Interviewing a Front-End Developer.

A while ago, I interviewed for a job with a company that I was absolutely in-love with. I'd been excited to see that they were looking for a front-end developer and I applied right away.

A front-end developer is a highly specialized skill set, and it's pretty different than the skill sets of other types of developers. An experienced front-end developer (I've been doing this for 10 years) is deeply familiar with current HTML, CSS, JavaScript, as well as current browser support and debugging techniques. I know about image compression and optimization, accessibility, content management systems, and even a little about design and SEO. It's a role akin to the kicker or keeper on a football team.

Back to the interview, we'd gone though a few basic questions and the interviewer had moved on to the algorithm questions. It was a little more complicated than , but it wasn't too tricky. But I flailed around for a while trying to both understand what the interviewer was asking, as well as trying to logic out the solution. I didn't solve the algorithm easily enough, and I didn't get any further in the interview process.

Why evaluate a front-end developer based on a algorithm? It's such a very small part of the job, and especially over a video conference after a full day of work, and it's the wrong test to get the front-end developer to demonstrate their best. It's like evaluating an NFL kicker based on their tackling skills - sure, they need to do it sometimes, but a proper blocker will always be more skilled at tackles.

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