It's a function of the job market--some candidates will find such tests
arrogant and dismiss those employers out of hand while others find them
attractive ("oh, this company 'gets' it") . All employers want to identify and
cultivate talent that likes a challenge. Also, nobody wants to waste time on a
bad employee/employer match. I've heard some ad agencies make candidates
develop an entire campaign in preparation for a job interview, something that
clearly takes a significant of time.
Ian White :: Urban Mapping Inc
690 Fifth Street Suite 200 :: San Francisco CA 94107
T.415.946.8170 :: F.866.385.8266 :: urbanmapping.com/blog
________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu Sep 10 09:46:35 2009
Subject: Re: [Geowanking] Urban Mapping seeking Data Wrangler
Reminds me of a job I applied for at a cabinet shop quite a few years ago. They
made me go to the back and measure pieces of wood. It was a good thing my dad
taught me how to use a tape measure. (I didn’t get the job at the cabinet shop.
It was a good thing Safeway was hiring at the same time.)
I wonder if this type of practical testing is more common now that the job
market is in the employer’s favor. It makes me glad I still have a job. :]
Landon
Office Phone Number: (209) 946-0268
Cell Phone Number: (209) 992-0658
________________________________
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ian White
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 6:27 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Geowanking] Urban Mapping seeking Data Wrangler
Apologies for the crass commercial intent behind this note, but the only place
worth fishing is where the fish are…
Despite challenging economic times, we’re on the hunt for somebody new. If this
sounds like you, please consider yourself a candidate! Urban Mapping is looking
for a recent CS/EECS/CogSci/SymSys graduate with 1-2 years professional
experience, solid academic background and experience working with large-scale
datasets, databases, geodata and maps. You understand good software design, can
build robust tools and know how get things done with magic on the UNIX command
line or scripts. You are confident in your skills and potential, know when to
RTFM, and aren’t afraid to ask questions.
Urban Mapping is an established startup (read: we have paying customers) in San
Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood. Our innovative work with geospatial data and
technology is always presenting new challenges. Currently, we need help to
create and manage a massive datastore of geo- and related data. You will work
in engineering as the de facto Data Wrangler but enjoy the entrepreneurial
challenge and will find many areas to shine and learn.
Essential knowledge:
- Linux, shell scripting
- Intermediate to advanced SQL
- Very confident in one of: Python, Ruby, C, Perl, Java
- Exposure to GIS and geospatial tools
- Attention to detail
The ideal candidate will:
- Have FOSSG experience: PostgreSQL/PostGIS, GeoDjango, OSM
- Know rendering and tiling tools (TileCache, Mapnik)
- Understand cartography, projections, etc.
- Server-side web development experience
- Python/Django guru
- WhereCamper!
If this sounds of interest, please visit our blog to learn a bit more about us:
urbanmapping.com/blog. This is a full time position with salary, health
insurance, other benefits (Fri lunch on the company, occasional
outings/retreats) and equity compensation. To apply, send your solutions the
following two problems, resume and a cover letter to
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Credit given for
effort, and incomplete submissions will be ignored.
Problem #1 – Show code to extract a list of unique IPs/apikey pairs from a log
with following format:
napi.urbanmapping.com 208.13.194.18 - - [09/Sep/2009:10:43:11 -0700] "GET
/neighborhoods/rest/getNeighborhoodsByLatLng?lat=43.6366595&lng=-79.4250212&format=xml&apikey=8k3pent5qzztwn
HTTP/1.0" 200 1105 "-" "Drupal (+http://drupal.org/)" "Basic"
getNeighborhoodsByLatLng 1
tapi.urbanmapping.com 83.40.19.38 - - [09/Sep/2009:10:44:44 -0700] "GET
/find/stations/near_point.json?lat=40.756945&lng=-73.978243&searchrange=1000&transit_system_id=&apikey=a2de289b1a93a8541f998
HTTP/1.0" 200 2434 "-" "Pingdom.com_bot_version_1.4_(http://www.pingdom.com/)"
"Proximity" prox_stations_near_point 1
…
Problem #2 – You have a dataset of geographic boundaries (Census Blocks) which
aggregate demographic statistics. You want to estimate the same statistics for
an arbitrary polygonal region. Describe a process for calculating these stats
and discuss any problems with your solution.
Warning:
Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against defects
including translation and transmission errors. If the reader is not the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination,
distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you
have received this information in error, please notify the sender immediately.
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