3 ms·

A candidate has an impressive STEM field educational background, say, Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. degrees, has peer-reviewed publications of original resea

by graycat 11y ago

A candidate has an impressive STEM field educational background, say, Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. degrees, has peer-reviewed publications of original research in the STEM fields including in computer science, has taught computer science in world famous US research universities, has created original, fast algorithms in computer science, has written successful software for a wide variety of applications in a wide variety of programming languages, and, then, somehow needs to learn some additional, special lessons on "how to pass a programming interview"? Such an interview is by the Queen in Alice in Wonderland or from someone well qualified in computing? Why the heck the needs for special lessons to do what the candidate has been doing successfully for years?

the_af 11y ago
Because passing a programming interview is not what the candidate has been doing for years. Interviews are artificial, stressful situations which in many cases do not resemble what you will actually be doing at your job. Like well-known blogger Steve Yegge once commented about Google's interview process, sometimes it gets so bizarre that two interviewers in your queue wouldn't have hired each other! Focusing on the details one interviewer likes will make you lose points with the other. He calls this phenomenon "the interview anti-loop". I guess being well-drilled about common questions and tricks helps counterbalance some of the pitfalls of the interview process.
- graycat 11y ago
  So, right, programming interviews are from Alice in Wonderland and not about programming. Gee, I'm glad I'm programming, for my own startup. Wait while I ask my founder, CEO if my programming is good -- got an answer back right away, my programming is fine!
  - the_af 11y ago
    > So, right, programming interviews are from Alice in Wonderland and not about programming. I don't understand your irony. No-one is saying that. We're saying that programming interviews are often not ONLY about programming, and unfortunately the parts NOT about programming tend to overshadow the parts that are. Therefore, interviewing requires preparation. Are you bitter that programming interviews are like this? If so, fine. So am I. Are you saying that programming interviews are NOT like this and do not require training for? You are mistaken. It's a fact of the world, whether we like it or not. Or are you saying you lucked out and didn't have to go through this hell? If so, congrats! It's known to happen. But still, it pays to be prepared for the average case of difficult, stressful interviews.
    - graycat 11y ago
      I'm saying that programming interviews have descended into tea leaf reading. People with obviously high qualifications are being rejected for no good reasons. The situation was not always so. Apparently the people doing the interviews are more interested in being nasty than hiring people to get more work done. For this situation to hold, there has to be not much demand and a big supply. So, the process is free to descend into totally silly games. It's the Queen in Alice in Wonderland and "Off with their heads".
anotherproger 11y ago
Academia is not industry programming. So the candidate had highly specialized knowledge and skills, big whoop. Guess how much of my original academic research I use? None. If that candidate wants to use those skills they should go into research.

by graycat 11y ago

the_af 11y ago

Because passing a programming interview is not what the candidate has been doing for years. Interviews are artificial, stressful situations which in many cases do not resemble what you will actually be doing at your job. Like well-known blogger Steve Yegge once commented about Google's interview process, sometimes it gets so bizarre that two interviewers in your queue wouldn't have hired each other! Focusing on the details one interviewer likes will make you lose points with the other. He calls this phenomenon "the interview anti-loop". I guess being well-drilled about common questions and tricks helps counterbalance some of the pitfalls of the interview process.

graycat 11y ago
So, right, programming interviews are from Alice in Wonderland and not about programming. Gee, I'm glad I'm programming, for my own startup. Wait while I ask my founder, CEO if my programming is good -- got an answer back right away, my programming is fine!
- the_af 11y ago
  > So, right, programming interviews are from Alice in Wonderland and not about programming. I don't understand your irony. No-one is saying that. We're saying that programming interviews are often not ONLY about programming, and unfortunately the parts NOT about programming tend to overshadow the parts that are. Therefore, interviewing requires preparation. Are you bitter that programming interviews are like this? If so, fine. So am I. Are you saying that programming interviews are NOT like this and do not require training for? You are mistaken. It's a fact of the world, whether we like it or not. Or are you saying you lucked out and didn't have to go through this hell? If so, congrats! It's known to happen. But still, it pays to be prepared for the average case of difficult, stressful interviews.
  - graycat 11y ago
    I'm saying that programming interviews have descended into tea leaf reading. People with obviously high qualifications are being rejected for no good reasons. The situation was not always so. Apparently the people doing the interviews are more interested in being nasty than hiring people to get more work done. For this situation to hold, there has to be not much demand and a big supply. So, the process is free to descend into totally silly games. It's the Queen in Alice in Wonderland and "Off with their heads".

anotherproger 11y ago

Academia is not industry programming. So the candidate had highly specialized knowledge and skills, big whoop. Guess how much of my original academic research I use? None. If that candidate wants to use those skills they should go into research.