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You can blacklist anywhere I work; I want to see how people approach a problem, and see some basic coding skills. While I prefer take-home exercises, I'm alway

You can blacklist anywhere I work; I want to see how people approach a problem, and see some basic coding skills. While I prefer take-home exercises, I'm always going to ask people to sketch something out for me.

bsvalley 10y ago
I agree. Though, 2 algorithm problems over the phone in a notepad + 2 to 4 whiteboarding interviews onsite related to algorithm. How much is too much in your opinion? How about replacing a binary tree problem with coding an actual mini-product? A mini web site or mini app in 2 hours onsite. How about using whiteboards to lay out architectures? Or some wire framing if you're applying for a front-end/mobile engineer? How about spending an hour chatting with a candidate about things in general rather than a question/answer type of communications?
- davelnewton 10y ago
  I don't do a lot of algo problems; my stuff tends to be a bit more practical, but it depends what I'm hiring for. I much prefer something like a mini-product/-app as well, and try to focus on stuff that applies to whatever I'm hiring for. High-level whiteboards are great as well. I tend towards paper for coding (as opposed to whiteboard, but it's essentially the same thing, just a little less "I'm giving a presentation"). My interviews tend to be chatty sessions with some code interstitials. I'm more interested in their thought process than their actual code, but I also need to understand how they think about code, so meta-programming, OOP options, weird languages and why. I'm rarely interested in specific technologies, although familiarity is important for rapid on-boarding. I care more about their enthusiasm, willingness and excitement to learn, how they think at a high level, and so on. A more casual conversation around a whiteboard or paper has really worked well for me, and I accept that it may not always be someone's cup of tea. Being a shy introvert myself I get that it can be nerve-wracking (and I've occasionally bombed whiteboard interviews) and I take this into account as best as I can.
smt88 10y ago
This is a great way to pass over great coders who are introverted or just thrown off by the act of writing code on a board. Younger people won't even have learned handwriting skills in school and will have a really hard time. If you want to test how someone is at coding, why not pair with them? Why not hire them on contract for a few weeks instead of making them do unpaid homework when they already might have a full-time job? If you use artificial tests that are unlike the real job, you're going to get lower-quality candidates.
- davelnewton 10y ago
  I've never worked in a place that doesn't have whiteboarding sessions for design, architecture, algos, etc. but YMMV on that one. In 30 years I've never met anybody that can't write well enough to be read--that counter-argument I don't even understand. ¯\(°_o)/¯ I also do pairing, but that won't solve the introversion issue at all. If anything it might exacerbate it because of personal space issues. Remote pairing is fine for this, and I do that as well, but it's a little weird for an onsite. I've never had the resources for a short-term contract, and there are often legal issues involved regarding IP, NDAs, HIPAA, whatever. Personally I think that would be the best approach, but you have to get to the point where you want to offer them a "short-term" contract. That's not something I'd ever be willing to do without having a pretty good handle on whether or not hiring them is a possibility. I've mis-hired precisely once in twenty years. It may not be an ideal process, but it's worked for me so far.

bsvalley 10y ago

I agree. Though, 2 algorithm problems over the phone in a notepad + 2 to 4 whiteboarding interviews onsite related to algorithm. How much is too much in your opinion? How about replacing a binary tree problem with coding an actual mini-product? A mini web site or mini app in 2 hours onsite. How about using whiteboards to lay out architectures? Or some wire framing if you're applying for a front-end/mobile engineer? How about spending an hour chatting with a candidate about things in general rather than a question/answer type of communications?

davelnewton 10y ago
I don't do a lot of algo problems; my stuff tends to be a bit more practical, but it depends what I'm hiring for. I much prefer something like a mini-product/-app as well, and try to focus on stuff that applies to whatever I'm hiring for. High-level whiteboards are great as well. I tend towards paper for coding (as opposed to whiteboard, but it's essentially the same thing, just a little less "I'm giving a presentation"). My interviews tend to be chatty sessions with some code interstitials. I'm more interested in their thought process than their actual code, but I also need to understand how they think about code, so meta-programming, OOP options, weird languages and why. I'm rarely interested in specific technologies, although familiarity is important for rapid on-boarding. I care more about their enthusiasm, willingness and excitement to learn, how they think at a high level, and so on. A more casual conversation around a whiteboard or paper has really worked well for me, and I accept that it may not always be someone's cup of tea. Being a shy introvert myself I get that it can be nerve-wracking (and I've occasionally bombed whiteboard interviews) and I take this into account as best as I can.

smt88 10y ago

This is a great way to pass over great coders who are introverted or just thrown off by the act of writing code on a board. Younger people won't even have learned handwriting skills in school and will have a really hard time. If you want to test how someone is at coding, why not pair with them? Why not hire them on contract for a few weeks instead of making them do unpaid homework when they already might have a full-time job? If you use artificial tests that are unlike the real job, you're going to get lower-quality candidates.

davelnewton 10y ago
I've never worked in a place that doesn't have whiteboarding sessions for design, architecture, algos, etc. but YMMV on that one. In 30 years I've never met anybody that can't write well enough to be read--that counter-argument I don't even understand. ¯\(°_o)/¯ I also do pairing, but that won't solve the introversion issue at all. If anything it might exacerbate it because of personal space issues. Remote pairing is fine for this, and I do that as well, but it's a little weird for an onsite. I've never had the resources for a short-term contract, and there are often legal issues involved regarding IP, NDAs, HIPAA, whatever. Personally I think that would be the best approach, but you have to get to the point where you want to offer them a "short-term" contract. That's not something I'd ever be willing to do without having a pretty good handle on whether or not hiring them is a possibility. I've mis-hired precisely once in twenty years. It may not be an ideal process, but it's worked for me so far.