Company wants me to work a day first before contract

[Raithlin]

Yeah, for some reason I read that you have 6 years experience. If I was at your level I'd consider this offer, but it would depend on my current contract, and if I could I'd go through on a weekend.

 

[touch7]

@ SauRoNZA. Their offer is not spectacular in anyway. It's the typical add x% to the salary. While at the interview the told me the full scope of what they expect from the developer and it exceeds what was posted on their website. You know how companies describe a frontend developer that can some times do tasks that are not in the job description. Before you know it your writing entire backends and mobile apps too. I've seen to many companies promise to teach people stuff and yet many people are still lacking on the basics.

@saor. I think your response it the one I'll most likely go with.

I don't think 1 day is enough. What is the point of "probation period"?

 

[Batista]

This isn't quite the same. Sounds like they want to interview him for a day THEN only offer him the job.

I know some American companies are pushing this kind of thing but then you usually get paid a set fee and it's more a case of X amount of hours to complete a task and get money for it.


In this case sounds more like a small business approach to broken logic.

Unless there is a truly spectacular offer on the table here to justify the drama I would simply tell them to **** off.

In general I don't even entertain interviews where a company expects me to take time off from my current job to attend them...especially not at short notice as many do. "Can you come in tomorrow at 11?" erm...no, but I can pop around at 17:30 or over lunch time if you really want to see em.

If they don't want to take special time out to see me, then I don't see why I should either. Again unless there is really something spectacular on the table.

But oddly enough the jobs I've applied for that I've really wanted these things have never been an issue for HR and the like to be accommodating. It's always the **** ones that expect miracle from you.

I did my test on day 1 - was in and out in 20 mins.
Got called back on day2 for interview and then was hired on day 3.

OP dont go to the company then, you can sit at night and wonder what could have been.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I did my test on day 1 - was in and out in 20 mins.
Got called back on day2 for interview and then was hired on day 3.

OP dont go to the company then, you can sit at night and wonder what could have been.

So then where did you work this day before being hired?

 

[touch7]

@Raithlin. I don't have 6 years working experience but in the 7 months I have noticed I am at the same level. I do a lot of coding on my own time personally and my next task is to making unit testing natural and learn functional programming "Elixir" since I am more of a "rubyist". You have a point though, but I had things I could show them that I worked on two years. Although it's not much, my stackoverflow account has at least 1000 and the last answer I gave there is going to be 2 years ago next month. I had a repository up for them to see.

They had the opportunity to even look at things like the format of my commits. I have seen people who have 5 years experience with commit messages such as "John's changes". Which is pretty obvious because John's name, email and the files he changed are in that commit so why label it as "John's changes".

But I guess the risk thing is 50/50. Make the technical test more technical is my opinion.

 

[IndigoIdentity]

sit at night and wonder what could have been

"Success" is generally seen by those individuals who are willing to make the effort, endure the risks and potentially reap the rewards.

Happiness is ___(not sitting at home at night wondering what could have been)____

 

[Alton Turner Blackwood]

Yeah but he's got 7 months of work experience, why would they want to commit to that without an understanding regarding his level of experience.

I see this as a risk for them, take on guy with 7 months exp, he totally sucks and then you have to put up with him and pay him for 3 months... Could be avoided with a 1 day demo right off the bat, yes or no?

EDIT: (not saying you totally suck at all just a possible scenario)

I don't think 1 day is enough. What is the point of "probation period"?

The point is precisely what they want you to do in one day.

In a workplace setting, probation (or probationary period) is a status given to new employees of a company or business. It is widely termed as the Probation Period of an employee. This status allows a supervisor or other company manager to evaluate closely the progress and skills of the newly hired worker, determine appropriate assignments, and monitor other aspects of the employee such as honesty, reliability, and interactions with co-workers, supervisors or customers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probation_(workplace)

 

[Batista]

So then where did you work this day before being hired?

I was working as a personal trainer in a gym in CPT(yeah dont ask - bad career change), but even if I was working at an IT company I would have taken time off because the money was too good.Almost 1.5x my yearly salary @ previous developer job.

 

[Nerhzelok]

I started a day before i was officially supposed to start.Didnt get compensated, but its one day dude, you are making a big thing about nothing really.You obviously wanted the job and now that you get called back you dont want to go? Make your mind up.

One day or not, this sort of thing shouldn't be a thing. It's draconian and backwards. Like SauronZA said, I'd tell them to take a hike.

Your time is worth more than that..

 

[IndigoIdentity]

The point is precisely what they want you to do in one day.

Highly doubt that one day will buy him a job without a probationary period. More so that the 1 day will grant him a step through the door and into a probationary period.

I don't have 6 years working experience but in the 7 months I have noticed I am at the same level.

Okay so in your seven months of working you've been with 1 company I guess? Wondering if you have considered that maybe those developers that you are working with are not very good at this.

If you came to me and told me this in a job interview, i'd want to see these skills too.

I know some devs who have been going for 6 years and amaze me with the amount of knowledge that they have picked up in such a short amount of time... And then there are others who are still fixated on Wordpress configurations and have not learnt very much.

