How To Show Code Samples?

Todd writes "I've been looking around at 'help wanted' advertisements for programming jobs, and almost all of them demand that you not only have professional experience, but also that you show samples of your work. This got me wondering; with the work product, trade secret, and non-disclosure laws/agreements, how exactly can you show work that you've done in a professional capacity to a prospective employer without violating the privacy of the company for which the code was written? For instance, I can't say I've written many BASH scripts (at least, not large ones) for myself personally, but the assortment of such scripts written for my current job is wide and varied indeed. I can't very well just deliver these scripts, or even small portions thereof, to third parties to help demonstrate my scripting prowess. With that in mind, what am I supposed to show them?"

Comments

Be smart

[snoyberg]

what am I supposed to show them?

Someone else's code

Good Point

[Dallas Caley]

Like the other day, i was interviewing for a job and i said, "Well you know i did all the coding for Amazon.com right? but you see i can't show any of it to you because of the non-disclosure agreement"

For some reason i still haven't gotten a call back...

Re:Good Point

[hedronist]

Not to one-up you :-), but we use to have the NSA as customers (not something I'm particularly proud of, but they were about the only people that understood the need for similarity-based full-text retrieval in 1987, so ...) Anywho, they are the perfect no-comment referral customer because they will neither confirm nor deny that they even know you, let alone use your software. The funny thing was that people would take our word for it because they knew the NSA wasn't going to say anything.

Re:Good Point

[rhendershot]

For some reason i still haven't gotten a call back...

probably. I would say, because you refer to yourself in the lower-case. ;)

Re:Good Point

[Just Some Guy]

That is so going on my resume within the next 5 minutes. Thanks for the tip!

Re:Good Point

[AndyCR]

SCO comes to mind. :) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_/ai_n11445696

brainfuck?

[gardyloo]

Just translate everything to brainfuck, and send that sourcecode. Problem solved.

(Some people claim that this brilliant---nay, genius---solution will just make things harder for you, but you can never tell until you try, right?)

Re:brainfuck?

[moosesocks]

If you really want to throw them in a tizzy, do it in Whitespace (BF implemented using spaces, tabs, and carriage returns.)

Of course, turn it in as a printed copy.

jedi

[npace]

Use uber obfuscated code: Example: #define w "Hk~HdA=Jk|Jk~LSyL[{M[wMcxNksNss:" http://www0.us.ioccc.org/years.html

1000 lines of good code

[Animats]

I used to ask applicants for 1000 lines of C++ they were proud of. Sometimes you get something really beautiful. Something that's at least decently designed and looks reliable is essential.

I've been known to send such samples back with "Your first buffer overflow is on line 42. Thank you for your interest." I couldn't afford to deal with sloppy coders in a hard real time environment.

Re:1000 lines of good code

[Anonymous Coward]

Any of them come back with, "no, it's actually the third. But thanks for failing the test I give my potential employers."

Sample Code

[$0.02]

10 PRINT "Sample Code" : 20 GOTO 10

Re:Sample Code

[treeves]

Shoot electrons at it, but every now and then leave one out.

Re:Ask for a test problem

[ksd1337]

I mean, I do NOT write code on whiteboards with markers in my real job, why should I have to put up with that in an interview?

Emacs has a feature for that, you know.

Dress and accessorize for your interview

[tomhudson]

Standing up there shaking while sweating in a suit

Show some confidence - don't wear a suit to the interview.

A good-quality shirt if you're a PC, a turtleneck if you're a mac, a T-shirt if you're linux, or a leather jacket if you're *bsd.

Slacks if you're a PC, black jeans if you're a mac or *bsd, blue jeans if you're linux.

Dress shoes if you're a PC, loafers if you're a mac, runners if you're linux, boots or sandals if you're *bsd.

No hat if you're a PC, a kepi if you're a mac, a ballcap if you're linux (a red one if you're Fedora/RHEL), and a shaved head if you're *bsd.

A briefcase if you're a PC, a leather portfolio if you're a mac, a softsider if you're linux, and a pull-behind carrying a 4u server if you're *bsd.

A crackberry if you're a PC, an iPhone if you're a mac, any flip-phone if you're linux, Chuck Norris if you're *bsd.

Your resume in Word if you're a PC, as a video clip if you're a mac, in openoffice if you're linux, and 7-bit clean ASCII if you're *bsd.

Hide your Zune if you're a PC, subtly show off your iPod if you're a mac, wow them with streamripper if you're linux, and run a script to make the sound of the drive heads seeking play "Take this job and shove it!" if you're *bsd.

A business card if you're a PC, a mini-dvd if you're a mac, a bootable distro dvd with customized splash screen, borwser, etc., if you're linux, your phone number and email address on the back of a beer coaster if you're *bsd.

Coca-cola if you're a PC, bottled water if you're a mac, real beer (not that 5% piss) if you're linux, shots if you're *bsd.

Re:Dress and accessorize for your interview

[bladesjester]

It's funny that you mention that because I've noticed a similar trend in IT where I am.

Wear a tie, and you're generally not going to be taken seriously no matter how good you are. The best approach here seems to be a polo, nice sweater, or button up depending on the weather, slacks or khakis (occasionally jeans, depending on the place), and presentable shoes (nothing too fancy. Half the time, plain black tennis shoes work perfectly).

I used to do the suit and tie thing because that's what everyone tells you to do and because I occasionally like them (yes, I'm weird. It's what I get for some of the things in my past.).

Now I just walk in wearing a nice polo shirt and khakis and get taken a heck of a lot more seriously because I "look more like a technical person". The irony is that the change came because I got tired of getting dressed up just to end up getting jerked around, so I started walking into interviews wearing what I do on an average day.

I've occasionally wondered what would happen if I walked into an interview in medieval style clothing. lol

Re:If you don't write software at home...

[Foerstner]

Life is too short to do something you don't love for a living.

You know, you're right.

Incidentally, I'm looking for a job that includes reading scifi books, drinking diet soda, and driving sports cars. I don't have any code to show you, but to demonstrate my qualifications, I'd be happy to offer commentary on the books I've read, show you the mountain of empty cans in my recycle bin, and get the state to verify my clean driving record.

OSCON

[humphrm]

Go to OSCON this year, attend the sessions with Larry Wall, Guido van Rossum, Damien Conway, etc. Write down the code samples and then take those to the interview.

Re:Ask for a test problem

[corbettw]

Pfff. vim's version has a much cleaner interface.