3 ms·

It's good information. Leaves me feeling hella bitter though since I'm paid less than half of that FB offer but could theoretically get the same offer. Just wis

It's good information. Leaves me feeling hella bitter though since I'm paid less than half of that FB offer but could theoretically get the same offer. Just wish there was a more straight forward way to getting into these companies that pay so much. Has anyone had success with mock interviews? (Done by people who actually hire - not random people) I've received endless feedback from recruiters saying it's my technical performance even when I've smashed every problem. (Guessing it's cultural but they can't write that down as I rarely receive a no during a phone interview - just no's during in person)

winter_blue 7y ago
You need to invest time in Leetcode. I made it into final round interviews with both Google and Facebook (in California), without much prep, and didn't get an offer from either. Google asked me all algorithm problems (I told them I didn't have much system design experience), whereas Facebook did a mix of algorithms, system design, and soft/personal skills.
- bradlys 7y ago
  I think you misunderstood what I meant - I smashed the problems as in... I destroyed them. Optimal solution out of the gate. Optimal solutions on the board only slowed down by my ability to write. It wasn't even memorization - I just practiced so much. I've done over 500 problems and over 200 technical interviews. I don't really "fail" them in the traditional sense these days. Maybe I have a really punchable face - who knows.
  - inreverse 7y ago
    In my experience interviewers are looking for a detailed thought process with a comparison of solutions that demonstrates your communication, not just an optimal solution. Do you provide that as well?
    - bradlys 7y ago
      Yep. I always break down the solutions I purpose and ask them if they want me to code it up. I walk them through the solution. I give them trade offs between different solutions (if there is an alternative that has the same time/space complexity). Everything... :/ EDIT: But - really - I'm not looking for feedback or critiques in this format. I've done this endlessly with people online. Instead - it would be useful to me to recommend services or experiences with mock interview services. I'm having a hard time believing anyone can give me real insight here that I haven't corrected myself. (But that insight could exist through mock interviews)
      - petrocrat 7y ago
        have you heard of interviewing.io?
      - Klinky 7y ago
        You're probably interviewing with all the people who have chimed in that you can't possibly be that good.
      - anongraddebt 7y ago
        My gf is a management consultant, and prepped a lot for her interviews. She learned that there is such a thing as prepping too much, as your performance can come across too stilted/canned/robotic. Have you ever filmed your performance in a practice session? I've given tons of mock interviews, so if you want a fresh set of eyes let me know.
      - hellogoodbye777 7y ago
        It sounds like you're threatening your interviewers' egos.
throwqwerty 7y ago
what does smashed every problem mean? are you really getting the entire solution including optimization written up each time? i find it hard to believe that you're acing the technical and bombing the rest so egregiously that you're not getting offers.
- bradlys 7y ago
  Yeah - you'd be surprised. I got accused of cheating more than once because I'd come up with the optimal solution in less than a minute. Never even saw the problems. I spent a lot of time prepping.
  - codingslave 7y ago
    Yup. Once you do a ton of these, they get easy.
  - throwqwerty 7y ago
    >optimal solution in less than a minute you're interviewing wrong and i'm surprised that you haven't figured it out given 200 attempts. put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer - interviews aren't their main focus in the company and hence they're not invested in being excellent interviewers. they're most likely trying to do a good enough job such that it counts towards promotion and simultaneously not have a horrible time during the interview. so they have roughly a script that they'll follow 1. give the imprecise problem statement 2. give the opportunity for clarifying questions (points added or subtracted from interviewee for asking relevant/irrelevant/interesting/mundane question) 3. give the opportunity for naive solution (points added or subtracted for facility in implementing and runtime discussion) 4. introduce challenge portion (optimization or constraint or whatever) 5. give another opportunity for clarifying questions 6. give opportunity for talking through a solution 7. give opportunity for writing solution assuming you make it this far 8. give the opportunity for discussion of trade-offs in time/space/code complexity/latency/etc. that's 6 opportunities to demonstrate that you're smart, fastidious, affable, etc but only 2 of them are really technical. if you're aiming for writing the best/most optimal solution as fast as possible then you're aiming for the wrong thing - it's not a standardized test but an interview (i.e. two people are involved). you should be aiming to impress the interviewer! those aren't the same (the first is a component of the second). if you'd you should put your contact info either here in a response or in your profile and i'll reach and we can chat about interviewing (i'm not a coach or a business but i do interview well so maybe i can help you a little).
lacker 7y ago
It’s quite common for people to think they nailed a question when actually they did poorly, in the eyes of the interviewer. Even if you are getting the “correct solution”, the interviewer will usually have some followup discussion designed to make sure you really understand the solution well. Often this catches out people who practice so much they’ve seen the answer before. This is my guess for what’s happening, at least.
- LanceH 7y ago
  I walked out of an interview before thinking I nailed one of the big questions. I answered it so well and in such an orderly fashion they asked if I had seen it before, which I hadn't. I received feedback that they would pass and one reason is that I wouldn't admit that I had seen that question before. I guess I wasn't prepared for having my integrity (literally) questioned. No loss for me. It was really off putting how suspicious they were of someone who knew the answer better than they did; like it just wasn't possible. Instead of disbelieving me, they should have just moved on to some other questions for confirmation, even if it meant calling me back in.
  - joebro5 7y ago
    Seems like you dodged a bullet. I wouldn't want to work with those types of egos.
  - chrisbennet 7y ago
    I've found that people are suspicious for a couple of reasons: 1. They are bad actors and they expect other people to be also. 2. They've been burned by someone and now they are suspicious of anyone. When confronted by a person who doesn't trust me, I ask about the 2nd situation i.e. have been burned by a past employee? If they have, I cut them some slack.

