4 ms·

I don't ask brain-teasers during an interview, but time and time again the value of a simple coding assignment has proven its worth. It is simply amazing to me

by nsb1 8y ago

I don't ask brain-teasers during an interview, but time and time again the value of a simple coding assignment has proven its worth. It is simply amazing to me how many candidates seem to lack the basic ability to code a couple of nested for loops, and weeding those candidates out early streamlines the whole interview process. I will typically do this on a phone screen, having informed the candidate beforehand that they need to be near a computer with an internet connection during the call. Typically this will be after business hours, so they're at home where they're comfortable, and on their own machine, whatever it is. I use a site called rextester to administer the test. I've been using it for years, and it's fantastic. https://rextester.com/runcode https://rextester.com/runcode As the tester, you go to the site, choose the language, and click 'live cooperation' at the bottom. Then you email or tell the candiate the link to follow, and both of you click on it to go to the shared coding editor. You can now see the candidate type and talk about how they're solving the problem, editing yourself to give hints/clarity if need be. To save time, you can have some code handy to paste in and pre-seed the problem if you choose (like a list of data to sort, etc.) This tool has proven immensely useful in my interview process, and beats the hell out of whiteboard coding in person, IMHO. [edit - spelling]

mawburn 8y ago
Is it amazing that they can't do them at all, or they can't do them in the spotlight in a totally unfamiliar? I have a strong feeling that most of the people you think fall in the former are actually in the latter. Yes, the solution might be a couple nested for loops. But if it's a new question to the interviewee, then they don't know the solution yet.
- Retra 8y ago
  If you can't find the solution, and you can't work in a slightly unfamiliar situation which is undoubtedly supposed to be your core competency, then I don't see why that's a job you should get. If you're bad at taking tests, being able to make a vague excuse for why you failed one is not an acceptable substitution for passing it.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - mawburn 8y ago
    If you ask questions that are relative to the job and something you might run into or someone asking you for help, then that is different. But, I've personally never been asked these kinds of questions in a live coding/whiteboarding session. It's always brain teasers or some sort of algorithmic problem. Usually they are things that aren't necessarily hard, but are about as far from everyday work as you can get.
  - drugme 8y ago
    If you're bad at taking tests, being able to make a vague excuse for why you failed one is not an acceptable substitution for passing it. Nor is the above argument an acceptable substitution for a sound argument that these kinds of tests have some kind of validity.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
qudat 8y ago
I think you're testing for someone who can think on the spot with a person watching every keystroke which would be rare in an actual work environment. For a lot of programmers, they spend most of their time in their own head thinking through a problem, trying things, removing things, etc. To accomplish what I think you are trying to select for would be a take-home assignment. The interviewee can work through problems in a more natural way without someone watching intently on every keystroke.
- jimbokun 8y ago
  "I think you're testing for someone who can think on the spot with a person watching every keystroke which would be rare in an actual work environment." Except maybe for pair programming shops?
- sgillen 8y ago
  I think that asking really simple fizz buzz style questions in this context is probably fine. The whole point I think is to screen out candidates who can't do these sorts of assignments in ~5-20 minutes or whatever. With a take home assignment you'll get people who spend two hours or on your 15 minute problem which is the kind of person who I think OP is trying to filter out. I think even if you're not the kind of person who can think on the spot with someone watching you well, you should be able to knock out fizz buzz style question in that setting quickly.

by nsb1 8y ago

mawburn 8y ago

Is it amazing that they can't do them at all, or they can't do them in the spotlight in a totally unfamiliar? I have a strong feeling that most of the people you think fall in the former are actually in the latter. Yes, the solution might be a couple nested for loops. But if it's a new question to the interviewee, then they don't know the solution yet.

Retra 8y ago
If you can't find the solution, and you can't work in a slightly unfamiliar situation which is undoubtedly supposed to be your core competency, then I don't see why that's a job you should get. If you're bad at taking tests, being able to make a vague excuse for why you failed one is not an acceptable substitution for passing it.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- mawburn 8y ago
  If you ask questions that are relative to the job and something you might run into or someone asking you for help, then that is different. But, I've personally never been asked these kinds of questions in a live coding/whiteboarding session. It's always brain teasers or some sort of algorithmic problem. Usually they are things that aren't necessarily hard, but are about as far from everyday work as you can get.
- drugme 8y ago
  If you're bad at taking tests, being able to make a vague excuse for why you failed one is not an acceptable substitution for passing it. Nor is the above argument an acceptable substitution for a sound argument that these kinds of tests have some kind of validity.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

qudat 8y ago

I think you're testing for someone who can think on the spot with a person watching every keystroke which would be rare in an actual work environment. For a lot of programmers, they spend most of their time in their own head thinking through a problem, trying things, removing things, etc. To accomplish what I think you are trying to select for would be a take-home assignment. The interviewee can work through problems in a more natural way without someone watching intently on every keystroke.

jimbokun 8y ago
"I think you're testing for someone who can think on the spot with a person watching every keystroke which would be rare in an actual work environment." Except maybe for pair programming shops?
sgillen 8y ago
I think that asking really simple fizz buzz style questions in this context is probably fine. The whole point I think is to screen out candidates who can't do these sorts of assignments in ~5-20 minutes or whatever. With a take home assignment you'll get people who spend two hours or on your 15 minute problem which is the kind of person who I think OP is trying to filter out. I think even if you're not the kind of person who can think on the spot with someone watching you well, you should be able to knock out fizz buzz style question in that setting quickly.