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> Quite the opposite, slamming in a memorized algorithm with the right answer has been a reason for 'no hire' in my experience. Because all it shows is that you
by xfer 8y ago
> Quite the opposite, slamming in a memorized algorithm with the right answer has been a reason for 'no hire' in my experience. Because all it shows is that you can code.
So the people who already know the solution to your problem are supposed to pretend to have an "aha moment"? Really this is one of the reasons the process doesn't work as well as you hope, people will memorize algorithms and pretend to have that genius moment that you look for.
- joshuamorton 8y agoHonestly, I'd much prefer if you tell me if you're familiar with the problem. I previously interviewed at a company and of the three interviews, I knew, and informed them that I knew, 2 of the problems they asked. I solved all 3 and got the job, likely because after I implemented an lru cache in ~10 mins on a whiteboard, we turned around and I actually coded it up in an ide, added tests, and then we had some extra time to fix a few small bugs and discuss caching strategies. I'm still torn on the value of that interview though. And I'd much prefer to ask you a question you don't know than to have you write down a rote memorized answer, or pretend to be uncertain. I can usually tell and it wastes both of our time.
- jasonpeacock 8y agoAfter a few interviews, the fake "aha" moments are pretty obvious. If someone does know the solution, ask them them to teach it to you - why is that the correct solution and not some other approach? If the problem is really an "aha"-type with a single, explicit solution then it's not a good problem to be asking in an interview. It really is about your approach, problem-solving technique, communication, etc.