patch.
Note: the current algorithm fails to take font weight into consideration, that's why there will be a new one.
Vision deficit ("colour blindness") emulation. You can see what your product looks like for different visitors.
https://t.co/bxj1vySCAb
@MSEdgeDev @EdgeDevTools @ChromiumDev
#tools #accessibility #browsers
Also, a thread: 👇🏼

Issues pane, powered by @webhintio, listing accessibility issues with explanations why these are problems, links to more info and direct links to the tools where to fix the problem. https://t.co/4K5RynHhbg

The inspect element overlay showing accessibility relevant information of the element, including contrast information, ARIA name, role and if it can be focused via keyboard.

Colour picker with contrast information offering colours that are AA/AAA compliant. You can also see compliant colours indicated by a line on the colour patch.
Note: the current algorithm fails to take font weight into consideration, that's why there will be a new one.

Vision deficit ("colour blindness") emulation. You can see what your product looks like for different visitors.
https://t.co/bxj1vySCAb
