The more qualified applicants for every job the more hiring criteria will become increasingly arbitrary and subject to the interviewers whims.
I reckon this is where racism, sexism and other idiosyncratic personal biases also have the most room to flourish.
Take home tests are popular when there is a glut because the time cost of assessing the candidate can be shifted to the interviewee.
But, the process doesn't materially change when companies are looking for senior or mid-level developers, except that they then start adding system design rounds.
Incidentally, I just had a thought: if there really is a glut of junior developers relative to demand, shouldn't that push down wages? It seems like there's some sort of market failure at work, but I'm not quite sure exactly what's causing it.
If you're really a senior developer, will you enjoy to work with C's?
Try to actively «fire» the interviewer at the first minutes of interview by showing the darkest points of your CV upfront. If you succeed, you will save 6 hours of hazing and a few months of your life after that.
I was in a team with inexperienced PM and few crooks, which negotiated 2x salary over mine, but had no skills. They hated programming, actually. I tried to help, but PM fired me instead. The project collapsed, so they started to blame me, damaging my reputation. It was an awful experience.
For me, it's easy to recognize the technical level of somebody else, because I will just ask a high-level question and then see how the discussion goes. If they say «Okey, now tell me about your experience», then they are definitely not A's.
If you are doing consultation and want satisfied clients only, or looking for an A level job only, then it's OK. If you are looking for any job (with high salary, of course), then it better to hide your weak points, to be accepted by a B, and then do the dull work.
[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Naked-Business-Shedding-Sabot...
Having PM manage devs is a red flag. PM and Devs should be in two different, parallels orgs.
IMHO It's symptomatic of the broader difference in leverage between senior/junior devs.
No, there are a huge number of unprepared applicants. Most are just a time waste, knowing just enough to get to the technical interviews without being able to pass them.
If you go asking me about bullshit you’ll get it.
I completely disagree with the current interview process as it existed for the last 20+ years. Last discussion I had I came to the conclusion that big tech companies created this process to not hire domestic workers so they can use H1-B visa workers, who are much easier to control under threat of deportation. H1-B was really big in the early 2000s which is when this process really started. There is a legal requirement to hire H1-B that a company must try to find a domestic worker but were unsuccessful. This style of interview process fits that requirement perfectly. The industry just happened to cargo cult it and here we are, massively employing an interview process designed not to hire people.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/62-index-h1b
Additional requirements for H-1B-dependent or willful violator employers with LCAs filed prior to October 1, 2003 and after March 7, 2005.
No displacement of a similarly employed U.S. worker beginning 90 days before and ending 90 days after the filing of an H-1B visa petition;
Recruitment of U.S. workers before seeking an H-1B worker.
Offer employment to an equally or better qualified U.S. applicant for the job for which H-1B workers are sought (enforced by the Department of Justice).