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Comment by finnh | Hacker News Reader

> about 90% of them will never be competent entry-level programmers.

What's crazy is that I feel the majority of people I interview/phone screen would not be a competent entry-level programmer, and they've all had at least 10 years in industry.

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I’m not saying that you are or are not, because I don’t have any context, but consider that your feeling might be wrong. I mean, there’s the real possibility that you are a bad interviewer or a bad phone screener or whatever. Again, not saying that _you_ personally are. I don’t have the information to know. I’m just pointing out that it’s the moral equivalent of “if everywhere you go smells like the dog went poo, maybe you should check the bottom of your shoe”

The reason I point it out is because if the industry is going to actually get better at interviews (something we generally agree needs improvement) then we have to continuously challenge the assumption that we are actually good at interviewing when it’s our turn on that side of the conversation.

that's even crazier, how could they be in the industry that long?

IME, they get into companies that don't fire people (or government jobs) but rather move people to other projects, or they bounce before they're discovered to be incompetent. Companies often won't make stronger statements than "X worked for us on these dates" (the company, individual recommendations may be different). Barring legal trouble you may have caused, if the issue of departure is primarily performance, they don't want you suing them for making unprovable negative statements about you.

That's a pity inasmuch as it punishes those who have done well on a job. I would really appreciate it if when checking references a past employer would feel comfortable saying good things about my work.

In the US, get rid of our sue crazy nature. Then we might be able to have nice things again. Or get specific letters of recommendation from your past employers/managers, they'll provide those if you perform decently. You'll probably have to go to a specific manager, though.

I think many companies are largely dysfunctional, driving top performers away (or never hiring them in the first place) while keeping people who copy/paste and fumble toward "good enough for this sprint".

hah! that's the problem i'm having <gd&r>

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