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I did a interview with Google last summer. They didn't use a whiteboard, but instead had me code in a shared GoogleDoc. Pretty similar issue, limited time, some

by miah_ 8y ago

I did a interview with Google last summer. They didn't use a whiteboard, but instead had me code in a shared GoogleDoc. Pretty similar issue, limited time, somebody staring over your shoulder, not your usual development environment. Even more frustrating when you _know_ they have a web-based IDE for internal software development but make you write code in a GoogleDoc.

stevenwoo 8y ago
I did one about ten years ago, two of the guys asked me to do the program on legal pads, two on a whiteboard, it was kind of funny because the Google HR person gave out a pdf explaining they were going to use a whiteboard and to practice on a whiteboard before coming on site.
h4b4n3r0 8y ago
With doc you don’t have to stare over the candidate’s shoulder. The interviewer can just share the doc with him/herself and watch as you type. That’s what I used to do. The main goal is actually to make sure the candidate stays on the right track. Some folks are prone to veering way out into the woods otherwise. Unsupervised, they would just run out of time.
cableshaft 8y ago
Was that an on-site interview or a technical interview over the phone? I did an interview at Google about 7 years ago and that sounds like the Technical Interview. When they brought me on-site after that, I interviewed face to face with 5 or 6 people in a row (except for a lunch break), and every one of them asked me a two or three questions and then switched to tricky whiteboard problems. I remember one was 'write a function that draws a 2D skyline from a bunch of 3D buildings', which I got totally stuck on because there's so many possible configurations of heights and widths and how they overlap that complicates it, so I didn't really know how to properly solve it. I didn't get the job. I thought the experience was interesting at the time, and basically treated it as a free tour of Google and a chance to eat In and Out burger again, but I don't want to go through that grueling exercise again (or spend a ridiculous amount of time prepping for it... as it was I spent a solid two weeks studying for it the first time around), so I've said no to Google recruiters every time they've gotten in touch with me since. I might have given it one more shot, though, if I were willing to move to Silicon Valley at this point in my life, but I just bought a pretty decent house and I'm not really wanting to give that up to take out a mortgage five times what I have here just to live in a smaller house in the Valley and be able to say I worked at Google.

by miah_ 8y ago

stevenwoo 8y ago

I did one about ten years ago, two of the guys asked me to do the program on legal pads, two on a whiteboard, it was kind of funny because the Google HR person gave out a pdf explaining they were going to use a whiteboard and to practice on a whiteboard before coming on site.

h4b4n3r0 8y ago

With doc you don’t have to stare over the candidate’s shoulder. The interviewer can just share the doc with him/herself and watch as you type. That’s what I used to do. The main goal is actually to make sure the candidate stays on the right track. Some folks are prone to veering way out into the woods otherwise. Unsupervised, they would just run out of time.

cableshaft 8y ago

Was that an on-site interview or a technical interview over the phone? I did an interview at Google about 7 years ago and that sounds like the Technical Interview. When they brought me on-site after that, I interviewed face to face with 5 or 6 people in a row (except for a lunch break), and every one of them asked me a two or three questions and then switched to tricky whiteboard problems. I remember one was 'write a function that draws a 2D skyline from a bunch of 3D buildings', which I got totally stuck on because there's so many possible configurations of heights and widths and how they overlap that complicates it, so I didn't really know how to properly solve it. I didn't get the job. I thought the experience was interesting at the time, and basically treated it as a free tour of Google and a chance to eat In and Out burger again, but I don't want to go through that grueling exercise again (or spend a ridiculous amount of time prepping for it... as it was I spent a solid two weeks studying for it the first time around), so I've said no to Google recruiters every time they've gotten in touch with me since. I might have given it one more shot, though, if I were willing to move to Silicon Valley at this point in my life, but I just bought a pretty decent house and I'm not really wanting to give that up to take out a mortgage five times what I have here just to live in a smaller house in the Valley and be able to say I worked at Google.