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Admin
Amazon is a little like that. Most companies in the Seattle area are, and Seattle still produces a whole bunch of software and has many profitable companies. Personally, you're making yourself sound like a bigot and stuffed shirt I'd be happy not to work near.
Admin
Well, here's one.
Back in - ummmm - '94 or so, I guess, I'd taken 6 months out to do a performance project. Previous employers wouldn't let me do the leave-of-absence thing, so I'd told them to stuff their job, in that case. Anyway, was starting to put out the old feelers for work, and got an interview at [major financial institution]. C++, Solaris, just my cup-o-tea at the time. So, along I went. Suit, tie, the whole 9 yards. Except, I had a show to do the next week, as a part of that had an 'unorthodox' haircut, which I couldn't make non-obvious. So, I went along anyway. After all, I could explain it if I wanted the job, right?
So, I arrive, it's 6pm, and the building is empty. I go up, meet the interviewer, we do the usual formalities, I've completely forgotten about my barnet and he's said nothing. So, we do the non-technical side, it's all going swingingly. Tech test. Interviewer has some stuff to do, so says, "look, I'll go and sort out some live issues for 10 or 15 minutes, here's the tech test, I'll be back before you're done". So off he toddles, I take one lok at the test and laugh, it's all straight out of Meyers, so I have it aced in about 3 minutes flat. I've done and administered tests like this about a gazillion times, after all. So, I'm bored, and write him a new set of C++ tests...
Anyway. He comes back in after fixing his live issues, sees me frantically scribling away, and says, "Oh, I'll give you another 5 minutes if you like", to which I reply, no, I'm rewriting your C++ test, your old one is rubbish. He kind of double-takes, then asks me what I mean, so I explain that any know-nothing fuckwit with a copy of Better C++ could blag their way in, and pass my test over to him. As expected, 100% on the test, and he liked my new version. Interview aced, guy still hasn't mentioned my hair, but as I leave says "as far as I'm concerned, you have the job".
So. Interview 2, two days later, with interviewer's boss. Ace that one too.
Then... a week of nothing. So, I phone up the sharks^H^H^H^H^H^Hagency and ask what's going on. they phone the client, and eventually get back to me. they want a 3rd interview. Non-formal. In a pub. Okay, say I. So, along I go, meet the original interviewer. Smalltalk, a guinness, and I'm being careful how much I drink. Eventually, he comes out with it. "This is going to sound really petty, but would you consider cutting your hair off?". "Of course" I reply. By all accounts, one of the secretaries had seen me coming in for interview #2 and had commented to her boss "[name deleted] is hiring a PUNK!" and within seconds the whole operation was scandalised... The "interview" continued until I could no longer stand.
I ended up working there for 2 years :)
Simon
Admin
The whiteboard thing, in particular, looks like a company which doesn't really want to hire good people.
It is worth noting that a lot of very good programmers are quite socially disfunctional.
Admin
Ah, right. There are drugs you can take for that, you know.
Admin
Yes, actually. But I was working for a state hospital at the time. They seemed to be surprisingly good at keeping away incompetents, at least in their IT department. (One of the little shops in an outpatients' area was another matter. One of the people who worked there pressed the "Government Environmental Levy" button for all purchases (In this country you must pay 15cent per plastic bag, which goes directly to the department of the environment; this, surprisingly enough, works) meaning that the hospital made no money on them).
Admin
I'm still trying to figure out the logic behind that. My understanding was that, these days, a suit is pretty much standard dress for an interview. So what, you wanted someone with either no awareness of fashion or no interest in good presentation?
Ever since it got explained to them using phrases like "social engineering", a lot of geeks have had a fairly good grasp of what I'd consider basic interview skills.
Admin
I don't think I'm a bigot or a stuffed shirt.
My comments are based on a lot of personal experiences I've had in the past with all sorts of companies. When I first started out, I was so innocent and clueless. I didn't know about the different styles of management. Now with all these experiences under my belt, some might say I'm jaded. The bad experiences wear you down after a while, and you start preferring one management style over another.
In hindsight, I've noticed the trend for companies to be either:
- a free-for-all company, where anything goes - a "commie" company
- a militant, work-you-to-death company, where bosses scream orders at you - a "fascist" company
It is strange that their is rarely a middle-ground style company. They usually fit into one of the two categories.I've worked at both style companies, and I must admit that the "commie" style company sucks more. This is because everybody has their heads in the clouds and their "political commissars" try to brainwash you into embracing their corporate culture.