One thing I do know though, is that in seven months of flat development every single day of my life and after hours... I did not learn SO much that I was at the level of experience that I am now today.

 

[IndigoIdentity]

Your time is worth more than that..

Totally, he should be at Google. Who needs experience anyways.

 

[Genisys]

They probably just want to figure out if you are going to fit in with the rest of the company. Simple answer: 1 day isn't long enough to determine this. Nor is an interview.

 

[Raithlin]

They probably just want to figure out if you are going to fit in with the rest of the company. Simple answer: 1 day isn't long enough to determine this. Nor is an interview.

This. It goes back to my original reply. In nearly 20 years and more than a few interviews over the years I've never come across this.

 

[skeptic_SA]

They probably just want to figure out if you are going to fit in with the rest of the company. Simple answer: 1 day isn't long enough to determine this. Nor is an interview.

But but OP has amassed "5 to 6 years" more experience during the year he was there compared to his colleagues. Wont one day be the same as a week to him?

 

[SauRoNZA]

I was working as a personal trainer in a gym in CPT(yeah dont ask - bad career change), but even if I was working at an IT company I would have taken time off because the money was too good.Almost 1.5x my yearly salary @ previous developer job.

Well that is why I said the offer needs to justify the effort.

If it's just another job not so much.

I've been strung around for bull**** like psychometric tests and this kind of *** only by companies that didnt have great offers to begin with.

Or in some cases no offers at all, in which case I told them to sod off.

My job now that saw an almost 40% increase on my hourly rate I had two interviews and a first offer that I sent back and then they tried again and I accepted.

 

[Nerhzelok]

Totally, he should be at Google. Who needs experience anyways.

No need for sarcasm.

Working at Google doesn't automatically mean you walk on water. That's just a terrible way of thinking of things.

What I mean to say is, if you actually value yourself and have self-respect, you won't jump through hoops to land a job, especially at some small company who thinks they're the **** and use strategies that Microsoft and Google employ to hire people.

Hold out and look around some more.. there are other companies that are worth your time and will treat you like a human being with value.

 

[oober]

See it as an opportunity to find out how they do what they do. Give them the joel test...
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html
https://ayende.com/blog/175170/meeting-the-joel-test-2-0

Ask yourself this also if you are smarter and more clued up than their 5+ year experienced developers do you want to work there? You are going to run into walls of ego and pride by the sound of things...

 

[Nerhzelok]

And always remember, interviewing is a two way street.. Regardless of your experience.

If they put you through hoops before you even started working for them, imagine what they must be like internally if you were. Sounds like a toxic environment.

 

[_kabal_]

No need for sarcasm.

Working at Google doesn't automatically mean you walk on water. That's just a terrible way of thinking of things.

What I mean to say is, if you actually value yourself and have self-respect, you won't jump through hoops to land a job, especially at some small company who thinks they're the **** and use strategies that Microsoft and Google employ to hire people.

Hold out and look around some more.. there are other companies that are worth your time and will treat you like a human being with value.

So Google and Microsoft are allowed to not "treat you like a human being with value", or it just doesnt count for them, because they are Google and Microsoft.

I dont understand why it seems the general consensus here is that these large companies are the only ones allowed to have rigourous interview processes.

What is the limit on an acceptable interview length? 1 hour? 2 hours? 8 hours? How many interviews are allowed by us "small companies that think we are the ****"?

At the same time, noone is forcing anyone to do anything they dont want to do

 

[IndigoIdentity]

No need for sarcasm.

I was actually being dead serious.

Working at Google doesn't automatically mean you walk on water. That's just a terrible way of thinking of things.

But he's clearly very gifted and his time is worth a waterfall and companies should jump through hoops for his attention.

if you actually value yourself and have self-respect, you won't jump through hoops to land a job, especially at some small company who thinks they're the **** and use strategies that Microsoft and Google employ to hire people.

That's a pretty assumptions conclusion given that I worked a day for a company in the same kind of situation when I was younger and looking for experience, they took me on and at the end of the month they gave me over and above my salary for the day that I had worked.

So my point put simply is that if he's young and looking to broaden on his experience (which i think he should do as he's not learning much at his current place of employment) then yes it is sometimes worth taking these risks in order to progress. I do not personally see it as jumping through hoops, I see it as a chance for him to go and see if he will fit in there with things.

Given that... I mean, the world is a big place and I would agree that he not be too hasty when making decisions... He sounds like he is doing well at the moment, fair say he's picked up some grunt so digging into Node already which is great... There's likely better options out there for him so yes, sure...

But I mean, if you want experience and you actually want to move on with your life then in my own experience, sometimes it does help to give the other party understanding and work with them on things in order for things to ultimately work out for you. You have no idea what kind of conclusions might be drawn at the end of the day, for all you know they will pay him in cash for his time spent regardless.

EDIT: Getting that job originally has changed my life, I look back on it now with much respect for my old boss and the people that I worked with and the things that I learnt and experienced there with the chance that I was given. It's not always bad, period.