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

use educational examples

[huckda]

i.e. for bash scripting:

give yourself some common tasks:

create scripts for them...

i.e. create a script to fetch updates and notify you via mail(or some other means) when they are downloaded and ready for installation.

create a script that analyzes log files(yes these things have all been done by many others and you can download them in tool-kits...but that's not the point)

create a script that updates other scripts dynamically based on what they find out...

Re:Ask for a test problem

[TheGratefulNet]

just tell them the request in not appropriate.

since it ISN'T! would THEY like you to show work you did for them, later on, to OTHER employers?

maybe that's the best answer you can give.

[soap]
the next programming test I take, I'm insisting I bring a laptop, have emacs and gcc at my disposal. 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? I am more than happy to sit down at emacs, have my indent checker, my syntax-colorizer extensions, have my tools at hand (like a normal work day would be like) and THEN see if I can solve the quiz or routine. but in all my years, I've never seen any employer show that level of wisdom in the interview process. sad, as writing on whiteboards is not something everyone is good at and I hate being judged by such artificial criteria. gimme emacs and lemme show you how I really edit/create code in real life. if I fail that, then I'll accept whatever decision you make.
[/soap]

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

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh please.

There are some of us that enjoy our jobs and the tasks we do there but have other interests outside of work. I'm a Sys Admin. It was my "dream job" from the time I took my first comp sci class. I love what I do, I love the challenges I am presented with. But I don't run my own Solaris boxes at home so that I can play around even more when I get off work. I have too many other interests; other things I enjoy doing. That doesn't make me bad at my job. In fact I think it protects me from a lot of the burnout that I see happen in I.T.

Re:Be smart

[Stalus]

Last time I interviewed, Intuit and Microsoft mostly asked me ridiculous problems like string word reversals and such, as if I had the C string library committed to memory. I was particularly amused with the Microsoft questions because I had to write a replacement for their CString library four years earlier because it didn't handle DBCS well at the time.

nVidia asked me higher level problems that required much more thought, and was actual problem solving rather than how recently I had used the particular library that the interviewer was working on that day. I wasn't really surprised, but was somewhat amused when I received an offer from nVidia, but not from MS or Intuit.

I ended up taking a better offer elsewhere, but I found the difference in interview styles very striking.

Re:Be smart

[tom's a-cold]

Yeah, it's just like standardized testing. It's irrelevant because the conditions imposed by the testing scenario are more important to the tester than the real demands of the job. So what ends up happening is an obnoxious rehash of a CompSci course. Anyone who does that to you is a head-wedged bureaucrat. Interviewing's hard. More than anything this is a sign of laziness or incompetence on the part of the interviewer. Probably means that they're also an inept manager.

I refuse to comply with interview bullshit. I push back when asked to do things that I think are ridiculous, and have on occasion walked out. It's harsh, but the only way that they'll learn... or at least the only way to keep your self-respect.

Hasn't cost me anything either. I was voluntarily unemployed once for a two-week period. Other than that, 28 years fully employed. So don't assume you have to put up with that crap in order to get a job.

Re:Be smart

[Richard W.M. Jones]

I have found that asking interviewees to do some (simple) coding tasks has been useful, but it's not necessarily about whether they succeed or fail at the task.

We set up a computer running Linux and projector in the room and asked candidates to write code. Many of the candidates turn out to have no idea how to use the Linux command line, or don't know what a man page is, or how to run the compiler (and this is after extensive screening of their CVs already for a job which specifies Linux skills). This becomes very obvious in the practical test, and such people can be quickly rejected.

Without the practical test we'd have to rely on CVs giving reliable answers to these things ["10 years experience with Linux" etc] and on asking the candidates what they know and relying on honest answers back.

Rich.