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I've just blown a technical interview. Not like this though. I've got lots of experience, know my languages inside out and have several launched products to mi

I've just blown a technical interview. Not like this though. I've got lots of experience, know my languages inside out and have several launched products to millions of people. I did every problem in the recommended book (CtCI) and know data structures and algorithms well. I wasn’t prepared for the nerves though. I interviewed at a large social network recently. 3 out of the 5 onsites went amazingly well. 1 was okay and the last one totally tanked. It wasn’t a particularly hard question, but I didn’t crack it immediately so started to panic. What made it 10x worse was that the interviewer sat in complete silence, not responding to any of my ideas. I followed all the recommended strategies: Throwing out a brute force solution, discussing what you are thinking (incidentally, I said the correct solution very early on!), trying different data structures - but he said nothing and checked his phone. When I got the call, I was absolutely devastated. I had put 3 months of preparation into this and it was all gone in 30 minutes. The recruiter couldn’t believe it as he thought I was a shoe-in. I told him about the interviewer and he was furious. He said he would pass that on as feedback, but there was nothing he could do - they have to respect the process. I appreciate the humility in this article. As much as I want to blame the interviewer, the process, how technical interviews are broken, how that company isn’t all that, etc etc - the most fruitful thing I can do is learn what went wrong and how I can overcome it next time. In repairing my shattered self confidence, I’ve found this very helpful: “Doing poorly on your Google interview could mean a couple things, if you're a good engineer….Which of the two evaluations is more meaningful? A) A few hours with busy people who don't know you trying to guess how good you are, with only a few minutes of a problem they're familiar with as a probe. B) Years of successful performance in your career. https://www.quora.com/I-felt-I-was-a-pretty-good-software-engineer-with-a-successful-career-but-I-did-quite-poorly-in-my-Google-interview-does-this-mean-Im-not-as-good-an-engineer-as-I-thought?srid=z06&share=f787395d https://www.quora.com/I-felt-I-was-a-pretty-good-software-en...

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
but he said nothing and checked his phone I realize that it's easy for me to say this, and I sympathize with your nervousness at the time. But this is an opportunity for you to ask both the immediate interviewer and his superior (assuming he will also interview you) just how serious they are about finding a candidate if they can't even extend basic courtesy to the people they invite in. Hell, if his manager was going to interview me, I'd have use that opportunity to ask if that was the kind of environment I would be in working for them and exactly what drove the last person in the open position to leave. There is no excuse for that kind of rudeness. Use it to your advantage.
- 20years 11y ago
  I wish more people had the guts to follow this advice. I agree, this type of disrespect would have totally turned me off and made me seriously contemplate even wanting the job.
  - weiclout 11y ago
    Yes, this is definitely something I've learned and would do differently next time. Saying that, I wouldn't judge a huge, successful company on one jerk. As much as I want to say "Fine, I don't want to work with people like that anyway" I know that interviews are (often) a poor reflection of overall culture. What's frustrating to me is that this guy was an anomaly (according to the recruiter) but I have no recourse. The power lies with them and what do they care if they miss out on one good person? There are 20 more people waiting behind me.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
      I wouldn't judge a huge, successful company on one jerk That's why you discuss it with his manager or HR. First, unless the company is totally borked, they will understand how people react to that behavior. It's not about getting him in trouble: it's an opportunity for you to see how they react when they receive valid criticism. And a chance for them to correct a problem. There are 20 more people waiting behind me. Yeah, but you're better than all of them combined. Think positive!
      - weiclout 11y ago
        You've been very encouraging. Thank you!
rwallace 11y ago
It's worth remembering that studies have shown the hire/no hire decision has in most cases been made no later than ten seconds after you walk into the room, and your experience confirms that. So: 1. Don't fret too much about how you answer some arcane technical question. That's probably not going to be the deciding factor. 2. Research ways to give a good first impression. 3. Practice not visibly stumbling or looking nervous during the interview. 4. Accept that sometimes the decision will have been made before you show up for reasons that have nothing to do with you (e.g. your competitor will get the job because his dad called in a favor or suchlike). 5. When it becomes clear that a no-hire decision has been made, call a halt early - it's perfectly okay to say halfway through the interview, "But I think you've already made your decision, so let's call it here." It won't make a difference to the outcome this time, but it will protect your self-esteem and thereby improve your performance in future interviews.
- pc86 11y ago
  Can you please provide some links to one or more of these studies?
- gaylemcd 11y ago
  I'd like to see these studies and how, if at all, they relate to the technical interview process. I would strongly guess "not at all." Technical interviews are in fact technical. There is zero technical evaluation that happens in the first 10 seconds. As for your specific points: 1. Yes, in fact, how you answer the technical questions will very likely be the deciding factor. That almost always was when I was doing technical interviews and on Google's hiring committee. 2. First impressions really don't matter that much for a technical interview... unless you're talking about the first 5 - 10 minutes of the technical portion. 3. For technical interviews, looking nervous doesn't really get people rejected -- at least not at companies like Google and Facebook. It could, however, make an interviewer more forgiving. 4. When candidates get rejected for coding roles companies like Google and Facebook, it's almost always due to their interview performance. It would be very unusual to get rejected because someone else outperformed you. They don't evaluate interviews that way. 5. Absolutely do not call off an interview part way through because you assume that the person is going to reject you. You don't know that at all. People's perception of their performance during a technical interview has no correlation with how they actually did. If you call off the interview because you assume you're doing poorly, this might just be your best interview. Also, a single anecdote does not confirm a theory. It can align with a theory.

