· pair-programming

Pair Programming: In interviews

I came across a couple of quite interesting blog posts recently which described some approaches to interviewing which suggest a more empirical approach to interviewing whereby the interview is treated more like an audition for the person being interviewed.

I like this idea and it’s something that we do when recruiting developers in a pair programming interview.

The general idea is that we pair with the candidate as they go through a coding problem. It’s perhaps a little different from a normal pairing session in that the interviewee is more than likely driving for the majority of the session.

Sometimes we might also have another interviewer observing the pairing session and giving input where necessary.

While many people may not have specifically pair programmed before nearly everyone has worked with someone else at one computer on a problem so I haven’t ever found that a candidate finds it too much of a leap because they’re used to working alone.

One of the really cool things about a pair programming interview is that it’s much closer to what a real situation on a project would be like which I think helps you to gain a more accurate picture of the skill level and potential of the interviewee.

As an interviewer you get the chance to see how quickly the interviewee will pick up new ideas, to an extent how well they work with other people and first hand experience of their level of expertise when it comes to coding.

From my experience of other types of interviews it can be quite difficult to tell exactly how much knowledge someone has in a specific topic but in a pair programming you can just see for yourself so it works out quite well in that sense.

It’s certainly not fool proof and I quite like the way that Hash Rocket have taken this idea to the next level and get people to come there and pair program with them for a week before they get hired.

This seems like the next logical step and I guess if you have the ability to do this and candidates are prepared to give up their time then it’s a really useful approach.

As Knut Haugen points out, the interview process is as much an opportunity for the employee to work out if they actually want to work for the potential employer and I think having the opportunity to pair with some of the people who work there is a great chance to assess this.

Dave Nicolette suggests that the pairing part of the interview process is considered the only meaningful part of the interview process in the team he’s coaching and while I’m not I’d go that far I do think it’s a very valuable approach and one I’d recommend even if you don’t pair program all the time on your team.

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