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Technical interviews became 10x easier when I realized that most companies aren't necessarily looking for the right answer as much as they are trying to look in

by 49531 10y ago

Technical interviews became 10x easier when I realized that most companies aren't necessarily looking for the right answer as much as they are trying to look into your mind. As a self taught programmer things like binary search trees and linked lists are a foreign concepts (especially as a self taught frontend developer). When I am asked to solve a problem in a way I've never encountered before, people are pretty open to explaining how the problem works. I don't get frustrated if a problem seems arbitrary or obscure because that's typically not the point. The point is, if you're going to join my team, how do you approach a difficult problem; do you get upset? do you clam up? I don't want someone like that on my team. I'd say most people would prefer a teammate who is resourceful rather than one who only wants to solve problems they're comfortable solving.

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
That's fine in theory, but the reaction you get during an interview - which is a highly stressful, completely artificial situation - tells you nothing useful about the reaction you'll get when someone is settled in a role, they know the culture, and the culture knows them. OP sounds like someone who will rage quit and have tantrums. Those aren't employable qualities. But is that an accurate impression in context? He obviously has a practical background, likes to code, and can solve problems. How do you tell if he'll be a net benefit or a net loss to a team? I don't think asking anyone to improvise a BFS tells you much about that.
ckozlowski 10y ago
>Technical interviews became 10x easier when I realized that most companies aren't necessarily looking for the right answer as much as they are trying to look into your mind. This is a great, great point. I'd like to add one more: Admitting when you don't know the answer. I've been in a number of recent phonescreens where we'd ask a technical question of a simple "good/bad" sort. My advise to those reading: If you don't know, just say so. "I'm really not sure." or "I knew at one point, but I'd have to go look it up again." Perfectly acceptable. No one's a walking encyclopedia, and to say you don't know show's humility. I'm much more comfortable with someone who says they don't know and will go look for the correct answer than someone who might stand in front of the customer and try to poker face. To those reading this and taking notes for an interview, I'd say instances like these are a good opportunity to discuss. If you don't know, ask what the correct answer was. Ask why. See if you can build off the answer, sometimes you might get asked a question you couldn't recall the answer for, but once given, you can expand upon and demonstrate your knowledge in other ways.
- snappy173 10y ago
  > I'd like to add one more: Admitting when you don't know the answer I'll +1 this, but with a slight caveat. Some interviewers don't get it, and will ding you for this. Those are the companies to avoid.
  - prakashk 10y ago
    Since those are companies to avoid anyway, you are not losing if you are rejected because of an honest "I don't know" answer.
tobz 10y ago
This sounds a lot like confirmation bias. You enumerated what you what you do when in these situations, and that your expectations of candidates are closely aligned to your own behaviors. There doesn't seem to be much room for understanding why a candidate's behaviors don't align with yours, or thought for bridging that gap.
bjornlouser 10y ago
I think you've hit on a great strategy to coast through these interviews: "Gee whiz, that's an amazing question. I've never thought of that before. It's probably beyond my reach but let me try to stumble through it. Will you help me out if I get lost? You're so amazing, how could this company get by without your brilliance?"
- bostik 10y ago
  You have to be very careful with that attitude. When I interview candidates, I state up-front that I care less about the solutions than the steps taken to reach one. It's okay to ask for help or hints when confronted with a previously unfamiliar problem. But if I need to provide too much help, teach the use of basic tools (whether they are logical patterns or universal utilities), and even then getting to A solution requires excessive hand-holding, I will hold that against you. Also, I will happily invert a question if needed. Showing one way to solve a given problem, I would expect a qualified candidate to be able to point out where it could be done differently.

by 49531 10y ago

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago

That's fine in theory, but the reaction you get during an interview - which is a highly stressful, completely artificial situation - tells you nothing useful about the reaction you'll get when someone is settled in a role, they know the culture, and the culture knows them. OP sounds like someone who will rage quit and have tantrums. Those aren't employable qualities. But is that an accurate impression in context? He obviously has a practical background, likes to code, and can solve problems. How do you tell if he'll be a net benefit or a net loss to a team? I don't think asking anyone to improvise a BFS tells you much about that.

ckozlowski 10y ago

>Technical interviews became 10x easier when I realized that most companies aren't necessarily looking for the right answer as much as they are trying to look into your mind. This is a great, great point. I'd like to add one more: Admitting when you don't know the answer. I've been in a number of recent phonescreens where we'd ask a technical question of a simple "good/bad" sort. My advise to those reading: If you don't know, just say so. "I'm really not sure." or "I knew at one point, but I'd have to go look it up again." Perfectly acceptable. No one's a walking encyclopedia, and to say you don't know show's humility. I'm much more comfortable with someone who says they don't know and will go look for the correct answer than someone who might stand in front of the customer and try to poker face. To those reading this and taking notes for an interview, I'd say instances like these are a good opportunity to discuss. If you don't know, ask what the correct answer was. Ask why. See if you can build off the answer, sometimes you might get asked a question you couldn't recall the answer for, but once given, you can expand upon and demonstrate your knowledge in other ways.

snappy173 10y ago
> I'd like to add one more: Admitting when you don't know the answer I'll +1 this, but with a slight caveat. Some interviewers don't get it, and will ding you for this. Those are the companies to avoid.
- prakashk 10y ago
  Since those are companies to avoid anyway, you are not losing if you are rejected because of an honest "I don't know" answer.

tobz 10y ago

This sounds a lot like confirmation bias. You enumerated what you what you do when in these situations, and that your expectations of candidates are closely aligned to your own behaviors. There doesn't seem to be much room for understanding why a candidate's behaviors don't align with yours, or thought for bridging that gap.

bjornlouser 10y ago

I think you've hit on a great strategy to coast through these interviews: "Gee whiz, that's an amazing question. I've never thought of that before. It's probably beyond my reach but let me try to stumble through it. Will you help me out if I get lost? You're so amazing, how could this company get by without your brilliance?"

bostik 10y ago
You have to be very careful with that attitude. When I interview candidates, I state up-front that I care less about the solutions than the steps taken to reach one. It's okay to ask for help or hints when confronted with a previously unfamiliar problem. But if I need to provide too much help, teach the use of basic tools (whether they are logical patterns or universal utilities), and even then getting to A solution requires excessive hand-holding, I will hold that against you. Also, I will happily invert a question if needed. Showing one way to solve a given problem, I would expect a qualified candidate to be able to point out where it could be done differently.