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Should I ask applicants about what scifi books they've read? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) by shortrounddev to c/asklemmy

77 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm a software engineer who sometimes interviews other software engineers. I'm not given a script to go off of, I get to ask them whatever I want. Usually we just talk about technology and coding from a high level. I'm not a big fan of whiteboard tests.

I've noticed, however, that a lot of people applying to software engineering jobs feel very alien to me. I started coding when I was 12 and spent most of my teenage years on technology forums. A lot of people applying to these positions are very much ladder-climbing type people who got into the career for the money. Working with these people is an absolute drag.

We also interview for "culture fit". I would like to add in a single question to my interviews to assess that: what is your favorite science fiction book. You don't even have to have read it recently, you just have to have read one and formed an opinion on it. My thoughts

Pros:

Weeds out a lot of people since half of Americans don't read books at all.
Theoretically filters out people who love this kind of tech subculture from people who are just in it for the money

Cons:

It's unfair to people who enjoy fantasy novels, or any other form of fiction
Being motivated by money probably shouldn't be a disqualifying factor (I certainly wouldn't do this job for free), I'm just tired of working with yuppies and lashing out at poor unsuspecting Jr Devs

I'm half-hearted on this. I see why it could be considered unfair but I'm really tired of the kinds of people I work with.

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[–] Nibodhika 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

First of all my answer would be that I don't know. If I had to choose one I would probably pick the end of eternity, but mostly because it was an excellent book if you've read the Empire and Foundation books before, so maybe I should pick the Foundation trilogy.... But if you ask me for my favorite sci-fi story I would almost assuredly pick SOMA.

Which takes me to that you should probably ask what's your favorite sci-fi story instead of book. Some people prefer games or movies, and even people like me who enjoy reading might just not have read enough sci-fi to pick a favorite book (I for example have mostly only read Asimov).

[–] shortrounddev 1 points 19 hours ago

I think your answer would be perfect, but it begs the question: should employers try to hire people who read long form text recreationally (i.e: books)? Does it correlate to better written communication skills? I think I owe my ability to communicate asynchronously at work to the years I spent on web forums online