YC
Hiring Engineers with Ammon Bartram
@ Y Combinator
05/18/17
Takeaways
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
I joined Justin TV fresh out of school in 2009 when it was just 25 folks, and I went through the roller coaster of the early days of Justin TV, where I first got a taste of hiring.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
At Justin TV, we were hiring aggressively, and I realized how much noise there is in the hiring process.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Triplebyte is a recruiting startup that helps startups hire engineers by matching them with candidates who have a high probability of success.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Most companies think they are trying to hire good engineers, but their definitions of a good engineer vary significantly, leading to noise in the hiring process.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
For early-stage startups, it's crucial to decide what type of engineer you need based on what is holding your company back, whether it's productivity or security issues.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Experience matters more than where you got your education; someone fresh out of a CS program without internships is still essentially a junior engineer.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
The skill that interviews can most easily measure is the ability to think through small problems quickly, but the ability to solve large, complex problems well over time is what you need in an employee.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
When pre-screening candidates, we evaluate programming productivity, academic computer science skills, debugging abilities, and system design capabilities.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Our interviews are about two hours long, with approximately 30 minutes spent on each section, and we've found this format to be predictive of success.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
There's a huge amount of noise in the interview process; candidates who do well at one company may fail at another, and the agreement between interviewers can be as low as that of movie reviewers.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Larger companies tend to rely more on brain teasers in interviews, which can introduce noise, but they often use them as a standard part of their hiring process. Bigger companies focus more on measuring innate ability rather than specific coding skills for their codebase, while smaller companies prioritize immediate productivity in specific technologies like Ruby on Rails.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Companies like Facebook and Google look for intelligence and potential rather than specific experience, as they have the capacity to train new hires.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Asking easier interview questions can be more predictive of a candidate's success than harder questions, as it reveals both the correctness of the answer and the candidate's problem-solving process.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Candidates who answer questions easily tend to be better engineers, but there are also false negatives where great engineers may struggle with questions.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
For new graduates, it's important to be solid on classic computer science concepts like breadth-first search and hash tables, as many interview questions are based on these topics.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Practicing coding under stress is crucial, as solving problems in a limited time frame differs significantly from working on them over a longer period.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
The best engineers typically pass about 80% of their interviews, indicating that failing some questions is common and not a reflection of overall skill.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Side projects can help candidates get past resume screenings, but they don't play a significant role in the actual interview process.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Big companies generally do not care about a candidate's location, while smaller companies may prefer local candidates, giving them a slight advantage.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
The core problem in interviews is the tension between measuring quick problem-solving skills and the ability to handle larger projects over time. Many of the best programmers have numerous job options, making it challenging for companies that require a trial employment period to attract them.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Interviews are the worst way to evaluate engineers, except for all the other options available, so it's essential to make the interview process as accurate as possible.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
A significant source of noise in the hiring process comes from companies being inconsistent in their interview questions, leading to a gut call that can misrepresent candidates' abilities.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
To improve the hiring process, companies should ensure that all candidates are asked the same questions and evaluated consistently, which is more important than the specific questions asked.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Companies often look for different qualities in engineers, which can lead to confusion. It's crucial to clarify the specific skills and traits desired for the role being filled.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
When hiring, it's important to identify the conscious decisions about the type of engineer you want, as different companies have varying needs based on their culture and goals.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
The interview process at Triplebyte involves a standard procedure where candidates are assessed on their programming output and general knowledge before additional follow-up interviews for specific roles.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Candidates who are genuinely excited about the company's mission are more likely to stay longer than those who are primarily motivated by salary.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Engineering interviewing is a field where many common beliefs are misleading; for instance, evaluating past work does not predict job performance as effectively as practical programming assignments.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
To avoid hazing during interviews, it's essential to maintain a friendly and supportive atmosphere, especially when candidates struggle to answer questions.
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Ammon Bartram
05/18/17
@ Y Combinator
Using a two-to-one interviewer-to-candidate ratio helps reduce stress during interviews while allowing for consistent evaluation across the hiring process.