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

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by shortrounddev to c/asklemmy

80 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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[–] RBWells 4 points 23 hours ago

I think it's an ok question, just tell them there's no wrong answer. Sometimes people say "culture fit" as some kind of code for discrimination, but I don't think that taste in music or books is a protected category, lol. I am just not sure it's going to work to do what you want. Some of the guys are work who come ooh and ah over my geeky cube decor are nice and some are assholes, there doesn't seem to be a correlation and some of my favorite people at work are so different from me if spun on that axis, like they drink wine and go see romantic comedy or football games, or reality TV (blech) but are so great to work with.

It is absolutely ok to try to build a good team that can work together. That makes a better working environment for sure. I hope you can influence the selection process, you do sound like a good boss.