You don't have to be famous or uber skilled to not have to be interviewed.
I got my first job a month ago simply by being knowing someone on IRC.
I got my first job a month ago simply by being knowing someone on IRC.
There are a large number of startups and small businesses where I could get a job simply by saying "Hey, I'm interested", walking in, and having a 15-minute chat with the founder. I would probably not want to work for most of them, though, because it's quite boring being the smartest guy in the room.
However, the number of people who could get hired at Google or Facebook without an interview is probably in the dozens to low hundreds, worldwide. And many of them probably aren't interested, because they've got their F-you money, or they have a nice tenured research position somewhere where they can do whatever they want.
How isn't that an interview?
1) Is this person knowledgeable and capable of performing the job I need them to do?
2) Is this person a cultural/personable fit for my team?
I think the point of this article is that when you're a "famous" developer with known traits, number 1 is dispensed with. The 15 minute chat is just to determine number 2.
I myself have gotten several jobs after just a recommendation from a friend and a quick drink with the manager.
If you had joined Facebook in 2005 you might have been the best programmer, but you would not have been the smartest guy in the room.
I think it's a good point though, that maybe just because you aren't guaranteed to be famous, Zed Shaw probably has some highly effective habits that all developers can learn from. And you don't have to be famous for his advice to be helpful.
Mmm... if you are not a Chrome user... well... you should become one! :)
But it's important to point out that by virtue of sharing knowledge and posting pastebin urls of your code over a period of time, you are already interviewing, in a sense.