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I actually suspect that one of the main purposes of the algo based interview process is a motivation check. It takes time to prep for these interviews. Lots of

I actually suspect that one of the main purposes of the algo based interview process is a motivation check. It takes time to prep for these interviews. Lots of time. So if you get a candidate that is crushing problems, it can either mean two things: 1) They are exceedingly brilliant and they can program decently 2) They have studied hard, they can reason and code decently Combine that with a system design portion and some behavioral questions, and the company is probably getting a solid hire. Does it mean that you're weeding out some false negatives? Absolutely. But large companies don't care. The system works well enough, and until it doesn't, I doubt much will change.

amznthrowaway5 7y ago
If that’s what companies wanted they could remove the extremely biased human component and give an SAT like IQ test loaded with algorithms and objective design questions. The interviews right now are extremely biased and you get rejected just because some interviewer has a biased opinion of you based on how you act.
brendanw 7y ago
I've wonder if this + optimizing for sticky labor while meeting legal requirements. A person who has contributed to impressive open source ticks both checkboxes but will not pass FANG interview.
eikenberry 7y ago
But it isn't working well as they are all starving for talent. When your problem is that you can't find enough people and your pipeline is designed to be a strong filter, you are just exasperating the problem and need to rework your pipeline. That is you see a lot of talk about this because "the system" isn't working. Some companies are trying new things, but you have to find them among all the ones who don't spend the time to try to find a better way.
empath75 7y ago
3) they just graduated from college and still remember all that stuff. It’s an age screen. People in their 40s don’t have time to prep for those kinds of questions. Nor do people with children who might need a work life balance.
PretzelFisch 7y ago
I still see it as an age experience filter the further you are form college the harder and more prep time is required to bring up seldom used skills backup to proficiency.
commandlinefan 7y ago
Same reason they mostly require college degrees even though most of the work we do isn’t anything we learned in college - it’s a check to see if you’re motivated enough to stick with something difficult.

amznthrowaway5 7y ago

If that’s what companies wanted they could remove the extremely biased human component and give an SAT like IQ test loaded with algorithms and objective design questions. The interviews right now are extremely biased and you get rejected just because some interviewer has a biased opinion of you based on how you act.

brendanw 7y ago

I've wonder if this + optimizing for sticky labor while meeting legal requirements. A person who has contributed to impressive open source ticks both checkboxes but will not pass FANG interview.

eikenberry 7y ago

But it isn't working well as they are all starving for talent. When your problem is that you can't find enough people and your pipeline is designed to be a strong filter, you are just exasperating the problem and need to rework your pipeline. That is you see a lot of talk about this because "the system" isn't working. Some companies are trying new things, but you have to find them among all the ones who don't spend the time to try to find a better way.

empath75 7y ago

3) they just graduated from college and still remember all that stuff. It’s an age screen. People in their 40s don’t have time to prep for those kinds of questions. Nor do people with children who might need a work life balance.

PretzelFisch 7y ago

I still see it as an age experience filter the further you are form college the harder and more prep time is required to bring up seldom used skills backup to proficiency.

commandlinefan 7y ago

Same reason they mostly require college degrees even though most of the work we do isn’t anything we learned in college - it’s a check to see if you’re motivated enough to stick with something difficult.