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I'm wondering what parts of the interviews had anything to do with engineering. I saw questions about CS textbook trivia in the first interview and vague refere

by sidlls 9y ago

I'm wondering what parts of the interviews had anything to do with engineering. I saw questions about CS textbook trivia in the first interview and vague references to questions in the second. I didn't see much substance with respect to problem solving, especially in the context of machine learning or data science, analytical thinking in terms of systems or anything else that would benefit me were I hiring manager using these reports from my team to inform my decision about moving forward. If the first interviewer were on my team our next one on one would have some time devoted to what "engineering" means to the person, and over time if it didn't stop being synonymous with "can regurgitate CS trivia" the interviewer would be removed from the pool of interviewers I select from to interview candidates. The second interviewer needs to include more detail regarding the questions asked and the discussions that followed. It's far too vague to really have any weight attached to it.

gaius 9y ago
saw questions about CS textbook trivia But that's the point - this is really a filter for people who have recently been cramming textbooks, e.g. someone just out of college. It's a way to sneak ageism past HR, that's all.
- sidlls 9y ago
  It could be. Some hiring teams at the place I work use these kinds of silly interviews, but they have a number of "older" people on the team. Some of my teammates use these questions for their interviews, and they haven't indicated any preference for younger developers (e.g. to save on wages). I think ageism might play a role, but I think a bigger factor is that this industry is just filled with people who have an academic degree and desperately want to think of themselves as engaged in sophisticated math-y work even when what most do most of the time is closer to being a glorified handy man. This includes myself, of course, and I work on a data science team. The industry is just too enamored with itself.

by sidlls 9y ago

gaius 9y ago

saw questions about CS textbook trivia But that's the point - this is really a filter for people who have recently been cramming textbooks, e.g. someone just out of college. It's a way to sneak ageism past HR, that's all.

sidlls 9y ago
It could be. Some hiring teams at the place I work use these kinds of silly interviews, but they have a number of "older" people on the team. Some of my teammates use these questions for their interviews, and they haven't indicated any preference for younger developers (e.g. to save on wages). I think ageism might play a role, but I think a bigger factor is that this industry is just filled with people who have an academic degree and desperately want to think of themselves as engaged in sophisticated math-y work even when what most do most of the time is closer to being a glorified handy man. This includes myself, of course, and I work on a data science team. The industry is just too enamored with itself.