I was this person! I was eager and kind. But I was incompetent. I was a graduate of the first ever cohort of the first ever coding bootcamp. The teachers were great, but they didn’t check in on me or have evaluations. I left not really being able to do…anything.
But I got a job as a Ruby developer from resourcefulness and eagerness. It was a great company. It was clear, however, that I wasn’t pulling my weight when the intern was technically running circles around me. They do the only right thing. They made some “bare minimum” requirements in the form of an evaluation and gave me three weeks to complete it. I couldn’t do it. I was getting much better by the end of the three weeks thanks to a coworker who decided to mentor me, but it was past my ability level. When this was clear and they were firing me I said to the CTO “you can fire me, but I am getting good at learning, so I am going to just study really hard and reapply in 3 months and you’ll have to give me another chance!” I said this in a motivated way, not an insane person way. He decided he would find another spot to put me in the company.
He ended up putting me on the technical integrations team. The other person on that team was an incredibly kind human who loved teaching people. It was perfect for me. I ended up performing super well in that role and became very good at it. It was a win/win for the organization.
I will tell you one thing, however. The weeks before they gave me that evaluation were the most stressful weeks of my life. I was waking up in the middle of the night immediately stressed. It feels terrible to be bad at your job. It felt so freeing to be given the evaluation. Because it was cut and dry. I could do it or I couldn’t, but at least there would be finality. It is kind to not let someone flounder in a role that is past their abilities. I am grateful he found another spot for me to fit at the company. That CTO has passed now at a young age, but I owe my career to him recognizing my passion and finding another spot for me. Thanks Brandon Dewitt!
Loved reading this, and then pleasantly surprised at seeing the name at the end, though I probably shouldn't be. Everyone I've come across who met Brandon always seems to have a story of his kindness.
Mine was much smaller, just having a genuine chat with him at a hiring event without knowing who he was at the time, but it left a lasting impression. Gone too soon, unfortunately.
If you tell this story from a different perspective though it could easily be about how companies discriminate against introverts, or how connections matter more than competence. Which are common complaints about how many companies operate. I’d say this story is the perfect illustration of the counterpoint to those arguments, which is that social skills are probably the greatest predictor of success in most roles, even technical ones.
Okay, but being able to work with other people is a job qualification like being able to code in Python. Not all jobs are Python jobs, but if you need a Python developer, you should hire someone who knows (or can learn) Python.
As someone with ADHD, I'm a solid IC and thrive at mentorship, but do not put me in an organizational role. I'm not qualified, and never will be. I still need hacks and workarounds sometimes to get the right code written at the right time, but I can do it with a bit of understanding and accommodation. The same doesn't apply to jobs that expect order out of chaos. (I'm better at going the other way, by the state of my office.)
I'll agree in principle that we can and should make space in tech for people who for whatever reason really just want to be code factories with as little human interaction as possible, but most jobs are always going to have some degree of social interaction as a requirement.
That said, "sucks if ya don't have it" is indeed a callous way of addressing the problem.
> I'll agree in principle that we can and should make space in tech for people who for whatever reason really just want to be code factories with as little human interaction as possible
I’m actually not saying that at all. I think people with severely underdeveloped social skills, such as many of the people who identify themselves as introverts in HN threads, are not qualified to do most jobs in any organisation. There are people who operate as little isolated code factories, but their deficiencies come at a massive cost to the organisation and everybody around them.
Seems like the solution is to try giving such person another role in the company. They will remain nice, but they get the second chance to become competent at something else.
But I got a job as a Ruby developer from resourcefulness and eagerness. It was a great company. It was clear, however, that I wasn’t pulling my weight when the intern was technically running circles around me. They do the only right thing. They made some “bare minimum” requirements in the form of an evaluation and gave me three weeks to complete it. I couldn’t do it. I was getting much better by the end of the three weeks thanks to a coworker who decided to mentor me, but it was past my ability level. When this was clear and they were firing me I said to the CTO “you can fire me, but I am getting good at learning, so I am going to just study really hard and reapply in 3 months and you’ll have to give me another chance!” I said this in a motivated way, not an insane person way. He decided he would find another spot to put me in the company.
He ended up putting me on the technical integrations team. The other person on that team was an incredibly kind human who loved teaching people. It was perfect for me. I ended up performing super well in that role and became very good at it. It was a win/win for the organization.
I will tell you one thing, however. The weeks before they gave me that evaluation were the most stressful weeks of my life. I was waking up in the middle of the night immediately stressed. It feels terrible to be bad at your job. It felt so freeing to be given the evaluation. Because it was cut and dry. I could do it or I couldn’t, but at least there would be finality. It is kind to not let someone flounder in a role that is past their abilities. I am grateful he found another spot for me to fit at the company. That CTO has passed now at a young age, but I owe my career to him recognizing my passion and finding another spot for me. Thanks Brandon Dewitt!