winter_blue 7y ago

You need to invest time in Leetcode. I made it into final round interviews with both Google and Facebook (in California), without much prep, and didn't get an offer from either. Google asked me all algorithm problems (I told them I didn't have much system design experience), whereas Facebook did a mix of algorithms, system design, and soft/personal skills.

bradlys 7y ago
I think you misunderstood what I meant - I smashed the problems as in... I destroyed them. Optimal solution out of the gate. Optimal solutions on the board only slowed down by my ability to write. It wasn't even memorization - I just practiced so much. I've done over 500 problems and over 200 technical interviews. I don't really "fail" them in the traditional sense these days. Maybe I have a really punchable face - who knows.
- inreverse 7y ago
  In my experience interviewers are looking for a detailed thought process with a comparison of solutions that demonstrates your communication, not just an optimal solution. Do you provide that as well?
  - bradlys 7y ago
    Yep. I always break down the solutions I purpose and ask them if they want me to code it up. I walk them through the solution. I give them trade offs between different solutions (if there is an alternative that has the same time/space complexity). Everything... :/ EDIT: But - really - I'm not looking for feedback or critiques in this format. I've done this endlessly with people online. Instead - it would be useful to me to recommend services or experiences with mock interview services. I'm having a hard time believing anyone can give me real insight here that I haven't corrected myself. (But that insight could exist through mock interviews)
    - petrocrat 7y ago
      have you heard of interviewing.io?
    - Klinky 7y ago
      You're probably interviewing with all the people who have chimed in that you can't possibly be that good.
    - anongraddebt 7y ago
      My gf is a management consultant, and prepped a lot for her interviews. She learned that there is such a thing as prepping too much, as your performance can come across too stilted/canned/robotic. Have you ever filmed your performance in a practice session? I've given tons of mock interviews, so if you want a fresh set of eyes let me know.
    - hellogoodbye777 7y ago
      It sounds like you're threatening your interviewers' egos.

throwqwerty 7y ago

what does smashed every problem mean? are you really getting the entire solution including optimization written up each time? i find it hard to believe that you're acing the technical and bombing the rest so egregiously that you're not getting offers.

bradlys 7y ago
Yeah - you'd be surprised. I got accused of cheating more than once because I'd come up with the optimal solution in less than a minute. Never even saw the problems. I spent a lot of time prepping.
- codingslave 7y ago
  Yup. Once you do a ton of these, they get easy.
- throwqwerty 7y ago
  >optimal solution in less than a minute you're interviewing wrong and i'm surprised that you haven't figured it out given 200 attempts. put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer - interviews aren't their main focus in the company and hence they're not invested in being excellent interviewers. they're most likely trying to do a good enough job such that it counts towards promotion and simultaneously not have a horrible time during the interview. so they have roughly a script that they'll follow 1. give the imprecise problem statement 2. give the opportunity for clarifying questions (points added or subtracted from interviewee for asking relevant/irrelevant/interesting/mundane question) 3. give the opportunity for naive solution (points added or subtracted for facility in implementing and runtime discussion) 4. introduce challenge portion (optimization or constraint or whatever) 5. give another opportunity for clarifying questions 6. give opportunity for talking through a solution 7. give opportunity for writing solution assuming you make it this far 8. give the opportunity for discussion of trade-offs in time/space/code complexity/latency/etc. that's 6 opportunities to demonstrate that you're smart, fastidious, affable, etc but only 2 of them are really technical. if you're aiming for writing the best/most optimal solution as fast as possible then you're aiming for the wrong thing - it's not a standardized test but an interview (i.e. two people are involved). you should be aiming to impress the interviewer! those aren't the same (the first is a component of the second). if you'd you should put your contact info either here in a response or in your profile and i'll reach and we can chat about interviewing (i'm not a coach or a business but i do interview well so maybe i can help you a little).

lacker 7y ago

It’s quite common for people to think they nailed a question when actually they did poorly, in the eyes of the interviewer. Even if you are getting the “correct solution”, the interviewer will usually have some followup discussion designed to make sure you really understand the solution well. Often this catches out people who practice so much they’ve seen the answer before. This is my guess for what’s happening, at least.

LanceH 7y ago
I walked out of an interview before thinking I nailed one of the big questions. I answered it so well and in such an orderly fashion they asked if I had seen it before, which I hadn't. I received feedback that they would pass and one reason is that I wouldn't admit that I had seen that question before. I guess I wasn't prepared for having my integrity (literally) questioned. No loss for me. It was really off putting how suspicious they were of someone who knew the answer better than they did; like it just wasn't possible. Instead of disbelieving me, they should have just moved on to some other questions for confirmation, even if it meant calling me back in.
- joebro5 7y ago
  Seems like you dodged a bullet. I wouldn't want to work with those types of egos.
- chrisbennet 7y ago
  I've found that people are suspicious for a couple of reasons: 1. They are bad actors and they expect other people to be also. 2. They've been burned by someone and now they are suspicious of anyone. When confronted by a person who doesn't trust me, I ask about the 2nd situation i.e. have been burned by a past employee? If they have, I cut them some slack.