Don't get me wrong, the "fascist" style sucks big time too. Most days you don't know if you should say "hi" to your boss or give him the raised hand salute. But typically these "fascist" companies tend to get results and they survive somewhat longer than the "commie" companies...however it's usually at the expense of the programmer's health and sanity.
What to do then? Be thankful if you can find a middle-ground company. One where people are respected as human beings and you're not stressed out every-single-day. I'm at a place like that now, and I hope it lasts for a long time.
Admin
Too bad that wasn't mentioned in the original post, as it obviously makes a significant difference. But at least you got a laugh out of it.
ok
dpm
Admin
I interviewed for a senior programming position with a decent company back in 1993. I was facing
three people: the president, the C expert, and the OS expert. The C guy started off the techincal side
by writing the following on the markerboard
char foo[20];
and asking me "what is that?" I had nothing to say, and I'm sure the look on my face was entertaining,
as I simply sat there and stared at it, then at them, then back at the board, then back at them . . .
finally I managed to slowly enunciate "it . . . declares . . . an array of characters?"
Fortunately they didn't throw me out right then; my delayed response (and tone of uncertainty) was
due solely to my surprise at being asked such a basic question. They picked up the pace, asking
more challenging questions, and I answered them satisfactorily. They explained later that some people
did in fact apply for positions to which they were not qualified in any ways, which was news to me.
Of course, back then I lived a very sheltered life, and had yet to learn of the Myriad Clueless.
ok
dpm
Admin
Telling him "please don't do this fancy handshake with our clients" would not be sufficient?
Admin
Probably not. It shows a distinct inability to distinguish between formality and familiarity. That is not to say that the fellow can't learn to make the distinction, but that is probably something he should figure out while selling himself rather than selling the company.
Admin
My place. I am a co-owner of a consulting company. I'd imagine that all our full-time workers are able to work those hours, when needed. Some of them regularly do sixty, and get paid for it. I trust them to be as productive for the extra twenty-odd over the 37-40 they would normally do. But if they're happier working normal hours, and they're good at their job, I'm happy too. In fact, probably more so.
Personally I ascribe to the idea, "Work smarter, not harder." Quality over quantity. Although I've been up around forty hours over the last fortnight, normally I hover around 35. My current contract refuses to pay over eight hours/day anyway, so I don't do it. I stay alert and relaxed, and I don't get ratty.
Silliest thing I ever said at an interview (at a contracting agency, twenty-umm-two years ago), when asked by the interviewer about work I'd done maintaining an old a/cs payable system in my previous job: "Oh it was rubbish - it never worked, crashed quite often and made my life hell." My blood froze when he said, "When I was at [large, blue computer company] I sold that system." Oh. Still, being honest (and a bit too blunt) didn't hurt, because I got the job.
Admin
Broom closet, eh? Sounds like a good idea, assuming the cleaners only buzz the office at night. After all, stationary cupboards tend to be a little risky, during the day...
Admin
<font size="3">@comment on "EEO? But he's Caucasian!"
Wow.
Apparently Caucasians can't be discriminated against?
</font>
Admin
To an extent.
I happen to /like/ wearing shirts and ties. Not because I'm all staid and stuffy. Pretty much the opposite. I just am one of those people who look better/natural/more relaxed than in a polo shirt and tracksuit pants...
Admin
That's patently stupid. Someone shows up showing the proper amount of respect to show that they are taking the job seriously - and the company excuses them?
I call you a liar "John." Grab a piece of fat and slide off.
Admin
Try 37.5 hours a week. There have been studies that show that working over about 40 hours a week your productivity actually goes down overall because you're more burned out.
Sarah
Admin
I work 40 hours, and it seems that in that time I always get done what needs to be done. I haven't missed a deadline yet [;)]
I have a very competent manager. When a project of a co-worker was threatening to go overdue he grabbed the nearest PC and jumped in helping with coding. And he also manages to manage our department very well.
As for weaing a suit and tie to an interview. Never. I don't work wearing a suit and tie, so why should I wear one for the interview and give a false impression? I just go in casual (but neat) clothes.
Drak
Admin
<FONT color=#ff0000>Give the guy a break!!....</FONT>
He was conducting an interview for heavens-sake. The woman who irritated the guy was completely unprofessional and damn-right childish
[<:o)]
Admin
Actually, I don't think that the CEO/CTO was wrong about the "sit down guy". We were interviewing recently and had lots of applicants who simply did not qualify the job in technical regard, many showed as little knowledge of the required technologies (and no potential to learn) as someone who *plans* to buy a book about the topic.
