4 ms·

As an interviewer I can only agree. I look for signs that the person is interested in what they are doing. Private projects with public repositories are a sign

As an interviewer I can only agree. I look for signs that the person is interested in what they are doing. Private projects with public repositories are a sign but nowadays I see people started showing up who force themselves to do these projects just to improve their interview prospects. I even had one person admit it when it was obvious they can't tell me anything about their own project. Obviously, this is a result of a very know effect where judging performance based on some measurements causes people to pervert this measurement. Other signs that people overlook and misunderstand is deep knowledge on any topic related to software development. If somebody could acquire good, deep understanding of at least one topic it shows they were likely at least at some point interested in it. People are sometimes put off that I seem to be asking large number of hard questions and then grilling to death, but that's what I am doing, looking for signs of being interested in something. I even have one question where I ask: What is the question you would like me to ask you? That's just another occasion to have a discussion on something where the candidate can demonstrate their deep knowledge.

PragmaticPulp 6y ago
> but nowadays I see people started showing up who force themselves to do these projects just to improve their interview prospects. As an interviewer, it's fascinating to read forums like /r/cscareerquestions where people are working hard to game the interview system. Coding Bootcamps have also become bad at training students to pass interviews by practicing coding questions and putting cookie-cutter "side projects" in their GitHub profile. One of our local coding bootcamps had students post their class projects to GitHub as "side projects" to show to interviewers. The catch was that every graduate from the boot camp had the exact same "side projects" that followed the same formula. As an interviewer, it's amazing to see people arrive at interviews with an idea that we're just robots trying to check items off of a checklist. The internet pop-culture view of coding interviews is that they're just arbitrary gatekeeping that can be bypassed if you simply know which magic words to say to your robot interviewers. Tip for interviewers: Speak to your interviewers as if they were your future peers or managers.
- nv-vn 6y ago
  That mindset pisses me off so much. Every time someone asks me about advice for an interview and I don't mention doing hours of leetcode studying they accuse me of lying and trying to sabotage them because _obviously_ the only way to pass an interview is to memorize every possible question the interview can ask! It's so crazy to me how people think this and then I'll sit down with them for a mock interview and watch them completely stop communicating or treat me like I'm a binary switch that only comes on when they have the optimal solution.
  - lmilcin 6y ago
    Nothing to be pissed about. You are correct and so are interviewers. Interviewers and interviewees have different incentives. My job as an interviewer is to see through bullshit as efficiently as possible and decide on some realistic compromise when selecting candidates. I also sometimes look for job myself. Technically, I could go with the flow and do whatever other candidates are doing. But I don't want to and I don't need to. I have over two decades of both development and interviewing experience and I know that just being myself and not trying to impress anybody is already going to impress interviewers a lot. I gladly offer information about which parts of the requirement I am lacking and also I will immediately say that I don't know something when I don't -- without trying to impress on the interviewer that I know more than in reality. This alone lets me stand out from other candidates. There is one more reason not to try to game the process. It is the most important one. I want to be building trust with my manager from day one. Misleading about my knowledge and experience is best way to immediately taint that cooperation.
- worik 6y ago
  "Tip for interviewers: Speak to your interviewers as if they were your future peers or managers. " That exposes a real problem. WIth people gaming the interview process that is good advice. But it surely it is part of the process that leads to mono cultures? Workplaces with 25-35 year old white men? (Or what ever) How can you get a diverse good group? Does diversity matter? I think it does, am I right?
  - 6y ago

PragmaticPulp 6y ago

> but nowadays I see people started showing up who force themselves to do these projects just to improve their interview prospects. As an interviewer, it's fascinating to read forums like /r/cscareerquestions where people are working hard to game the interview system. Coding Bootcamps have also become bad at training students to pass interviews by practicing coding questions and putting cookie-cutter "side projects" in their GitHub profile. One of our local coding bootcamps had students post their class projects to GitHub as "side projects" to show to interviewers. The catch was that every graduate from the boot camp had the exact same "side projects" that followed the same formula. As an interviewer, it's amazing to see people arrive at interviews with an idea that we're just robots trying to check items off of a checklist. The internet pop-culture view of coding interviews is that they're just arbitrary gatekeeping that can be bypassed if you simply know which magic words to say to your robot interviewers. Tip for interviewers: Speak to your interviewers as if they were your future peers or managers.

nv-vn 6y ago
That mindset pisses me off so much. Every time someone asks me about advice for an interview and I don't mention doing hours of leetcode studying they accuse me of lying and trying to sabotage them because _obviously_ the only way to pass an interview is to memorize every possible question the interview can ask! It's so crazy to me how people think this and then I'll sit down with them for a mock interview and watch them completely stop communicating or treat me like I'm a binary switch that only comes on when they have the optimal solution.
- lmilcin 6y ago
  Nothing to be pissed about. You are correct and so are interviewers. Interviewers and interviewees have different incentives. My job as an interviewer is to see through bullshit as efficiently as possible and decide on some realistic compromise when selecting candidates. I also sometimes look for job myself. Technically, I could go with the flow and do whatever other candidates are doing. But I don't want to and I don't need to. I have over two decades of both development and interviewing experience and I know that just being myself and not trying to impress anybody is already going to impress interviewers a lot. I gladly offer information about which parts of the requirement I am lacking and also I will immediately say that I don't know something when I don't -- without trying to impress on the interviewer that I know more than in reality. This alone lets me stand out from other candidates. There is one more reason not to try to game the process. It is the most important one. I want to be building trust with my manager from day one. Misleading about my knowledge and experience is best way to immediately taint that cooperation.
worik 6y ago
"Tip for interviewers: Speak to your interviewers as if they were your future peers or managers. " That exposes a real problem. WIth people gaming the interview process that is good advice. But it surely it is part of the process that leads to mono cultures? Workplaces with 25-35 year old white men? (Or what ever) How can you get a diverse good group? Does diversity matter? I think it does, am I right?
- 6y ago