Why Interviewing is Terrible
summary
Claim: interviews feel arbitrary because engineering splinters into tribes — scientists hackers makers — and front‑end splits into JavaScript CSS Node HTML, so candidates face random tests. Specific fixes: define the exact skillset you need, replace trick puzzles with assessments that show whether someone’s abilities actually solve your product problems, and evaluate collaboration and communication explicitly. Emphasize empathy over ritualized gatekeeping, stop asking obscure algorithm riddles unless they match real work, and ask whether current employees could pass the same process.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:36HELLO My name is Jem
- 3:45Jem Young Senior Engineer Netflix @jemyoung
- 6:013 tribes of engineers
- 8:26Imposter Syndrome
- 12:06What is engineering?
- 14:194 tribes of frontend engineers
- 15:46Engineer your Frontend
- 18:16N tribes of frontend engineers
- 18:34Identity Crisis
- 19:20How can we fix this?
- 19:48Tips for interviewers
- 21:01Empathy, not sympathy.
- 22:30Hiring someone is changing their life.
- 23:05Could you pass the interview at your company?
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