3 ms·

Yeah, I call bullshit as well. Try getting to the onsite if you don't solve the phone screen question exactly as expected. I have a friend who solved/memorized

Yeah, I call bullshit as well. Try getting to the onsite if you don't solve the phone screen question exactly as expected. I have a friend who solved/memorized ~600 leetcode questions and got offers from Google, Facebook, etc. He was average, not dumb but not well above average. When I apply to both, I will definitely be leetcoding as many question as possible as well, to maximize my chances.

foobarbazetc 8y ago
If that’s all it took maybe those interview funnels aren’t actually that great. IME, my worst interview process ever was at Google. All I remember from it was some question about burning a piece of string. The coding part was relatively easy. The best interview process I ever did was at Yahoo in 2008. Everyone was very friendly but the questions were tough. I found the “expert” level of the people interviewing me higher than at Google at the time. It was grueling though - 9am to 7pm. Got an offer to “join any team I wanted”. Turned it down for a startup. Good decision in hindsight.
- ReverseCold 8y ago
  The string problem where you burn it in creative ways in order to measure a certain amount of time?
  - komali2 8y ago
    Probably: You have two identical ropes. If you light a rope on fire, it will finish burning in exactly one hour. The burn rate is inconsistent - there is no relationship between how much of the rope has burned, and how much time has passed, until the rope has fully burned away. How can you use the two ropes to measure 15 minutes? Given that it's printed in cracking the coding interview, Google has almost certainly banned this problem.
    - joatmon-snoo 8y ago
      That's also a brain teaser type problem that we killed over ten years ago.
hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
> I have a friend who solved/memorized ~600 leetcode questions and got offers from Google, Facebook, etc. Well then, to go through and solve 600 leetcode questions actually takes a lot of dedication and time investment, which alone to me shows that your friend has a lot going for him. TBH, as someone who has hired a lot of engineers, if I found someone who was well rehearsed, and it was clear this person understood a lot of the underlying concepts in a problem as I dug deeper, I'd be thrilled to hire that person!

foobarbazetc 8y ago

If that’s all it took maybe those interview funnels aren’t actually that great. IME, my worst interview process ever was at Google. All I remember from it was some question about burning a piece of string. The coding part was relatively easy. The best interview process I ever did was at Yahoo in 2008. Everyone was very friendly but the questions were tough. I found the “expert” level of the people interviewing me higher than at Google at the time. It was grueling though - 9am to 7pm. Got an offer to “join any team I wanted”. Turned it down for a startup. Good decision in hindsight.

ReverseCold 8y ago
The string problem where you burn it in creative ways in order to measure a certain amount of time?
- komali2 8y ago
  Probably: You have two identical ropes. If you light a rope on fire, it will finish burning in exactly one hour. The burn rate is inconsistent - there is no relationship between how much of the rope has burned, and how much time has passed, until the rope has fully burned away. How can you use the two ropes to measure 15 minutes? Given that it's printed in cracking the coding interview, Google has almost certainly banned this problem.
  - joatmon-snoo 8y ago
    That's also a brain teaser type problem that we killed over ten years ago.

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago

> I have a friend who solved/memorized ~600 leetcode questions and got offers from Google, Facebook, etc. Well then, to go through and solve 600 leetcode questions actually takes a lot of dedication and time investment, which alone to me shows that your friend has a lot going for him. TBH, as someone who has hired a lot of engineers, if I found someone who was well rehearsed, and it was clear this person understood a lot of the underlying concepts in a problem as I dug deeper, I'd be thrilled to hire that person!