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Hiring Developers, with Science! by Joe Mastey Nothing makes or breaks our teams like the members they hire. And so we rate and quiz, assign homework and whiteboard algorithms until candidates are blue in the face. But does it work? In this session, we’ll unpack common interviews and how they stack up with research into predicting performance. We’ll learn to design interviews that work, what kinds don’t work at all, and how to tell the difference, with science! Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/J4DG/
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In his talk titled "Hiring Developers, with Science!" at RailsConf 2016, Joe Mastey addresses the pressing issue of effectively hiring developers by applying principles from industrial and organizational psychology. He emphasizes the importance of designing interviews that accurately predict candidate performance rather than falling into common traps that many organizations experience. Mastey introduces three main concepts—validity, reliability, and usability—that should guide the development of effective hiring processes: - **Validity:** It's crucial to ensure that interview questions accurately reflect relevant job skills. Bad practices occur when we focus on unrelated traits instead of actual competencies. For example, assessing arithmetic ability should focus on relevant math questions rather than obscure memorization tasks. - **Reliability:** Consistency in interview results is paramount. The same candidate should receive similar evaluations regardless of who is interviewing them or when the interview occurs. Mastey warns that if interview processes yield varying results, they are likely measuring the interviewers rather than the candidates. - **Usability:** An effective interview process should consider candidates’ experiences. Complicated or excessive assignments can discourage promising candidates and inadvertently exclude certain demographics. Through investigating common pitfalls in developer interviews, Mastey provides suggestions for improvement, such as: - Rethinking job postings to maximize applicant diversity and avoid exclusionary language. - Moving away from trivia questions and the FizzBuzz test, which can often lack real relevance to job performance. - Considering behavioral interviews and hypothetical problem-solving scenarios that assess a candidate's capabilities in a practical context. - Emphasizing structured feedback debriefs after interviews to minimize bias. Mastey concludes by challenging organizations to reconsider their hiring standards. He argues that the perception of hiring the 'best' often narrows candidate evaluation instead of expanding it, suggesting that a thorough understanding of what qualifies as successful hiring can lead to better outcomes. By applying scientific principles to the interview process, companies can enhance their hiring practices and secure the right talent for their teams.
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