Ask Slashdot: How Can You Apply For A Job When Your Code Samples Suck?

An anonymous Slashdot reader ran into a problem when looking for a new employer: Most ask for links to "recent work" but the reason I'm leaving my current job is because this company doesn't produce good code. After years of trying to force them to change, they have refused to change any of their poor practices, because the CTO is a narcissist and doesn't recognize that so much is wrong. I have written good code for this company. The problem is it is mostly back-end code where I was afforded some freedom, but the front-end is still a complete mess that doesn't reflect any coherent coding practice whatsoever...

I am giving up on fixing this company but finding it hard to exemplify my work when it is hidden behind some of the worst front-end code I have ever seen. Most job applications ask for links to live code, not for code samples (which I would more easily be able to supply). Some of the websites look okay on the surface, but are one right click -> inspect element away from giving away the mess; most of the projects require a username and password to login as well but account registration is not open. So how do I reference my recent work when all of my recent work is embarrassing on the front-end?
The original submission's title asked what to use for work samples "when the CTO has butchered all my work." Any suggestions? Leave your best thoughts in the comments. How can you apply for a job when your code samples suck?

Comments

Maybe it's just you..

[Anonymous Coward]

Think hard about that for a second. First post!

What about when your old job owns the code?

[JDAustin]

And therefore taking it with you would be illegal?

Re:What about when your old job owns the code?

[JohnFen]

Would you fail to turn in a thief because they might get in trouble if you did?

Rate a musician based on his band?

[mykepredko]

This is a re-iteration of a reply elsewhere in this thread.

I think a reasonable analog would be in terms of musicians - would you hire a musician based on the work of the band they were in or would you want them to audition for you?

The obvious example would be if you were hiring a musician based on them being an ex-Beatle would you be as happy with a Ringo as a John, Paul or George? How would you feel if you got George based on what you heard in the albums and later found out that Eric Clapton played some of the guitar attributed to George on the albums?

As an employer, I would want to see what the applicant could do as an individual contributor to show that they have the required technical chops and then use the interview process to determine whether or not they fit in with the company/team.

Doesn't matter if it's a musician or coder.

Not so fast

[emblemparade]

I work for a respectable company and all our code is Apache licensed (open source) and publicly available. Anyone can see my code.

Let's not jump to conclusions and assume that OP is breaking the law.

That said, my advice to OP is to contribute code constantly to open source and free software projects. This is very impressive to employers for various reasons: 1) it displays your passion-driven, good quality code, in projects that you yourself chose, 2) it shows your delight in code itself, rather than profit, 3) it proves you're ambitious enough to work after hours to further your career.

I hire people, and let me tell you that people listing several open source contributions (including their own independent open source projecs) always jump to the top of the stack.