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> so this is just weeding out people who clearly wouldn't pass This is true only if your coding/algorithm interview process is the exact same as HackerRank. Al

> so this is just weeding out people who clearly wouldn't pass This is true only if your coding/algorithm interview process is the exact same as HackerRank. Alternately (like they do at the place I work at), if your coding interview is conducted in person and relies upon you correctly describing a thought process rather than coming up with the correct code snippet, it's an awful replacement.

gaylemcd 10y ago
It depends on where you put the bar and how challenging your questions are on each side. Yes, the fact that in-person interviews involve some back-and-forth conversation makes the HackerRank ones slightly less predictive. But slightly less predictive doesn't mean "awful." It's worth noting that on HackerRank, candidates can see how they're performing against the test cases. So when people don't perform well, it's not that they made some silly mistake or misinterpreted the problem. It's because they truly weren't able to get something more optimal or more correct. Companies can set the bar wherever they want. There are times when a company sets a bar too high. You certainly can implement HackerRank in a good way. You can also implement it in a bad way.
- jakebasile 10y ago
  > It's worth noting that on HackerRank, candidates can see how they're performing against the test cases. You can see how you do against test cases in aggregate. You are given a few examples, the rest are hidden from you. A completely arbitrary and vindictive restriction.
- stale2002 10y ago
  Agreed. HackerRank works great as an 'initial' filter. The way to use it correctly is to ask people a couple fairly easy questions, because if they can't pass the easy stuff, then you shouldn't waste their time with a full onsite. A person who is at least moderately capable, shouldn't at all struggle with your initial filter. Save the tough questions for the onsite interview, where an interviewer can subjectively make judgments about their performance.
  - gaylemcd 10y ago
    Or, ask two questions, where (on at least one) it's fairly easy to get an inefficient solution, but requires more thought to get a more efficient one. You don't necessarily demand perfection on this test though. One mistake that companies make is that they think they want to set a lower bar, so they make the questions easy. But then, in order to distinguish candidates, they basically require perfection. Now, a simple mistake can "fail" a good candidate. It's better if they make the questions harder, but just don't require perfection.
    - stale2002 10y ago
      Oh god I know what you mean.

gaylemcd 10y ago

It depends on where you put the bar and how challenging your questions are on each side. Yes, the fact that in-person interviews involve some back-and-forth conversation makes the HackerRank ones slightly less predictive. But slightly less predictive doesn't mean "awful." It's worth noting that on HackerRank, candidates can see how they're performing against the test cases. So when people don't perform well, it's not that they made some silly mistake or misinterpreted the problem. It's because they truly weren't able to get something more optimal or more correct. Companies can set the bar wherever they want. There are times when a company sets a bar too high. You certainly can implement HackerRank in a good way. You can also implement it in a bad way.

jakebasile 10y ago
> It's worth noting that on HackerRank, candidates can see how they're performing against the test cases. You can see how you do against test cases in aggregate. You are given a few examples, the rest are hidden from you. A completely arbitrary and vindictive restriction.
stale2002 10y ago
Agreed. HackerRank works great as an 'initial' filter. The way to use it correctly is to ask people a couple fairly easy questions, because if they can't pass the easy stuff, then you shouldn't waste their time with a full onsite. A person who is at least moderately capable, shouldn't at all struggle with your initial filter. Save the tough questions for the onsite interview, where an interviewer can subjectively make judgments about their performance.
- gaylemcd 10y ago
  Or, ask two questions, where (on at least one) it's fairly easy to get an inefficient solution, but requires more thought to get a more efficient one. You don't necessarily demand perfection on this test though. One mistake that companies make is that they think they want to set a lower bar, so they make the questions easy. But then, in order to distinguish candidates, they basically require perfection. Now, a simple mistake can "fail" a good candidate. It's better if they make the questions harder, but just don't require perfection.
  - stale2002 10y ago
    Oh god I know what you mean.