5 ms·

I would add Google, Microsoft, et al to that list. Seen lot's of candidates come in for interview who have read books like "Cracking the coding interview" who h

I would add Google, Microsoft, et al to that list. Seen lot's of candidates come in for interview who have read books like "Cracking the coding interview" who have obviously memorized the white board solutions to complex problems who then can't implement 'boolean equals(Object)' correctly when asked to do so.

sotojuan 10y ago
At least Google can say "we get so many applicants this is what we have to do!". Why do random web dev companies attempt to grill you with the same level of rigor as Google is beyond me.
- FGord 10y ago
  Because they like to flatter themselves that the problems they solve require top talent, and they, the current employees are top talent. Usually neither is true, and they don't pay like Google either.
  - skybrian 10y ago
    It's easy to screw it up, but trying to hire people who are better than you doesn't seem like a bad idea.
  - sidlls 10y ago
    Even most of Google is flattering itself as far as that goes.
- crdoconnor 10y ago
  It's simple cargo cult behavior
- Rapzid 10y ago
  Then why do their recruiters reach out to candidates with extensive work history and slam them into the standard hiring pipeline(I'm not talking Google specifically, but the BigCos in general). It's not because they have too many people applying, it's because they have too many people complying.
nl 10y ago
That's a very different kind of "fault" to the one the OP mentioned.
Manishearth 10y ago
While I can't speak for all Microsoft interviews, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that my (successful) Redmond interview had zero focus on traditional "coding interview" questions and instead was 50% about my prior work and the rest about some interesting software dev questions focused on design (not whiteboarding, not algorithmy), culminating in this lovely networkingy question. This is true for the MS interviews of some acquaintances of mine too. OTOH I have yet to find someone who has had a Google interview that did not have major focus on algorithmy questions which you can just memorize for. To be fair, most of the folks I know are students; Google may have different tactics for more experienced candidates. I'm sure Microsoft does this too (and I know that Microsoft is where this attitude came from in the first place), but it seems like it does it much less (from my limited anecdotal view) these days.
- cableshaft 10y ago
  Google does not seem to have a different tactic for experienced candidates. My onsite was only algorithm questions on the whiteboard with about 5 minutes of 'do you have any questions for me?' for each of the 5 one-on-one interviews I had (not even asking me about my prior experience).

sotojuan 10y ago

At least Google can say "we get so many applicants this is what we have to do!". Why do random web dev companies attempt to grill you with the same level of rigor as Google is beyond me.

FGord 10y ago
Because they like to flatter themselves that the problems they solve require top talent, and they, the current employees are top talent. Usually neither is true, and they don't pay like Google either.
- skybrian 10y ago
  It's easy to screw it up, but trying to hire people who are better than you doesn't seem like a bad idea.
- sidlls 10y ago
  Even most of Google is flattering itself as far as that goes.
crdoconnor 10y ago
It's simple cargo cult behavior
Rapzid 10y ago
Then why do their recruiters reach out to candidates with extensive work history and slam them into the standard hiring pipeline(I'm not talking Google specifically, but the BigCos in general). It's not because they have too many people applying, it's because they have too many people complying.

nl 10y ago

That's a very different kind of "fault" to the one the OP mentioned.

Manishearth 10y ago

While I can't speak for all Microsoft interviews, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that my (successful) Redmond interview had zero focus on traditional "coding interview" questions and instead was 50% about my prior work and the rest about some interesting software dev questions focused on design (not whiteboarding, not algorithmy), culminating in this lovely networkingy question. This is true for the MS interviews of some acquaintances of mine too. OTOH I have yet to find someone who has had a Google interview that did not have major focus on algorithmy questions which you can just memorize for. To be fair, most of the folks I know are students; Google may have different tactics for more experienced candidates. I'm sure Microsoft does this too (and I know that Microsoft is where this attitude came from in the first place), but it seems like it does it much less (from my limited anecdotal view) these days.

cableshaft 10y ago
Google does not seem to have a different tactic for experienced candidates. My onsite was only algorithm questions on the whiteboard with about 5 minutes of 'do you have any questions for me?' for each of the 5 one-on-one interviews I had (not even asking me about my prior experience).