It's Friday! Who's having fun?

One of the things rock climbers like to say is "the best climber is the one having the most fun."

(Don't worry, this post is not going to go on for pages trying to explain climbing culture and then trying to draw some sort of tenuous parallel to software development.)


Here's one response to the How would you design a program to referee Monopoly? question:

What I love most about the Monopoly question is how it sucks me in. Maybe it's because I'm a gamer at heart, but my mind immediately starts racing through all the different possibilities. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I'd love nothing more than to sit in a room with another programmer and hash this problem out.

Because it's fun.

Now, I'm not going to tell you that I have some sort of crystal ball for telling you that the guy having the most fun with Monopoly has the most fun with programming as a whole. But you know what? I think it's a significant indicator. (More on why I am probably wrong below.)

One of the things I look for when recruiting is enthusiasm. This is no secret. Pick up any random book about success (or "life hacking" as people call it these days). That word pops up. Read any random biography about somone you admire. That word pops up.

I can't guarantee that a programmer who thinks programming is fun does more and does it better than a dour-faced individual who come in and just works with a Puritan "work == suffering" mentality. But look around. Don't you think employers are looking for enthusiasm?

Now does that mean Monopoly is a great question? No, of course not. Enthusiasm can and does come through when a candidate loves to talk about a design. But enthusiasm can also come through when a candidate talks about a problem they've solved in a previous position or talks about where they want to be in five years, or does almost anything else in an interview... when the candidate is enthusiastic about their chosen profession.

Now what about this quote:

If you're interested enough to ask me in on the basis of my resume, then let's have an interview, not play stupid games or do tests.

Obviously the second person just plain doesn't enjoy this kind of problem. It's not like she said "hey, that sounds like a lot of fun, but what does it have to do with my job?" But that doesn't mean she doesn't have enthusiasm for her work. Maybe the she hates solving design problems and hates writing code in an interview, but ask her about what she accomplished in her last position and her eyes will light up. I don't know.

Interviewers are pattern matching machines. Interviewers have in their head two lists: traits they associate with success and traits they associate with failure. Ideally (IMO), these lists are compiled from personal experience.

If an interviewer has met a number of people who consider solving design problems interesting and who have been very successful designing software, the interviewer will tend to select candidates that enjoy solving design problems in interviews. This interviewer likes Jeff.

Another interviewer may have the exact opposite opinion. They may have known individuals that go into raptures over the architectural options of a design but failed to ship quality software on time. Such an interviewer would weed such candidates out. This interviewer likes the second person.

There is little consistency between interviewers, even within one company. And I'm sorry to say so, but sadly it's true: the subjective things like what you think is important about software development mean so much more than the objective things like how many years of experience doing X a candidate may claim to have.

One great danger is interviewers who (rightly or wrongly) consider themselves successful. They are their own shining example of success. How can such an interviewer avoid selecting people who are just like them? They believe they are a walking example of the kind of person that will be successful.

It's very difficult to shake this, especially when an interviewer has some length and breadth of experience. It is hard to say "I'm not young enough to know everything" and to look at a candidate's potential with a very open mind. Even when their track record and their attitude towards your suggested line of interviewing are not what you prefer.

Given this mess, are we in trouble in our chosen profession? I don't think so. I'll tell you why I'm personally optimistic: my "circle of concern' is well-aligned with my "circle of influence." Or to put it in a triter way, you only need one.

When looking for a job, you only need the one perfect job. It's irrelevant whether you get job offers from half of the places you apply, three quarters, or just one. What you need are the following:

1. The perfect place for you is hiring;
2. The perfect place for you interviews you;
3. The perfect place for you makes an offer.

You only need that one interview and that one offer. All other interviews and offers are actually waste by-products of your search for the perfect job.

So when going to interviews, you can afford to be choosy. By all means, if you hate stupid games, walk on out. That company isn't your kind of place. It will be full of people who are very different than you. They all got their jobs because they think that solving that kind of problem is fun. And if you like programming but you have to ask a hiring manager if they want to see you juggle, don't worry about getting an offer from that place.

Do you really think you'll have fun in a company where you don't have fun in the interview?

Here's the thing I've seen in my career: some companies do a better job of interviewing than others. But whether they interview well or poorly, the company's character and style are always front and centre on display.

If you walk out of an interview feeling enthusiastic about working in that place, you have a much better chance of enjoying yourself at work there than a place where you walked out feeling ambivalent.

After all, if you want to be the best programmer...

Wait for it...

You have to be the one having the most fun.

Labels: passion

  ¶ 9:02 AM