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I think we'll go ahead and get started. If folks are coming up, we'll catch them up still.
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Okay, sound-wise? A little louder? How's that? Better projecting? Cool.
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That's good. I did turn off flux. Excellent.
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Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to see me talk. Thanks to RailsConf for allowing me to speak, and thanks to Kansas City for hosting all of us!
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So, let's give some applause for Kansas City.
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Excellent! Cool! So, hello, everyone. I figure since this is a computer talk, we have to start with zero.
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Thank you. I tend to speak really quickly. If I start going way too fast, just give me a wave or a big gesture—anything that will catch my attention—so I can slow down and help you all follow along.
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I'm going to talk for about 30 minutes, maybe a tiny bit more. I will have about 10 minutes at the end for questions. I'm going to try to avoid just plowing through this talk.
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It's funny, a little while ago, I gave a talk on Ruby garbage collection, and I felt good about it. I practiced it well, but then right before I started, Matt sat down front row center.
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I ended up teaching Matt about Ruby garbage collection, along with half the Ruby core team, so I hope I'm in a good spot now.
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Also, I'd like you to stretch one arm. You can go ahead and just raise one arm. There’s going to be a little bit of interaction—not a lot, I know we hate that—but I will ask you to raise your hands at some point in the presentation.
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So, as I mentioned, hello, my name is Eric Weinstein, and I work at Hulu as a Senior Engineering Lead. You can find me on GitHub, Twitter, etc.
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This human hatch that I made teaches Ruby to eight to twelve-year-olds. There's a book I wrote called 'Ruby Wizardry' that you can purchase from No Starch, which has offered us a 30% off coupon promo code. If you go to NoStarch.com anytime this week and want to buy a copy of 'Ruby Wizardry,' either physical or eBook, just use the promo code RailsConf2016 for the discount.
00:03:09.650
This talk is pretty quick, but I think it’s beneficial for us to have a clear overview of what we’ll be discussing, complete with the obligatory clickbait. We'll cover some of the common mistakes we keep making, one weird old tip, etc.
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We’ll talk about different boot camp programs: what they offer and what one learns in a boot camp, and what we should be looking for when interviewing boot camp graduates. The theme throughout this talk will be the belief in improvement. If you don't believe that you can get better at math, programming, interviewing, or any skill through deliberate practice and dedication, you're not going to improve.
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We'll also discuss a holistic model for continued growth. We’ll examine both interviewing and how we can help people learn and grow once they are part of our organization.
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Let's move on to Part 1: Hiring. I think the crucial issue we’ve lost the thread on recently is confusing the product with the process in interviewing.
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Essentially, when we want to hire someone, we should be asking: regardless of the abstraction of what it is you know how to do, are you good at that thing? We've confused this fundamental question with concrete expectations concerning what we think people should know.
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Let’s raise our hands for the first audience participation exercise. How many of you have attended a boot camp or something that could be described as a boot camp, a retreat, or something similar? Cool! And now keep your hands up if you've worked with someone from a boot camp, hired someone, or had some meaningful interaction with boot camp graduates.
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Great! Now, just to clarify, this talk is not entirely about boot camps. It covers a larger perspective on hiring and growing talent, primarily through the lens of boot camp programs, as they're a trending topic in our community.
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This isn't exclusive to boot camp graduates; it's about hiring and growing everyone. Is that good? Is it sounding good so far?
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Now, what is the traditional experience? I think of a degree in computing science—not a typo, Dijkstra called it that. I like that term because it reflects reality. When someone majors in computer science, they look at compiler design, algorithms, and data structures, but not necessarily the hands-on programming we do day to day.
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In school, students learn coding languages like Java or C++, but to be successful in our industry, we need to know that the real questions we face in day-to-day programming are very different from those we solve in academic settings. This brings me to a pivotal mistake we make in hiring: we have confused whether someone is good at what they know with what we actually need.
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Take, for instance, the question of whether we want someone training in computer science fundamentals—or a hiring manager who primarily focuses on if they can write a red-black tree in memory. We often ask these types of questions, especially of bootcamp graduates or people from non-traditional backgrounds, making them feel inadequate.
