I recently read an interesting post from Kyle Baley on interviews and technical questions for us nerds out there.
I found his story quite interesting, and somewhat close to my heart. I am a young developer, and craving that much-needed industry experience. It's a bit of a "catch 22", since many employers won't look at people without experience, but you can't get the experience because people won't take you. For those of you that have not heard, I have recently been offered a position in another company and gratefully accepted. I will be working on a much larger scale, in .NET 2.0 and ASP.NET (which I've never worked on). This is pretty much a dream come true for me, this is the experience I need. I know damn well I will bust my balls to get up to speed as quickly as possible.
So, back to topic, the discussion is that how many techie's out there that have already proven themselves (I.e. successful in their jobs and own businesses) could actually pass some of the questions that are floating around. Now, it was nice to see that many of them would fail them (such as Jeff Atwood's) this is not because I want to see people fail, of course not. But it's nice to see that people are taking good people on over nerd's.
I really wanted to be in the Armed Forces (Royal Marines), but sadly could not join due to medical reasons. Side Note: As much as it is nice to not have bullets whizzing past my head, my thoughts are with our brothers and sisters out their serving their countries at the moment. Now, I was fortunate enough to learn one HUGE lesson from the forces. Life, Work, EVERYTHING is about ATTITUDE. I am not afraid of work, I am not afraid of pain or suffering. I am afraid of failure, disappointing my peers, my family, my friends. This inspires me to work hard, raise the bar, I'm keen, I'm highly motivated. I think/hope this came across in my interview with my new employer, they recognised that while I may not be 100% technically "competent", I will get right in there and make damn sure the job gets done regardless. I will always adapt to change, I won't stagnate, I will drive their business forward. None of my geek books have ever really promoted good attitude..
All I can say its great to see that interviewers look for "People" qualities as well as "Nerd" qualities. It has given me opportunity, and I will ensure they are rewarded for it. You could ask the question, would a nerd who things they "have it all pinned" do the same?
Thoughts?
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