How To Identify A Lame Programming Job

http://www.codypowell.com/taods/2009/12/the-codypo-test-aka-8-questions-to-identify-a-lame-programming-job.html

by fogus • 17 years ago

47 36 17 years ago

enjo• 17 years ago

Basically a list of this guys personal preferences.. lame.

Here is a foolproof method of filtering out bad programmer jobs:

If they ever use the words 'rockstar', 'ninja', or anything similar, run very far away. If throughout the interview process they focus purely on pumping up your ego run very far away. If all they can talk about is how they have Rockband and Foosball, you got it, run very far away.

Great programming jobs are those in which you are solving interesting problems surrounded by interesting people. If they have that they don't need 'ninjas' and 'rockstars'. They don't need to talk about foosball (I'm not saying Foosball is bad, it just shouldn't be the focus of your work). Instead, they'll talk about interesting problems.

spudlyo2• 17 years ago

I'm sure there are great places to work where HR drones who want to sound cool bandy about terms like rockstar and ninja. I agree it's annoying, but it doesn't mean anything IMHO.

pwnstigator3• 17 years ago

It's a strong warning sign. Anything to the effect of "we want rockstar developers" suggests something unsaid-- that they consider most of the applicants that they get to be of low-quality, which says more about them and the mismatch between what they think they offer and how the market perceives them than it does about the applicants.

It's like writing "please be cute" in an online dating profile.

mahmud• 17 years ago

5. Will I be maintaining any ancient system, and what's it written in?

If you don't want to inherit legacy software, go work in a startup and enjoy creating everything from scratch. Legacy software at least leaves you a work culture and a process, not to mention a frame of reference. In a startup, not only there is no much in-house software, there isn't even a division of labor.

Zot95• 17 years ago

There's legacy software... and then there are coding artifacts from another era. I'm not necessarily saying it's a deal breaker, but if your development tools consist solely of products that have been End of Lifed, you have right to be concerned how the job would affect your career development.

pwnstigator3• 17 years ago

Legacy code isn't always bad. All code becomes legacy code.

Poor legacy code is a liability, and legacy code that leads to suboptimal technical situations (e.g. using C++ in 2009) is a pain.

petewarden2• 17 years ago

Call me perverse, but I love the archaeological side of dealing with legacy software too. You start off with code that makes no sense at all, and gradually as you brush away soil from the pot shards, a story emerges. Working on porting Diablo to the PS1, there were tiny bits of inline assembler scattered everywhere. Eventually the light dawned: the original programmers had been struggling to understand C's signed/unsigned integer conversions so they fell back to the x86 instructions they were more familiar with.

DLWormwood• 17 years ago

    Working on porting Diablo to the PS1, there were tiny
    bits of inline assembler scattered everywhere.
    Eventually the light dawned: the original programmers
    had been struggling to understand C's signed/unsigned
    integer conversions so they fell back to the x86
    instructions they were more familiar with.

Dang, is that telling. Both shipped Diablo games have been know to be rife with security related bugs, and that kind of coding artifact gives a good indication of the quality of the programmers at Blizzard North it seems...

joshu2• 17 years ago

I like the "what source control" question from the comments. They should use one and it shouldn't be sourcesafe.

Many of these are pretty reasonable. Dunno that travel is that bad a problem...

pwnstigator3• 17 years ago

Why would a developer be traveling frequently?

Also, business travel sucks, especially if you're entry-level.

gaius3• 17 years ago

If your product is a "platform" then you may often be visiting customers to work directly with their developers.

I agree on the travel. It can sound exciting from the outside, but airports, taxis, hotels and meeting rooms look the same whatever city or country you're in. Eating room service 5 nights a week gets old real quick.

gaius3• 17 years ago

As an interviewer, I always ask about version control. Doesn't matter which one the candidate has used, but if they can't talk fluently about it, that's a red flag. It's a proxy question for what I really care about, which is, has worked on a large complex system in collaboration with others.

strait• 17 years ago

4. Would I work with a single monitor?

Maybe three separate monitors is better than one, but even better is having one really high quality monitor and learning to use virtual workspaces efficiently. Binding the Super key - number key combinations; now I have 10 monitors.

roundsquare• 17 years ago

Its a fair point, people like to work with different setups. However, I think this is the more important point here:

If doubling your productivity isn't worth $200 to this company, then this company may just be a really elaborate practical joke played by an eccentric billionaire.

Whatever setup you like, the company should be willing to pay a reasonable amount to get it for you.

duskwuff• 17 years ago

Nothing beats having lots of pixels in front of you, though. A small scrolling display isn't comparable to a large one - and having a bunch of virtual desktops isn't comparable to actually having multiple displays, either.

dunmalg• 17 years ago

How is having ten monitors which you can only look at one at a time better than two you can see simultaneously? How does having a unicode table open on a hidden virtual desktop help you when you're working in another? How is being forced to have your watch window hovering over the application while you're trying to debug better than having a second monitor to put it on out of your way?

kabdib• 17 years ago

Always ask who you will be working with. (My own preference is: If it's not a group that I'll be learning useful things from, it's a waste of time).

Study at the feet of masters.

smikhanov2• 17 years ago

For me the best no-go sign are Dilbert strips pinned to the walls (though you have to visit the office to see this.)

RiderOfGiraffes2• 17 years ago

Interesting.

I just had cause to have a lengthy, off-the-record chat with one of our newer employees. He said that he was stunned over the atmosphere in the office. Everywhere else he's ever worked there's been underlying, very gentle grumbling, even if people were generally happy.

By contrast, he says that the overwhelming feeling he's getting with us is one of enthusiasm, interest, engagement and general contentment with the work, the people and the place. He feels welcome, part of the team, and is amazed at the general sense of good will.

And we have Dilberts strips pinned up in lots of places, partly because some of them are funny, and perhaps partly because we are pleased they're not us.

smikhanov2• 17 years ago

Lucky you :)

I've mostly seen offices where people were using Dilbert strips to illustrate their own life in the office.

EDIT: For example this one appeared in one of my previous companies after owners hired a "visionary" CEO: http://www.dilbert.com/2004-04-17/

asher• 17 years ago

I think this list is more valuable to employers than to candidates. Employers should be sensitive to the many hot buttons candidates have. Most of them are proxies for appreciation and trust. Treat every touchpoint as a chance to show your employees appreciation and trust.

For candidates, however, I'd advise focusing more on the big picture. Monitors are not a strategic issue. At one company I simply brought in my own 21" CRT rather than argue it. At another, I bought my own RAM and disk to upgrade my workstation.

A candidate who is focused on these minor concerns might come across as selfish, myopic and high maintenance.

Again, as an employer I would absolutely cater to these concerns. But as a candidate I would try to forget them.

How To Identify A Lame Programming Job

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