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I'll give you a brief survey of the field. I only picked six boot camps that I know of: Hack Academy, Dev Bootcamp, Flatiron School, General Assembly, Hack Reactor, and others. It’s good to examine their curricula and guide our interview process based on what they teach.
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What do we actually learn in boot camps? It’s typically not computer science—they focus on practical skills like Ruby on Rails. The curricula vary, but generally include server-side programming, client work in JavaScript, and best practices for software development.
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Boot camps teach candidates to function as working software engineers, focusing on resolving conflicts, deploying projects, and tracking down bugs—things you won’t learn as an undergraduate. Knowing how to do the hands-on work is essential.
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In terms of what I look for when interviewing, especially boot camp graduates or those with non-traditional backgrounds, I emphasize the ability to write a non-trivial program that interfaces with network access or APIs. I often base my interview questions off of issues we encounter on my team at Hulu.
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I also value the ability to adapt to new and changing requirements. This is a major challenge during interviews. Candidates will often be presented with a solution that meets initial requirements but then be asked to accommodate new edge cases or bugs. Being comfortable with ambiguity is essential. Very rarely does someone come forth with complete specifications.
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Collaboration is also highly valuable. I prefer pairing interviews and collaborative exercises over adversarial interviews. It's important to approach problems together rather than pit candidates against each other.
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I seek individuals who are passionate about learning—those who strive to improve and who won't settle. I want candidates that would rather solve a nagging bug than shrug it off as acceptable. Lastly, I look for self-awareness and empathy. Candidates who understand their impact on a team, can communicate effectively, and recognize how they come across to others, will flourish in an organization.
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To wrap it up, there's an important correlation between performance and interview success: strong performance doesn't always equal proficiency in traditional interviewing. We often need to separate the skills required for interviewing from the actual skills required for success in the job.
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Going forward, raise your hand if you have transitioned from an individual contributor to a manager position. Keep your hand up if you believe the best developers make the best managers all the time. Intuitively, we grasp that excellence in development doesn’t always translate to excellence in management. Interviewing is a separate skill that requires cultivation.
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It’s crucial to fix the interviewing process itself, as we need to identify the mistakes we are making. That said, I must share with you that Hulu is hiring. If you're interested in working at Hulu, feel free to reach out after the talk!
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Now that we've discussed how interviews can often overlook the value candidates bring, let's look at how we can support growth and learning on the job for everyone—not just boot camp graduates. If you take nothing else away from this talk, please take this core belief: improving your abilities is connected to better performance.
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Carol Dweck authored a paper called 'Math is a Gift: Beliefs that Put Females at Risk,' later transformed into a book titled 'Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.' This book examines whether success is innate or can be developed through effort and practice. It demonstrates that positive reinforcement leads to improved performance.
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Continuing from the theme of growth, how many of you are first-time attendees at RailsConf? Welcome! It's great to have new folks every year. If you attended RailsConf two years ago, you may remember Chuck Lorre's talk on building kick-ass internal education programs, which I encourage you to check out. Here’s the plan: You don’t have to know everything.
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Start taking action. You don’t have to wait for someone to formally approve your idea; just start implementing an internal education program. You can start informal meetings or lunch-and-learns to teach content that’s valuable for your team's growth.
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The concept of an accountabilibuddy—the practice of pairing new hires with experienced colleagues—can dramatically decrease the time needed for onboarding. This system of mentorship offers support for questions about internal services and day-to-day tasks, streamlining the adjustment period for newcomers.
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Above all, you must assert this initiative and take ownership of it. Communicate the eagerness to learn and grow within your team, reinforce internal resources, and foster an atmosphere that values curiosity. Initiatives such as lightning talks allow everyone to share expertise and insights while practicing public speaking.
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In closing, write down your expectations for interviews! List the skills and personality traits you want. Compare this with how candidates perform during interviews. If you don't find the right candidates, evaluate what you're asking in interviews and consider the strengths a candidate can bring.
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Self-improvement is paramount. If nothing else, make improvement a key valence in your culture. Inspire your team to grow and iterate on how we operate. Ensure that your organization has a growth mindset, allowing room for development and fostering an inclusive environment.
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Thank you for the opportunity to speak. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me during the remainder of RailsConf. All my contact details are on the final slide.
