> I'd prefer a candidate who understands pointer arithmetic and can implement a recursive descent parser over someone who vaguely describes how Twitter might wo

> I'd prefer a candidate who understands pointer arithmetic and can implement a recursive descent parser over someone who vaguely describes how Twitter might work at a high level. If the position you're hiring for involves those things on a regular basis, fine. If not, you're probably selecting inefficiently. The reason for the swing over into high-level questions is managers are learning that smart, often academically-inclined engineers will happily burn weeks on something they find interesting but adds value incongruent with the expenditure. The recent trend of hiring experienced engineers to be engineering managers either exposes the problem or exacerbates it. If two candidates are equally qualified to do the job, but one demonstrated they can think through high-level designs -- I pick that one.