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Don, IMHO, you're using the wrong techniques. Tests of random knowledge and focussing strictly on quick answers to logic problems will get you lucky left-braine

by sabat 16y ago

Don, IMHO, you're using the wrong techniques. Tests of random knowledge and focussing strictly on quick answers to logic problems will get you lucky left-brainers -- they're the ones who happened to know what command options are available for sed and awk, and are good linear thinkers. Google should be doing better than that -- much better.

moobot 16y ago
I just got done interviewing for an SRE position, and while there were a few small "trivia" questions, most of it was about general Linux userland tools, and were mostly used as a lead-in to having me solve some sort of practical, real world problem. For the few cases where I didn't know the answer, the interviewer just moved on to the next portion. It seemed rather balanced IMO.
brown9-2 16y ago
I've had two rounds of interviews at Google and I would not characterize a single one of the individual interviews I experienced as requiring "random knowledge" or "quick answers to logic problems". I think there is a real danger here of extrapolating the experiences of one or a few people to a statement on hundreds or thousands of interviews/interviewers. At the rate Google is interviewing candidates it should be expected that some interviewers are not good interviewers. After doing a lot of research on the subject (to prepare for my own experience) I can say with some certainty that based on reports from people that actually went through the experience, interviewers asking for brainteasers or "random knowledge" are in the clear minority. (At least for software engineering interviewing. The questions for product managers seem to be a whole other beast.)
- sabat 16y ago
  From what I've understood from countless stories on the web and from real-life friends and associates, your story is the anecdotal one. Brainteasers, logic problems you're expected to solve in seconds, and random quizzes on arcane facts is the norm at Google. It's how Google makes its hiring decisions: can you remember arcane facts quickly? Are you good at solving logic problems on the spot?
EricBurnett 16y ago
Are you objecting on the grounds that you think you know how they should interview better than they do, or that you think they actually are hiring the wrong people? I've always heard that Google is chalk full of amazing programmers doing really good work, so I'd say evidence is on the side that whatever they're doing is working.

by sabat 16y ago

moobot 16y ago

I just got done interviewing for an SRE position, and while there were a few small "trivia" questions, most of it was about general Linux userland tools, and were mostly used as a lead-in to having me solve some sort of practical, real world problem. For the few cases where I didn't know the answer, the interviewer just moved on to the next portion. It seemed rather balanced IMO.

brown9-2 16y ago

I've had two rounds of interviews at Google and I would not characterize a single one of the individual interviews I experienced as requiring "random knowledge" or "quick answers to logic problems". I think there is a real danger here of extrapolating the experiences of one or a few people to a statement on hundreds or thousands of interviews/interviewers. At the rate Google is interviewing candidates it should be expected that some interviewers are not good interviewers. After doing a lot of research on the subject (to prepare for my own experience) I can say with some certainty that based on reports from people that actually went through the experience, interviewers asking for brainteasers or "random knowledge" are in the clear minority. (At least for software engineering interviewing. The questions for product managers seem to be a whole other beast.)

sabat 16y ago
From what I've understood from countless stories on the web and from real-life friends and associates, your story is the anecdotal one. Brainteasers, logic problems you're expected to solve in seconds, and random quizzes on arcane facts is the norm at Google. It's how Google makes its hiring decisions: can you remember arcane facts quickly? Are you good at solving logic problems on the spot?

EricBurnett 16y ago

Are you objecting on the grounds that you think you know how they should interview better than they do, or that you think they actually are hiring the wrong people? I've always heard that Google is chalk full of amazing programmers doing really good work, so I'd say evidence is on the side that whatever they're doing is working.