Then there came a guy with an impressing knowledge of all required technologies, apparently experienced and he did not even ask for too much. Yet we did not hire him. Why? He was way too nervous. When he started the interview, he was so nervous that his body was shaking. Ok, some can't bear stress too well, so we started chatting about off topic things and the guy calmed down. Right. As we were discussing technology, he expressed his opinion so aggressively that he killed the topics multiple times. When we asked him about his previous job experience, he showed passionate hate to his previous employer and collegues, so we asked why he left and he told his boss found him 'incompatible' with any type of team work, which he found ridiculous. When we asked ourselves the question "do I want to work with this guy?", we immediately agreed on "no" and I think we made the right decision. Technical abilities are just one aspect of hiring. At a small company, you want to hire people who you can work with.
Admin
He sounds like the type who "might snap and mow down the building with automatic machine gun fire at any moment."
Admin
Frankly, he scared me a little.
We ended up hiring nobody BTW. The best candidate took the job at another company and when the second best learned it (my fault, lesson learned), he raised his salary expectation by 50% and requested some extras, which just did not sound right. The third best... there was no such one. The third 'best' completed the test project (high-quality, teamwork-compatible code requested, one week time limit, supposed to be 2-4 hours of work) in some 100 lines. The code was full of cryptic variable names like "a", "i", "o", multiple statements per line, no comments, no whitespace at all, no error handling, failed to use thread synchronization, 64-bit integers and Unicode where it would have been needed. Uhm.
Admin
Yes, as long as he wouldn't have any customer relations... I mean, if the guy's a fantastic coder why would you care wheter or not he wears a tie? Just stick him in a corner office and let him do his stuff. Nah'mean?
Admin
What the flying fuck does a piece of cloth have to do with respect and being serious? It's a convention in a certain part of corporate culture, that's all. It is also a convention for geek/hacker/tech people to despise tie-wearers as superficial and incompetent.
Admin
I think the "beavis and butthead" crack is hilarious. I've committed that to memory for future usage.
Seriously though, CTO or not, being late to an interview is bad practice on behalf of the interviewee and interviewer. I wouldn't be late to an interview as either, and would apologise profusely if that was the case. Personally I wouldn't really use the beavis/butthead line, but I would think twice about a CTO that can't turn up at a given time and date and lacks a basic sense of humour. It's a basic personal management requirement to know what the time is and how to tell it (a seven year old can do it for God's sake).
Personally I can't stand pretentious management, and don't enjoy working for their type. They're usually know nothing except for how to get ahead through corporate back-stabbing and director-cock-sucking.
The fact that he let his secretary do his dirty work - disgusting. It is what he has been paid to do. I've had to sit there, knowing that the guy I have to fire has just had his first kid, but I did it, because it was my job and my responsibility. I didn't like doing it and it burned in my conscience, but that is business and what I was paid to do. It is one of the main reasons I enjoy not having to run my own business anymore.
Personally, I would fire that CTO, based on the story and the facts given. It sounds like he is arrogant, can't manage his time and lets other people do the work he is paid to do. That is not the kind of person I would want to work for me, or with me for that matter. The candidate at least sounded interesting, and seemed to have a sense of humour (though comic timing is a bit off). A quick retort by the CTO, such as "both beavis and butthead seem to be you as this moment" would have been more appropriate in shutting the candidate up, and then seeing what his skills and personality really were like, would have been a better course of action.
Regarding long working hours. Work to live, not the other way around. It's an old adage, but very true. People that work extremely long hours have relationship problems, health issues and eventually mental breakdowns. Go to work, enjoy it and socially interact with your peers, whilst learning and growing as a person. Remember you have children and a wife for God's sake, otherwise that other guy who isn't a slave like you, will start banging your wife whilst you're being a butthead and working too much. If you want to work 60 hours a week, then be my guest, but if I were you, skip the next 10 years of hard work and pain, go tell your wife that she might as well leave you now and screw the postman/milkman/poolman, tell your kids to hate you because you aren't going to spent any quality time with them whilst they grow up and check yourself into the nearest mental hospital and start banging your head against the wall. At least you'll have the breakdown and realisation without wasting ten years of your life. Perhaps I should call this the patented "Dr Ben - Wake up and smell the roses" method. Thoughts?
