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Comment by pizza | Hacker News Reader

I've worked with Hildebrand myself - he's one smart cookie, for sure.

edit/tidbit: he told me that the interview process for hiring new developers goes like this: all the questions are straight out of K&R's C Programming Language, you have to get all of them correct, and so far only one programmer has :P

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I have an eidetic memory and have read that book multiple times, so there’s a fair chance I’d pass. That said, if I was given that interview as you described, I’d get up and walk out. Interviews like that prove absolutely nothing useful to evaluating a candidate and thus are a waste of time.

Why read it multiple times? Just close your eyes

Because the eidetic memory only lasts for a few minutes. The commentor might have meant to use the phrase “photographic memory”, but that has thus far been shown to be myth. But, really, the post was about “I’m smart, and I’d just march right out of that interview”, ignoring that it was just a cute anecdote, so I guess it’s irrelevant. Nice catch, though. :-)

Mostly just a cute anecdote is fair, but wasn’t what I was replying to one too? ;)

Seriously though, I’m tired of folks doing stupid counterproductive interviews and then parading them as a good thing.

The other reply was right, because it’s not permanent. I remember a lot just reading, but for full eidetic it lasts a very short time.

So he's hired one programmer.

He's obviously referring to himself.

no, he's hired one (other than himself), and she had been working there for ten years by the time we talked

So how long has been trying to hire another one? After 10 years I'd be getting desperate.

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