Diamonds in the rough: How to find good software engineers

The first time I heard about “diamonds in the rough” was in Disney’s Aladdin. Kind of a weird metaphor to intro a kids movie, but clearly it stuck with me.

Over the 200 interviews I conducted at Square, I grappled with an existential question. What made someone a good engineer? How could you determine it? After writing more interview questions than anyone else at the company, you’d think I have the answer to it. Rather, I think this is a misguided question. There is no such thing as a “good engineer.” This might be true in a vacuum, but likely only NASA software engineers work in the vacuum of space.

Down here on earth, that doesn’t stop companies or even me from looking for “good engineers.” So let’s figure out how to find them.

Everyone is a good engineer in theory

Broadly, every company is trying to figure out if you can write code and problem solve. And ideally, can you do this well? Every once in a while, you’ll get a candidate who seems as though they have never written a line of code in their life. Yet their resume indicates otherwise.

I chalk this up to nerves and I’m confident these engineers can code well enough outside the stressful environment of an interview. You can also typically tell when someone is a skilled engineer but is just out of practice. And sufficient practice will help calm one’s nerves as well.

When I passed the Google interview, my success came down to doing a lot of practice. Once I received the good news of my offer, I was a lot less impressed with people who worked at Google. If I could get in, anyone can! Studying wasn’t an easy process, but it was simple and straightforward. So let’s move forward assuming everyone is capable of passing a Google interview.

Why FAANG asks hard questions

I suspect that Google started out asking difficult algorithm questions because it was an easy way to filter for the strongest problem solvers. An academically inclined algorithm interview also makes sense considering the founders were Ph. D. students. Naturally, all the other FAANG companies copied them because they wanted to hire a similar caliber of talent.

If you can pass a tough algorithm interview, you’re probably decent engineer. These companies are just picking out the shiniest stones and don’t mind the cost of throwing out those with potential.

It’s a good strategy for FAANG companies, but don’t mistake this as a good strategy for everyone.

Dating is just like recruiting and people are bad at dating

After I started at Square, my LinkedIn was flooded with messages from recruiters. Many FinTech startups were eager to recruit me, especially for backend roles.

The limited backend work I did at Square was on data pipelines and none of my work had anything to do with payments. These companies would have discovered this quickly if I had responded, but it shows how flawed their search strategy is; not every shiny diamond is quite as good as it seems.

Furthermore, the work that big company engineers do is quite different to the needs of a startup. Both require different skill sets, not every engineer can thrive in both environments.

Personally, I just wasn’t interested in these startups. I didn’t have much interest in FinTech (at Square I worked on marketing data pipelines and restaurants software). For most startups, the risk profile too high. I would be working many more hours for a smaller paycheck and unguaranteed stock compensation.

I won’t beat a dead horse on the dating and sales metaphor, but people are quite bad at dating. Most people have never thought to pick up a dating book and learn how to do it. As a result, many people spend their time looking for the wrong qualities in a partner or are far too picky in their search. A poor search and recruitment strategy becomes costly over time. The stakes are high in both business and romance.

The answer lies in the middle for candidates and questions

What I have discovered in all my interviewing (and dating) expertise is that there are great engineers somewhere in the middle. An engineer at a startup or a less exciting big company can have huge potential. If they end up passing your interview, they are much more likely to accept the offer. I encountered many of these during my time interviewing at Square.

Similarly, asking a difficult algorithm question isn’t a good way to evaluate engineers. Algorithms and data structures are the foundations of all computer science. It is valuable to test these skills, just don’t be overly pedantic with it.

I can find these engineers for you

My loyal readers will know that there isn’t anything groundbreaking about this post; it’s mostly advice I have previously given. I write this post to announce a pivot. After talking to startup companies, I’ve observed a few key problems

1. They don’t know how to evaluate an engineer as “good”

2. It’s hard to find good engineers

3. It’s hard to find good engineers who will accept your offer

I was trying to solve the first problem with my consulting services. But the second and third problems are more pressing for startups. As much as I want to teach startups how to fish, I suppose I can catch some fish for them first.

So, if you’d like to hire engineers I’ve already interviewed and vetted, please get in touch!

Are you a diamond in the rough?

As mentioned earlier, I don’t believe there is any such thing as an “objectively good” engineer.

A few years ago, I was giving a friend mock interviews. At the start of his job search, he wasn’t a great interviewer. When presented with a problem, he would jump right into coding without coming up with a plan. He would get hopelessly lost in his own code and the ideas he would come up with seemed unrelated to the problem. In one question, he wrote out the implementation of a linked-list. A good thing to have memorized, but he didn’t have an answer when pressed what he was going to do with it.

Over time, he kept practicing and incorporating my feedback. By the end of his job search, he had on-site interviews at Facebook, Square, and PayPal.

I want to provide this same help to more people. Companies famously don’t give enough feedback. After interviewing with me I’ll give you detailed feedback that will help you improve. And if you pass, you’ll get the bonus of being introduced to companies that hire from me.