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Comment by domlebo70 | Hacker News Reader

Yeah nice. What was so painful about the application process?

It's almost like a full job interview process with many parts. Keeping details minimal because of NDA, I had 3 "rounds" including online assessment and video interviews.

Jeez.

Which networks still exist that do not require this large upfront timesuck (regardless of how well it may filter candidates)?

Agreed.

Of all the solutions our industry can provide, why cannot we not solve for if someone is performant in the industry?

Trades figures this out centuries ago.

However, our industry retains a hint of mystery. A magical sauce that cannot yet be taught.

But more importantly, a level of some mystery remains that cannot be detected without forcing the recruit through a rigorous course. Its biggest attrition being a the large potential for no return.

> Trades figures this out centuries ago.

The difference with “us” is that our skills are still evolving - and quickly in many spaces…. The tools change, the methods change and the skill sets are constantly evolving to match.

If you think that’s a large time sink, try business development. Seriously marketing yourself takes s lot of time.

I'd say all in all I put maybe 10 hours into it, which is far less than I do for a typical job interview prep. Given that this has brought me numerous clients, it was worth it for me.

Do you still have to go through interviews with clients? If so, how onerous are those?

I do, it really depends on the client. I like working with small businesses and most of those are just a quick conversation about what they're looking for.

Here's a detailed explanation for the application process: https://www.toptal.com/top-3-percent

Be prepared to have to do off-screen and later screen-shared, timed leetcode challenges. Fail one, it's an automatic disqualification.

Hmm, i just cbf with leetcode grinding again.

What about for a React/frontend role. Surely no leetcode

It's probably just "'a' + 1 + null , what's the return value?" :D

NaNNaNNaN Batman?

https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat

I mean that one is pretty easy; 'a1null' , first thing is a string so it'll try to concatenate with 1, coerce 1 to a string and get 'a1' then same thing will null. Makes perfect sense ;p

I'm not sure where you got that info from, but unless you completely tank everything, there isn't an automatic disqualification. Even if you fail two out of three questions, you'll still get a chance to meet with the screener.

Source: myself.

I did all tests in half the required time, 100% success rate, had a bug during the interview with the screener, in the last of 5 overall I've done, I probably could've fixed it with 2 more minutes but no, I failed and was asked to practice leetcode puzzles and apply again one month later.

Yeah, I don't think I will.

The thing that bugs me the most is it was obvious the interviewer wasn't an engineer. There weren't able to tell how close I was to the solution. I dunno, that method might work in some cases, but I've been doing software engineering for 16 years. I guess I'm not good enough.

Also fuck having to solve puzzles with a timer with someone looking over your shoulder. I have done emergency "servers are on fire" maintenance in the middle of the night for big customers and it's less stressful than that.

Thanks, I think I'll give up on my desire to have side gigs now.

For me the screen-shared leetcode/React challenge was stupid easy, I failed in the later take home project because I half assed it (no testing/CRUD validation)

What was the take home project about?

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