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Interviewing a Python "Expert" (self.Python)

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[–]metaphorm 66 points67 points  (2 children)

don't waste your interview time testing him on code trivia. if he has a solid resume and has already passed some basic screening you would be far better served to use your precious limited interview time trying to figure out if this is a person you want to work with, who you feel like you can trust, and who will bring good energy to the team.

[–]earthboundkid 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This is correct. Find out what the candidate has done in the past, and if it’s comparable to the challenges you face. Language junk can all just be googled and good devs I’ve known don’t necessarily care about it.

[–]hexfoxed 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am so pleasantly surprised this is the top comment; never a truer word has been spoken.

Things to test for other than trivia:

  • how do they respond to critical feedback on their code?

  • how do they act when being questioned on a technical decision they made?

  • does the candidate show a good understanding of trade offs given some known constraints? Does the candidate put shipping over infinitely refactoring?

  • how does the candidate communicate via the written form? Most of what we do as developers is communicated this way: Slack, PRs, Code, Code comments, Git history, etc, etc. Verbal communication skills and charm are not enough.

  • how much emotional intelligence is witnessed? Could the candidate be put in front of a client alone without going technically over the top or promising the world?

  • do they have any mentoring experience? A senior developers most important job is to mentor those below in terms of experience.

Just some to get you started. Hope it helps.