Jerry Jones

Category: Hiring

  • Lessons from Hiring Software Engineers

    Lessons from Hiring Software Engineers

    I’ve been a jack of all trades web developer for nearly 15 years and moved to working full-time in hiring in September 2020. At Automattic, we’re hiring as fast as we can. This has given me a chance to work with and evaluate hundreds of software engineers over the past eight months. The Day-to-Day: A…

  • Tips for Text-based Interviews

    Tips for Text-based Interviews

    Since joining the hiring team at Automattic in the fall of 2019, I’ve noticed different patterns and preferences on text-based interviews. Some of these are also general interviewing tips. Send shorter messages The pacing of the conversation is improved when you send multiple shorter messages instead of one multi-paragraph message. Answer as you go along.…

  • Qualities of Expertise

    Gaining expertise is difficult enough, but how can you tell if yourself (or someone else) has reached expert status? Unfortunately, multiple-choice tests are ineffective predictors since the benefit of expertise is being able to conjure up complex, situational-dependent solutions where there is no “correct” answer. One of the simpler ideas is to see how long…

  • Greenhouse Scorecard User Scripts

    Greenhouse Scorecard User Scripts

    Since joining the hiring team at Automattic, I’ve been using the recruiting/hiring software Greenhouse to score Code Tests and evaluate trial candidates. There are some things that have annoyed me a little about the site, so I wrote a few user scripts to improve my own time on Greenhouse. A user script is JavaScript that…

  • Honesty in Anonymous vs Confidential Surveys

    Honesty in Anonymous vs Confidential Surveys

    I knew I needed to build some kind of survey to see if dropping the time limit from the code test would have any measurable impact on time spent or pressure. But I wasn’t sure if it should be anonymous or not. On one hand, I assumed the data for an anonymous survey would be…

  • The Bias of Timed Code Tests

    The Bias of Timed Code Tests

    I clearly remember the code test when going through the hiring process at Automattic. As someone with imposter syndrome and anxiety, the thought of having my code under a microscope, and confirming my fear of not being a “real” developer, isn’t exactly my idea of a fun time. But, I made it through, and was…