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Well, part of life and work is being able to deal with stressful situations gracefully and with a clear head. So, I don't fully agree for example that you woul

by brk 16y ago

Well, part of life and work is being able to deal with stressful situations gracefully and with a clear head. So, I don't fully agree for example that you would have done well at Google if you could not run the gauntlet of their interview process. A big part of the issue is most likely that you are making the interview and job opportunity to be a more significant thing than it really is in the grand scheme of things. Don't approach it with a completely careless attitude, but go in looking at it more like a casual first date where you are BOTH getting to know each other equally. If you don't know something specifically, then say so, maybe describe how you would find the answer in real life. Be aware if you rely too much on "crutches", maybe you need to reassess your skills if you can't write 100 lines of code without finding half the answers on Google (just generalizing here).

interviewfear 16y ago
I agree the part about being able to handle stressful situations in life. I think this particular part of life is something I've developed an irrational fear for. I realize I have to get over it or learn to deal with it well. I said I could do well at Google after seeing some middle-of-the-road friends from college and grad school get in by sheer weight of preparing hard for the interview. They are doing just fine over there. I don't even need Google crutches. In fact, since I have been coding in C (6+ years now), I can count on one hand the number of times I've looked up things on Google. It is just that I get flustered when told to write code in an interview with the interviewer watching over my shoulder. Give me a terminal and I could probably do it quickly. Or for that matter when I don't know the answer to some trivia-type question and in that instant, I feel like a loser for not knowing something. It is this part that I realize my weakness is in and that I need to work on.
kls 16y ago
Social skills and work skills are neither inclusive or mutually exclusive. I have a friend with high functioning autism that could not get a job to save his life, but can look at the symptoms of any production bug and tell you the problem in less than 10 seconds. Seriously we gave him 7 records from a database once that had date problem, by looking at the pattern he deduced that 1 of the systems was un-patched for a daylight savings bug. not only that but by the timestamp intervals he pinpointed which of the 50 servers it was. In a production support environment this guy is indispensable and his social skills are of no consequence, but if it where not for me vouching for him over and over until the company hired him, he would have never gotten the position. So much so, that I have gotten him every one of his jobs and at every job they love him after they get over the shock of his complete lack of social skills. So just because the author experience stress and anxiety in social situations, it does not 1 for 1 translate into poor performance in work related tasks even if they are stressful.

by brk 16y ago

interviewfear 16y ago

I agree the part about being able to handle stressful situations in life. I think this particular part of life is something I've developed an irrational fear for. I realize I have to get over it or learn to deal with it well. I said I could do well at Google after seeing some middle-of-the-road friends from college and grad school get in by sheer weight of preparing hard for the interview. They are doing just fine over there. I don't even need Google crutches. In fact, since I have been coding in C (6+ years now), I can count on one hand the number of times I've looked up things on Google. It is just that I get flustered when told to write code in an interview with the interviewer watching over my shoulder. Give me a terminal and I could probably do it quickly. Or for that matter when I don't know the answer to some trivia-type question and in that instant, I feel like a loser for not knowing something. It is this part that I realize my weakness is in and that I need to work on.

kls 16y ago

Social skills and work skills are neither inclusive or mutually exclusive. I have a friend with high functioning autism that could not get a job to save his life, but can look at the symptoms of any production bug and tell you the problem in less than 10 seconds. Seriously we gave him 7 records from a database once that had date problem, by looking at the pattern he deduced that 1 of the systems was un-patched for a daylight savings bug. not only that but by the timestamp intervals he pinpointed which of the 50 servers it was. In a production support environment this guy is indispensable and his social skills are of no consequence, but if it where not for me vouching for him over and over until the company hired him, he would have never gotten the position. So much so, that I have gotten him every one of his jobs and at every job they love him after they get over the shock of his complete lack of social skills. So just because the author experience stress and anxiety in social situations, it does not 1 for 1 translate into poor performance in work related tasks even if they are stressful.