DjangoCon Europe 2017 - Rants and Ruminations From A Job Applicant After 💯 CS Job Interviews in Silicon Valley

Speaker: Susan Tan

This is a success story - Susan is now employed!

Susan worked beforehand at other tech companies (Rotten Tomatoes, Piston/Cisco), and came with high and specific expectations:

• No large companies
• No homogeneous culture
• No arrogant young techbros
• No stupid apps
• No to being a co-founder or first engineer
• No to office more than 53km away

Horrible things about the job interview process

1. The silent treatment: Receiving no feedback or an impersonal reply at the very most.
2. You hired your friend: Don't waste other people's time if you're just going to hire your friends.
3. Ask useless questions, like what a person wants to achieve in their lifetime.
4. Ask to do impossible tasks.
5. Offer a reasonable deal, then refuse to negotiate.
6. Pose home code challenges as an excuse for unpaid labor (bonus points if it does not even apply to the position)

This sucks

• Job interviewing can be close to a full time job.
• Repetition is annoying (communicating requirements etc)
• Job searching is terrible (dealing with recruiters etc)
• You need to filter out bad companies as soon as possible.