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago

but he said nothing and checked his phone I realize that it's easy for me to say this, and I sympathize with your nervousness at the time. But this is an opportunity for you to ask both the immediate interviewer and his superior (assuming he will also interview you) just how serious they are about finding a candidate if they can't even extend basic courtesy to the people they invite in. Hell, if his manager was going to interview me, I'd have use that opportunity to ask if that was the kind of environment I would be in working for them and exactly what drove the last person in the open position to leave. There is no excuse for that kind of rudeness. Use it to your advantage.

20years 11y ago
I wish more people had the guts to follow this advice. I agree, this type of disrespect would have totally turned me off and made me seriously contemplate even wanting the job.
- weiclout 11y ago
  Yes, this is definitely something I've learned and would do differently next time. Saying that, I wouldn't judge a huge, successful company on one jerk. As much as I want to say "Fine, I don't want to work with people like that anyway" I know that interviews are (often) a poor reflection of overall culture. What's frustrating to me is that this guy was an anomaly (according to the recruiter) but I have no recourse. The power lies with them and what do they care if they miss out on one good person? There are 20 more people waiting behind me.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    I wouldn't judge a huge, successful company on one jerk That's why you discuss it with his manager or HR. First, unless the company is totally borked, they will understand how people react to that behavior. It's not about getting him in trouble: it's an opportunity for you to see how they react when they receive valid criticism. And a chance for them to correct a problem. There are 20 more people waiting behind me. Yeah, but you're better than all of them combined. Think positive!
    - weiclout 11y ago
      You've been very encouraging. Thank you!

rwallace 11y ago

It's worth remembering that studies have shown the hire/no hire decision has in most cases been made no later than ten seconds after you walk into the room, and your experience confirms that. So: 1. Don't fret too much about how you answer some arcane technical question. That's probably not going to be the deciding factor. 2. Research ways to give a good first impression. 3. Practice not visibly stumbling or looking nervous during the interview. 4. Accept that sometimes the decision will have been made before you show up for reasons that have nothing to do with you (e.g. your competitor will get the job because his dad called in a favor or suchlike). 5. When it becomes clear that a no-hire decision has been made, call a halt early - it's perfectly okay to say halfway through the interview, "But I think you've already made your decision, so let's call it here." It won't make a difference to the outcome this time, but it will protect your self-esteem and thereby improve your performance in future interviews.

pc86 11y ago
Can you please provide some links to one or more of these studies?
gaylemcd 11y ago
I'd like to see these studies and how, if at all, they relate to the technical interview process. I would strongly guess "not at all." Technical interviews are in fact technical. There is zero technical evaluation that happens in the first 10 seconds. As for your specific points: 1. Yes, in fact, how you answer the technical questions will very likely be the deciding factor. That almost always was when I was doing technical interviews and on Google's hiring committee. 2. First impressions really don't matter that much for a technical interview... unless you're talking about the first 5 - 10 minutes of the technical portion. 3. For technical interviews, looking nervous doesn't really get people rejected -- at least not at companies like Google and Facebook. It could, however, make an interviewer more forgiving. 4. When candidates get rejected for coding roles companies like Google and Facebook, it's almost always due to their interview performance. It would be very unusual to get rejected because someone else outperformed you. They don't evaluate interviews that way. 5. Absolutely do not call off an interview part way through because you assume that the person is going to reject you. You don't know that at all. People's perception of their performance during a technical interview has no correlation with how they actually did. If you call off the interview because you assume you're doing poorly, this might just be your best interview. Also, a single anecdote does not confirm a theory. It can align with a theory.