Regarding the tie. It is designed for one reason alone, and that is to give you the remote possibility of strangling yourself, and serves no purpose less to remind you of the corporate bondage you work for. I think like the suffragettes we should all burn our ties in protest. If somebody can please let me know what they are for, with the exception of strangulation, then please let me know. As with any job, being comfortable promotes a healthy, efficient, productive mind. We hear enough about ergonomics with regards to our seating position, so the fact we have a piece of material tight around our throats should be unergonomic enough to remove it, burn it and never wear it again.
So, stand up and be counted! Exit your chair and your pen (sorry "cube"), and announce to your work colleagues and managers (bondage masters), in the name of unity and freedom that you will burn your tie, denounce its meaning and set yourself free. Then take a lighter and set fire to your tie, and throw it to the ground. Stamp on it and let all your anger you have inside for your boss, your work, your life drain out of you. You'll feel much better, probably get fired on the spot, but it will feel good.
Personally, my opinion is that a person whom has never been fired at least once in their life hasn't lived. On that last point, I am genuinely serious - it builds character. However, if you have been fired more than once - you're a twat, and haven't learnt from the first time!
Admin
Whats your point? Not exactly the norm though is it?
Should I ask before the interview? most companies would say "suit" and think u a little daft for asking!
Admin
Man, I love working in the (Danish) public sector. 37 hrs a week, and not a second more or less.
Admin
UK public sector is less!! and more holidays (about 35 days off a year my mum gets as a secretary in the NHS, and she works part time!! WTF!!)
Admin
"Unusual" handshakes are very common even among business men in some parts of Africa. Obviously not a company with overseas clients.
Admin
Yes, it's convention. It shows that you respect the company enough and are interested enough in the job that you will respect their convention, even if you don't like it.
Admin
Dismissing people because they wear ties isn't being a bigot? Shut up.
Admin
I agree with what you say. This is specially instructive when you were about to tell them that you are leaving.
You also learn to not go into places where you'll be fired because you won't fit there. Also, you may learn to leave before getting fired so you can say you bailed out by your own will. Quite useful skills :)
Admin
I always use tests before talking to someone. Never anything complex, but something anyone suitable for the job should be able to quickly look over, see that they can do easily, and spend 15-20 minutes completing.
Last time I hired I saw almost everyone that produced anything resembling sensible answers (mostly in desperation - it took 6 months to find high enough quality people to two jobs that required skills with C++ and prerrably some experience with either of PHP or Perl) - I'm not picky about test results because I know that people don't want to spend ages on them, and it's often more valuable to talk about the results face to face
But each time we've used tests, even extremely basic ones, we save ourselves a lot of time. Last time, of around 30 or so candidates with CV's I looked at that seemed reasonable and that were given the tests, 4 people had blatantly plagiarised online sources four their answers. And I'm not talking about looking up the answer online and writing it down in their own words. I'm talking cut and paste of (in one case) pages of documentation (some of it from an Oracle manual) when a single sentence would have been appropriate. In one case a candidate even cut and pasted a forum answer to a similar question that was corrected by someone else later in the same thread (the answer was complete and utter junk). I found all of them by cutting and pasting a line from their answers into Google.
I DON'T mind people looking up answers online, if they get it right, and if they use it to read up and give me an answer they've written themselves. I'd even have accepted several of those answers IF the candidate had told me "I didn't know the answer to this, so I looked it up, and according to ...., it's like this:" or just properly referenced their source. That shows initiative and integrity - I frequently look up things online when I work, and expect engineers working for me to do the same. I am more concerned about peoples overall skills than whether or not they happen to remember the answer t a specific question off by heart.
(as a digression, when hired for my current position I got the same set of tests that I frequently use myself, and a whole section of the test was on Perl. I just answered "I don't know enough Perl to answer these questions. I am willing to learn if it's needed for the job" or something along those lines. I know from talking to the manager that hired me afterwards that that answer was far more beneficial for me than if I'd have tried to fake my way through it)
Another 10 at least were unable to give any sensible answers as well. Only 5-6 candidates gave good answers, and we ended up hiring 3 of them as my manager decided one of them fit in on another position that had become vacant in the meantime.
I spoke to most of the ones with mediocre answers as well, and none of them would have been even remotely useful for our position.
The key to using tests successfully for screening is to make the initial tests very simple - you don't want to miss a good candidate because he's had a bad day or misread a question. You just want to get rid of the people that are trying you on in the hope of fooling you or that otherwise are applying for a job far above their skill level.
Would I talk to a candidate that refused to take a test? No. Before even deciding to give a candidate the chance to sit a test I will have spent far more time evaluating his or her's CV than they will spend on the test, and I know that I am interested. If they are not willing to invest that kind of time on the interview process with an employee that has shown interest in their CV, then I have NO reason to believe that they'll put in any level of effort if they're hired.
