Own up... who wrote this?

[d000hg]

After an in-person technical interview, we decided to advance a candidate to the next step in our hiring process, which is a brief, one-page written test with some relatively easy (or, easy to look-up) technical questions. It's designed mostly to gauge written communication, since our developers often interface directly with clients.

Mea culpa, I forgot to attach the test. Turns out I didn't need to, this guy already aced the written communication test.

From: Thomas B-------
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 10:37 AM
To: James S------
Subject: RE: Written Test


When a big picture thinker with nearly 20 years of experience in
IT sends you a resume and cover letter like mine and says that he
can help you win a client that is pulling in 1.3 Billion per year,
here's what you don't do:

1. Set up an interview with a couple of in-the-box thinking
Microsoft drones with questions on minutia.

2. Hand him a test to see what his "style", attention to
detail, and problem solving approach is.

Here's my style: I am certain that I can run circles around your
best developers with my own, original, incredibly efficient model;
but more importantly, I am a director that can help them run
circles around their own current misguided misconceptions. But I
am thankful for this lesson, as I have learned that I need to add
a cover to my cover letter that reads: If you are an in-the-box
thinking Microsoft house, and you find yourself regurgitating
terms like OOP, MVC, TDD, BDD, Cucumber, etc..., without really
understanding what it all means and how much it is actually
costing your company to have bought into that industry pushed
bulltulip, then DO NOT contact me. I'd save you too much money,
and you obviously do not want that.

So the question now is: Did I pass the test?

The answer is: **** yes I did.

Thomas B-------

PS. You forgot to attach the quiz.

Do this: Print out a copy of it, ball it up, and throw it at
your own forehead, because that's what I would do if I were
there.

So Thomas, are you on CUK? Perhaps a member of a society known for secret handshakes?

The Big Picture Thinker, A JavaScript-like Job, and The Job Opportunity - The Daily WTF

[AtW]

sasguru is about to change his job?

[NickFitz]

I like the pimp's email further down:

From: Lorena C------- 
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 2:43 PM
To: Robin Lee
Subject: Robin - a great Job Opportunity!

Dear Robin,

We are currently searching for a JOB TITLE to work in  CITY, 
COUNTRY  for DURATION plus extensions. This is a fantastic 
contract opportunity for a large multi-national client.

The ideal candidate must have the following skills: SHORT 
JOB DESCRIPTION. 

If you are interested in this role, please reply immediately 
and we will be happy to send you an in-depth job 
specification. 

Alternatively, if you have any colleagues who may be interested
in this contract opportunity; please forward this email to them.
If they are successfully placed at our client site, we will 
award you with ?150.00 (220 Euros).

MBA would like to apologise if this requirement does not match 
your profile. 

Thank you for your time and we hope to hear from you soon, 

Regards 

Lorena C-------
Recruiting Team

[jmo21]

I saw that yesterday and immediately wondered if he was on cuk

[thunderlizard]

I do begrudgingly agree with him. Once you've sat and passed a Java programming test, you could be the best insurance-industry hybrid BA/PM in the world and they'd still only see you as a Java programmer.

[d000hg]

I do begrudgingly agree with him. Once you've sat and passed a Java programming test, you could be the best insurance-industry hybrid BA/PM in the world and they'd still only see you as a Java programmer.

Yes but you don't say it when you want a job.

I've actually worked with someone like this. They seemed very good on paper and got involved, but immediately started trying to tell everyone how to change how they worked. When people didn't immediately toe his line, he sent a rant to the PM about everyone being too stupid, and left.

[shaunbhoy]

I've actually worked with someone like this.

he sent a rant to the PM about everyone being too stupid, and left.

Hard to knock his analytical skills on the basis of what you presented!!

[d000hg]

Hard to knock his analytical skills on the basis of what you presented!!

I reviewed X´s commits yesterday, and my worst impressions are confirmed. He is both amateur and unprofessional, and he either deliberately sabotaged my attempt at style uniformization or, alternatively, he is just too incompetent to comply. Either way, added to his behaviour in last meeting, I am not working with him. My capacity to teamwork has never been an issue or questioned before, but I choose who I work with. No pearls to the swine.

As for ascertaining my capacity, you have had enough material so far to make that call. I gave less to each and every employer or potential employer I´ve had. If, however, you are interested in the cheap hacks such as those I´ve seen throughout the utterly unimpressive code base, hacks which make for additional features at the hidden cost of added encumbrance of the source code, then I am can tell beforehand I am not "capable" by your standards.

Hackers like X are a dime a dozen, and I turned down a score job applicants at Acony which had just as "impressive", "hands on", "proven" experience with 3D real-time yadayadayada. At the end of the day, being respectful while working on the shared code base, flexible on the code dialect, willing to hear before talking, discussing before implementing, NOT competing, all these assets were valued. We never hired anyone based on previous experience on UE3, although it was a necessary knowledge with a very steep learning curve. It was simply besides the point. We never hired anyone trying to prove himself. We didn´t encourage that behaviour. We were a real team.

No, you can´t wait until I figure out the idiosyncrasies in the engine, which is why you need X or whoever. Letting him run the show is a whole other ball game. And expecting me to play that ball game is yet another whole ball game.

You HAVE seen my process and results. It appears you lack maturity in the software business to appreciate their value. I can deliver stability in scheduling, lower development and maintenance cost, reduce the dependence of the project on specific individuals (including myself), and everything else that professionals do. I said I liked the idea, the concept of your project. But not the way I´ve seen things run

This is a snippet of what the PM received.

ps: I'm not 'X'

[doodab]

I do begrudgingly agree with him. Once you've sat and passed a Java programming test, you could be the best insurance-industry hybrid BA/PM in the world and they'd still only see you as a Java programmer.

You have to fail the test to become a BA

[OwlHoot]

This is a snippet of what the PM received.

ps: I'm not 'X'

Jesus, what a nightmare that doctrinaire arrogant guy must be to work with or, worse still, for.

I wonder if there's any way to spot someone like that in an interview, and weed them out then.