I believe, if properly constructed and administered, the tests could be a great way to weed out the candidate that knows how to shoot a good line of bull, but who can't really deliver the goods.
Of course, depending on your business, you might only be interested in the employee that can shoot a good line of bull. 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: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:34 AM To: '[email protected]' Subject: Re: [Geowanking] Urban Mapping seeking Data Wrangler Fully agreed and no criticism detected! I think that pre-screening tests are probably less common in the traditional geosphere--enterprise/government GIS tends to move at a different pace and might shy on the more traditional side. For web-based geo it's mainstream. If/when 'traditional' GIS gets whacked by the web this might change, but otherwise momentum is a very hard thing to change 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: Landon Blake <[email protected]> To: Ian White; [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Thu Sep 10 10:21:20 2009 Subject: RE: [Geowanking] Urban Mapping seeking Data Wrangler I didn't mean to come off as critical. I was just musing. I know Ian runs a company that does work I consider cutting edge and very interesting. We have discussed similar types of tests for practical knowledge for prospective employees at my own work place. We haven't implemented them, but we have talked about them. I wonder how typical this type of test is becoming in the geospatial job market. Me thinks it wouldn't have been extremely common two or three years ago. 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: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:14 AM To: '[email protected]' Subject: Re: [Geowanking] Urban Mapping seeking Data Wrangler 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]. 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=-79.4250 212&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. 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