I don't expect long hours (I refuse to work them myself unless it's for a limited time and I'm appropriately awarded - my contract says 40 hours minus lunch hours, and that is what my salary is based on. If they want me to work more they better pay me more) - but I do expect someone that is working efficiently during the time they are paid for, and that means being able to prove to me they are willing to put in the effort.
V
Admin
Frankly, if I was sitting in a cubicle and ANYONE at ANY time just walked into it and leaned on me to look at something without first curteously asking if it was ok or if they were disturbing I'd be pissed off unless she was an amazing hottie and blatantly hitting on me... Intruding on someones personal space like that while they're obviously busy is to me a sign of complete disrespect.
Even more so, if that someone ignores a blatant sign that I don't want them there by me pointing out that I am on the phone would really make me fume. I might not end up throwing stuff, but I would certainly be giving that person an earful afterwards if nothing else to make sure it never ever happens again.
V
Admin
My problem with tests is syntax. If you start asking me syntax questions on a paper test, then I'll walk out. You know, I don't always keep the exact number of arguments that method can take in my head. It says a lot about an employer if they expect you to write syntactically correct code on a piece of paper.
As me theory, logic, problem solving, and pseudo-code all you want. But if you're gonna run it through a compiler later, to hell with you.
Admin
At least people with hacker/tech/geek background should know that one should not measure others by their clothing. Specially if suit is worn in job interview where one usually should dress a bit better than usually. Turning someone off just because he wears suit is incredebly stupid, I would never want to work under that kind of management.
Admin
Stupid especially because the candidate likely didn't want to be wearing the damn thing to begin with.
Admin
Legally in the US? Yeah, pretty much. Not saying that is right or wrong but it's basically the case.
Admin
<FONT face="Courier New" size=2>is that what the master's degree taught you as well?</FONT>
Admin
It seems to me that if you're going to an interview you want to look your best (it is proven that good-looking candidates have a better chance of being hired) and a guy in a nice suit certainly has a certain something over one in trousers and a polo shirt.. (OK.. so, tightish t-shirt and jeans they might look even better, but if I'm interviewing someone I'd prefer to be able to keep my thoughts on the subject at hand :P)
You're trying to make a good first impression - and while I've been interviewed by barefoot people in shorts, it would take a huge amount of bravado to carry off turning up at an interview that way myself!
As to tests - we use one where we sit someone down at a (pre-setup) computer, give them all the connection info they need, and tell them that in 20mins we'd like to be able to hit a page(servlet is acceptable) in a browser and get back the description column from the sports table that has Id 100. They can use the web to look up whatever they want, and we hang around (trying not to lurk too badly, while still keeping an eye on how they go about it) in case they have any questions about the tools available etc..
It works really well.. 20 mins is about the right time for an experienced programmer - someone more junior would take 30 - but it's nice seeing them handling a keyboard (it's surprising how many people say they're programmers, then hunt and peck!) noting good variable name habits, how they go about researching on the web etc..
A bad result on the test doesn't mean we wouldn't hire them - but it also gives us something to explore later on in the other parts of the interview.. Also, we wouldn't give them the test without talking to them for a bit, getting them relaxed enough that they'd ask questions if they had them etc... turning up and going straight into a written test for a programming job just isn't ideal from either person's side..
Admin
Let me get this straight. They brought this random guy off the street, and took him into a room where all the companies top seceret plans where on a whiteboard? There are companies (not ethical ones, but they exist) who on finding that out will hire someone to get an interview, and then memorise the whiteboard before erasing it. Then they (the compitition) knows the seceret plans, and the creaters don't.
I agree that he should have asked before erasing, but there is no excuse for anything important to be on the board to begin with.
As for B&B: I wouldn't have gone red in the face, but the interview would have been over. I know I'm an over sensitive christian, but I like it that way. People swear all the time, but not around me - I have made it clear that it isn't acceptable, and they have learned to respect that if they want to communicate with me. (Once you set the example people tend to follow along, so normally I don't have to say anything, just refuse to swear a few times when everyone else is, and they will get uncomfortable and stop. Subtile but it works) An interview is unknown enough that you start off on your best behavior, and only change after it is proven that the others are fine with it.
Thus for a first interview you wear the suit and tie. When (as most places are) you see that it isn't required, for the second interview you drop to something more casual. (always just slightly above them, because the boss might notice) Language can be adjusted in real time - if everyone else is making B&B jokes, you are safe to make a few yourself, but don't start them, and don't use the more crude ones.
