I interviewed with google, once. I enjoyed the process more than most here, though in some ways, that really just shows how badly I've been treated in other in

I interviewed with google, once. I enjoyed the process more than most here, though in some ways, that really just shows how badly I've been treated in other interviews. It's not really an interview. This is the hardest thing for people outside our field to understand when they hear the word "interview". Our interviews are essentially exams, and google is probably the purest form of the interview as exam style of hiring. I studied data structures and algorithms, and took series of four one-hour oral whiteboard exams. I was treated politely and well, and had a nice lunch. Really, they're exams. You might spend less than 5% of your time talking about the job, your background, your interest. You show up, they test you at the whiteboard. I was a no hire. This is fine, but the secrecy around the exam and feedback, I think, reflects what's so wrong with this situation. There are, as I understand, actual numerical scores and notes about me and my performance in a database at google, along with images of the solutions I wrote on the whiteboard. However, I am not allowed to know anything about these scores or notes. Imagine if you took the LSAT and applied to law schools, only to be rejected with the reason that your scores "weren't what we're looking for", but you aren't allowed to know what your score actually was! Or, perhaps, that you sat for your nursing or medical boards, and were told "you were strong in some areas and clearly studied hard, but we've decided not to allow you to become a physician or nurse at this time..." I've written a bit about all this on HN before - our severe problem here is that we take exams, under conditions that many people view as very stressful, but with absolutely none of the rights that are often accorded a student. No clear study path, no information about who will be grading you or what that person's qualifications are, and - most importantly - no right to understand how you were graded or why you passed or failed. This is what I don't want to participate in anymore. I'm nearing the point where I would rather leave the field than be a part of it. That last part drives me especially nuts, because google is one of the companies constantly beating the drum about a "shortage" of developers. Do they not see how their own behavior contributes to this shortage?