This Dev Candidate Red Flag is Nonsense
Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash
The Secret Developer has had a hunch for some time that qualifications are a red flag for some employers.
“I thought it must have been my imagination. I couldn’t believe that anyone would view training and knowledge negatively.
Listening to other developers I knew some really did feel qualifications were a waste of time. Little did I know this is a common opinion and is influencing hiring decisions.”
Education
Education in computer science has long been viewed with skepticism. Despite efforts to improve high school computing education in the United States, many still believe that pursuing any form of education in computing is a waste of time.
Reddit is full of this stuff, and here are some select musings from that source:
My scrum master has an arts degree and probably makes more than I do
I just find it interesting how a lot of my colleagues don’t have a degree and don’t seem to need one at all
or you might like how a poster Wasted $45,000 on a CS Degree to end up learning from YouTube.
“According to these people, you don’t require a degree at all to get along in the dev life. That’s perfectly acceptable; if you have a passion for software development and are eager to progress in your career, pursuing that path is commendable.”
The short hop to a red flag
I’ve heard a claim that having qualifications listed on your resume is a red flag. That is candidates with too many qualifications should not be considered for specific jobs.
The argument goes something like this:
most certifications are irrelevant to any particular job
few qualifications are worth their salt
a person who has qualifications has spent too much time studying when they should have been working at their job
many students are woefully unprepared for a job
you don’t need a degree for even the top FAANG jobs
so therefore, the act of studying for a degree is a red flag in itself.
“Jealous, much?”
Throwing away the best
“I want to approach the argument from a person who has qualifications and has spent too much time studying when they should have been working at their job’.
As someone who studied for an advanced degree while working full-time, I want to tell you something.
Whenever you study, you learn something new. That knowledge will help you even if is in a related field so doesn’t directly influence your work.
Learning for its own sake is positive and worthwhile. If you are throwing away candidates because they have studied something rather than working for free on an open-source project…it just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Why?
“I don’t have a clear answer to this one. Perhaps it’s the same type of reason as always:
It’s difficult to get people in tech to think logically and rationally. It’s about time we started doing that though.”
A better approach
The Secret Developer has their own approach to hiring.
“I know people in the comments won’t support this, but I don’t care. There is one really good way to hire.
Personal recommendation. It doesn’t have to be from an existing employee it can be from a trusted third party.
I knew you’d hate that idea. I know it doesn’t scale. I know it brings in other problems.
Here is the thing though. It’s STILL better than LeetCode.”
Conclusion
A paradox exists in hiring around qualifications. Some are so skeptical of qualifications and their quality they write them (and certain candidates) off completely. This article suggests that writing people off in such a way is complete nonsense and suggests a series of ways to better understand candidates.
“The way we treat candidates in tech is nothing short of scandalous. Something has to change. But when will that happen?
I guess never.”