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I'd say this happens semi consistently to me when I get rejected. I did a tech screen (of which this is the first I've ever failed). I chose to do it in Rust as

I'd say this happens semi consistently to me when I get rejected. I did a tech screen (of which this is the first I've ever failed). I chose to do it in Rust as that's my main language these days. I probably should've reconsidered that decision as Rust is notoriously difficult when it comes to dealing with trees and I spend most of my time managing pointers. I described a solution to the tree problem quickly, implemented it, and then dealt with the compiler for about 15 minutes. As a result I never fully finished the task, but it was pretty darn clear I knew what I was doing. Same thing, they came back and said no and I really have a hard time imagining why other than the interviewer not being familiar with Rust - but - hey, don't tell me it's fine to use then! That to say, rejection feedback is almost always useless.

nilkn 6y ago
This is why Python is my dedicated coding interview language. You could do something far more impressive in C++ or Rust, but if you don't quite finish the full implementation it's an automatic fail with some interviewers even if you had to take into account many nuances that a Python solution wouldn't.
- fancyfish 6y ago
  Agreed - I’ve learned that interviewers care more about getting the end result in the time window than demonstrating lower-level skills. Choose 1) The easiest high level language you can, and 2) the language used by the interviewer/firm. Think of it like trying to be as much like the interviewer himself/herself, in both coding and communication.
  - jaaron 6y ago
    That's also because in addition to testing if you can solve the problem, they're also testing your _judgement_. It's an interview. Just like any other engineering problem: use the right tool. If you go off tangent and don't solve the problem, then that raises the question: "Ok, the engineer seems to be able to code, but they didn't finish. Will they finish other work? Will they regularly get caught up in irrelevancies?"

nilkn 6y ago

This is why Python is my dedicated coding interview language. You could do something far more impressive in C++ or Rust, but if you don't quite finish the full implementation it's an automatic fail with some interviewers even if you had to take into account many nuances that a Python solution wouldn't.

fancyfish 6y ago
Agreed - I’ve learned that interviewers care more about getting the end result in the time window than demonstrating lower-level skills. Choose 1) The easiest high level language you can, and 2) the language used by the interviewer/firm. Think of it like trying to be as much like the interviewer himself/herself, in both coding and communication.
- jaaron 6y ago
  That's also because in addition to testing if you can solve the problem, they're also testing your _judgement_. It's an interview. Just like any other engineering problem: use the right tool. If you go off tangent and don't solve the problem, then that raises the question: "Ok, the engineer seems to be able to code, but they didn't finish. Will they finish other work? Will they regularly get caught up in irrelevancies?"