How I’ll Interview You

I’ve posted something about this several times, but it seems to change as my job requirements change, or as I get older, or something. The place I work is looking to hire some more developers, and I figure if you’re smart enough to bing me, you’ll get an idea of what I’m going to ask you.

• Friendly, upbeat. This one used to be lower on my list, but I’ve realized in the last few months that if I detect something of a bad attitude in the interview, it’s going to increase exponentially when things go south. I’d prefer someone who can joke a little at 6AM when servers are down and OH MY GOD WHERE IS THAT TECH SUPPORT EMAIL.
• Ruby and Rails (not just Rails). While this one can be negotiated, I really want someone who will help push Ruby and Rails idioms and patterns, and won’t have to ramp up on the language. The first code you submit, I’d like it to look like Ruby, not Java in a different dialect. If I had to pick between the two, I’d choose a Ruby programmer over a Rails programmer.
• Linux. You need to know your way around the command line. You should have set up Apache at least once in your life. Bonus points for memcached or a queue. Double bonus for monit or god, and if you can tell me why using god is a bad idea, triple bonus points.
• Side Projects/Open Source. I think that side projects are necessary for self improvement, because they let you explore technologies in a production-like environment, but not entirely at your employer’s expense. What’s your Github profile look like? Stack Overflow? Do you run any sites for fun? How’d you set them up? Did you go with shared hosting? Really? Why?
• Fundamental knowledge of data structures and algorithm runtimes. I think understanding how trees, graphs, queues, stacks, etc., look and feel and behave is necessary for solving hard problems. This one’s pretty fundamental.
• Quick. If I ask you to code something like FizzBuzz, and it takes you 10 minutes, what does that mean when you’re asked to code something hard?
• Good questions. I’d like to see that you have an idea of what you want where you’re working. It’s ok if we’re not a good fit for you, that’s what the interview is about. If you’re not passionate about finding the right place for you, and we hire you, are you going to be passionate about making this workplace better?