If you are not comfortable with the level of language or dress they set, then don't take the job. Their job is to set the tone of the interview to be much like the day to day office, so if you are not comfortable with their tone, you won't like the job.
Admin
Common sense tells me that. Any other questions?
Admin
I think this is the crux of the discussion.
When seeking employment, there are some of us (like this person) who are skilled enough (and live in a tech economy that will support them) to be able to choose where they want to work. Their skills speak for themselves, and they have the luxury of deciding which company they will grace with their presence -- and it can be one that will cater to their quirks.
The rest of us don't necessarily have that ability. Be it less skill, less job availability, or other considerations (family, social life, etc), we are more limited in job hunting, and thus must try our best to make the employer select us instead of other candidates for the position.
(Somewhere there's a law of supply and demand at work.)
To those who have replied to this thread with comments like, "I would NEVER work for a company that said/did X, Y, or Z in an interview," then my congratulations on being in that elite first group. However, as someone in that second group, I will continue to put on a tie, shake hands, and maintain a courteous and professional demeanor when I interview. I don't consider it "selling out" as much as it is "selling myself".
Admin
Right or wrong, showing up dressed in a suit and tie shows respect to the potential employer. Showing up in shorts and flip-flop makes a candidate appear to believe himself or herself to be too important to bother making a good impression.
My personal experience is that candidates who have an inflated sense of importance (e.g. most Harvard grads) can't be bothered to do any unpleasant work or stay late when the team is in a jam.
Admin
Heh. I'll wear a tie for an interview. But I always take note of whether the other people there are wearing ties or not, and if they are, well, I won't be working there. :)
Admin
All of the people mention in this WTF have one thing in common, they are idiots. Each one of them
A good indication of a persons idiot factor is the number of jobs they have had over the past 5 years. (exclude consultants from this test) If they have had more than 3+ jobs in 5 years, phone screen them. If they can't provide acceptable* reasons for each of the jumps move on.
(*Acceptable varies with Corporate Culture of the hiring firm)
Admin
Nothing wrong with technical tests given before during or after face-to-face interviews. I personally prefer technical test/interview or a phone screen to a formal HR interview, the kind where they ask you “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”, “Are you a team player?” and “What kind of tree/animal would you be?” (yes, I was actually asked that once by an HR person).
On the other hand, it also depends who’s conducting a tech interview. I had a phone screen where it was clear that the guy had no idea what he was talking about, it was obvious that he read questions from piece of paper and looked up the answers, and if my answers didn’t match exactly with what’s written down on his piece of paper, it was no good for him.
Also you got to love when your ability to think logically and program is measured by “number of users in the system X you developed” or “Number of ASPX pages”. I was interviewed for a web developer position, so a hiring manager asked me those questions; number of users and pages. Towards the end of that interview, I felt that he wasn’t impressed, so I suggested that I would be willing to take a technical test if he has any doubts about my qualifications. He replied that it wont be necessary since I don’t have experience working with “large-scale systems” with X number of users and X numbers of pages….Admin
I showed up at the interview for my current job in a full suit and tie, and I plan to do so for any interview in the future unless explicitly told otherwise. I even showed up for my first day on the job in a suit and tie. When my coworkers half jokingly told me, 'Take that crap off, you're making us look bad," I knew it'd probably be ok to tone it down just a bit.
I really don't understand the strong aversion most people seem to have to wearing a uniform. When working for a fast-food joint, you're going to have to wear something resembling a clown suit. If you work for UPS, you wear brown. That's just how it is. At least at most jobs in which programmers are interested the "uniform" is wearable in other settings.
To those who refuse to dress up: are y'all's (double contraction++) necks really so sensitive that it pains you unbearably to wear a tie? Are your identities really so tied to your goddamn clothing that to dress up because you're required to do so by your employer constitutes "selling out?"
Admin
Having 3+ jobs in 5 years is indicative of nothing. People get laid off, relocate, get sick, injured, short term dissability, divorce their boss' daughter, whatever. Not all the answers might be acceptable to you, but it doesn't mean that a person with 3+ jobs in 5 years is not a qualified candidate, it definitely doesn’t mean an idiot.
Also your arguement can easily be turned around; a person that stayed in one place for 5 years is lacking motivation, not ambitious, not a risk taker, etc., therefore is an idiot.
Admin
I would be a bannana tree...for obvious reasons.