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Doing interviews (as an interviewer) greatly reduced my impostor syndrome as a junior software engineer. When a guy interviewed with 10+ years of "experience" c
by ProZsolt 7y ago
Doing interviews (as an interviewer) greatly reduced my impostor syndrome as a junior software engineer.
When a guy interviewed with 10+ years of "experience" couldn't write a for loop was eye opening.
I work really bad under pressure and don't like memorizing algorithms. I hate programming anything complex on a whiteboard or anyway on-site.
Simple stuff, like your example is fine. It's a good way to weed out charlatans.
A few points what I consider a good test:
* No previous algorithm knowledge required.
* No ticks.
* An average candidate should finish it in 5 minutes. (So we gave them 10 mins)
* It can be written in 10-15 lines.
* Pseudocode is fine
- safety-third 7y agoI dislike pseudocode. I make candidates use an actual language because it smoke checks the ones who put X years of Y language. I don't demand perfection, just that the general shape be there.
- celticmusic 7y agoWhich would punish people like me who will work across 3-4 languages daily and therefore often forget or confuse which library call does what in what language.
- ProZsolt 7y agoSame here. Sometimes I forgot how to define a class method. Is it def? Is it func? I can write Rubyish, Goish, Pythonish or PHPish pseudocode, but the syntax will be only 90% correct. I remember distinguishing features(like Ruby blocks), but features that all language has always a blur.
- perl4ever 7y agoUnlike some people, I'd be happy to spend a few hours over a few days writing some code for free in peace and tranquility. If I didn't have a job already, I'd be happy to prove myself for six months as a temp. I have never been in either situation and not excelled. Why should this be inadequate to demonstrate technical skills?