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= Technical Interviews: Epic Fail for Everyone
== Description
The standard technical interview process is failing both employers and candidates.
They prevent each party from effectively evaluating each other and often turn away 
qualified candidates. This talk will highlight the flaws of technical interviews and 
present ideas to radically improve them for everyone.

== Abstract
Let's face it: we all hate the interviewing process, whether we are asking or 
answering the questions. Technical interviews often devolve into solving absurd 
puzzles at the whiteboard that are irrelevant to the actual day-to-day work a team needs 
to get done. Not only does this process prevent each side from properly evaluating the 
other, it also penalizes well-qualified candidates that don't flourish within the rigid 
format of the technical interview.

After discussing these issues in depth, I will offer pair-programming exercises as an
alternative to the classic whiteboard interview. I will cover the details of the exercise 
including how to run it, what types of problems are a good fit and what both parties can 
learn from the experience.

Finding the right fit is more than just finding a candidate with the requisite technical 
skills. We shouldn't just look for technical superstars, we should be looking at how a 
candidate fits holistically within a team. So I will also be discussing value systems, 
the dangers of monoculture and bias and the importance of "style".

This isn't a technical talk and isn't specifically about Ruby. However, improving how we
hire is relevant to the creation of sustainable, quality software—an important topic in 
the Ruby community. If we can't build the right teams, we have no hope of building the 
right software.