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I’ve failed technical tests because I found the interview process stressful, or felt nervous or uncomfortable in the moment or was having a bad day. I recently

I’ve failed technical tests because I found the interview process stressful, or felt nervous or uncomfortable in the moment or was having a bad day. I recently did a round of interviewing for jobs and realized the real key for me was handling my emotions in these situations so I can bring the same approach I bring to my work to the interview. And it’s not the same as your day to day work because if I’m writing an algorithm or solving a problem at work finding the solution usually happens in my head rather than out loud. This difference is meaningful. After a few bad interviews I got the hang of it and aced a couple algos interviews. I’ve worked as a developer for 8 years, have tons of software in production, have some open source contributions and have worked productively on several teams. Interviewing is a skill. I understand why a company wouldn’t hire someone who doesn’t pass a programming test but failing a programming test doesn’t mean you can’t do the job.

mandeepj 7y ago
> was having a bad day Then ask for a reschedule or try to get it as the first thing in a day. > I found the interview process stressful, or felt nervous or uncomfortable in the moment Need to grow confidence. Walk into interview - like you own it. You are the best. Think - you know everything {only during interview :-) } but also keep an open mind. Don't think - it's an interview - take it as you are going to teach them about what they will ask. Irrespective of this - mistakes will happen. Fail -> learn -> try again.
ummonk 7y ago
Yeah, I consider the demand for people to talk out loud during algorithms interviews to be an anti-pattern. It is something I can do (albeit with some difficulty) and excel at interviews as a result but I know engineers who are great at algorithms and at normal design communication who fail interviews because the interviewer doesn’t like their frequent silence while thinking or coding.

mandeepj 7y ago

> was having a bad day Then ask for a reschedule or try to get it as the first thing in a day. > I found the interview process stressful, or felt nervous or uncomfortable in the moment Need to grow confidence. Walk into interview - like you own it. You are the best. Think - you know everything {only during interview :-) } but also keep an open mind. Don't think - it's an interview - take it as you are going to teach them about what they will ask. Irrespective of this - mistakes will happen. Fail -> learn -> try again.

ummonk 7y ago

Yeah, I consider the demand for people to talk out loud during algorithms interviews to be an anti-pattern. It is something I can do (albeit with some difficulty) and excel at interviews as a result but I know engineers who are great at algorithms and at normal design communication who fail interviews because the interviewer doesn’t like their frequent silence while thinking or coding.