3 ms·

I'm feel very lucky to have gotten my first "programming job" without a technical interview (it was an unpaid high-school internship that I turned into a progra

by katee 6y ago

I'm feel very lucky to have gotten my first "programming job" without a technical interview (it was an unpaid high-school internship that I turned into a programming job, and eventually became full-time after I was old enough to be an employee). Interviews are still tough for me, I have experienced interview anxiety extreme enough that I went home instead of continuing a day of on-sites. The interview anxiety is totally unlike anything I deal with on the job, including during other "high stress" activities like presentations, or pair coding and debugging. Starting my career I stepped into a totally different world. I have a lot of empathy for the situations Austen that mentions here, which are mostly even more stark than my own. I also have a ton of embarrassing stories and memories. Moving between totally different socio-economic contexts is difficult, and complicated.

NotSammyHagar 6y ago
I suggest practicing over and over again to reduce your anxiety. We all feel anxious when doing a whiteboard or now VC interview where they can ask you anything and you feel like you have to instantly answer.
- katee 6y ago
  Oh definitely! Doing high pressure practice in preparation for my last round of interviews definitely helped, and that round resulted in multiple FAANG offers. VC interviews also seem very high pressure! I've met folks making funding decisions, but never been in the hot seat with them. It does seem closer to the "walk me through your portfolio/a project" interview than a whiteboard interview. Although obviously the stakes can be much higher.
- krageon 6y ago
  > I suggest practicing over and over again Anxiety isn't related to experience (or actual competence). When it's on the level mentioned, what works is CBT (if you're lucky). That may include practice, but it will certainly not be the only element.
  - NotSammyHagar 6y ago
    I guess it will vary from person to person. For me, my anxiety is definitely reduced the more prepared I actually am, and the more I feel. Have I implemented all the basic algorithms in the last month in my test language, did I actually run them, do quick sort and other sorts whats the time complexity, then try a series of harder programming projects. Do some of the super common ones like design twitter. Binary search - can you avoid the overflow things when doing the divide by two... And for experienced people, be ready to say what you left your most recent job, what you gained, what did't work well, is there a noticable arc to your career, if you want a new job type how are you prepared.
redis_mlc 6y ago
1) A friend said something valuable to me 20 years ago, "Just think of interviews as lottery tickets." Luck is a large factor in what questions you'll be asked and by whom. Knowing this takes most of the pressure off candidates. 2) It's tempting to think of co-workers in the same industry as your colleagues or even friends, but that's not true in the software industry. As you can see from HN forum post responses, the people in our industry are mostly pedantic assholes. Understanding this is key to avoiding disappointment derived from other people. 3) One of the biggest challenges our industry is facing is that between millennials who have never read a newspaper and literally don't know anything at a fundamental level, and those who do know more than "the socials", which is interpreted in the office as heresy now.

by katee 6y ago

NotSammyHagar 6y ago

I suggest practicing over and over again to reduce your anxiety. We all feel anxious when doing a whiteboard or now VC interview where they can ask you anything and you feel like you have to instantly answer.

katee 6y ago
Oh definitely! Doing high pressure practice in preparation for my last round of interviews definitely helped, and that round resulted in multiple FAANG offers. VC interviews also seem very high pressure! I've met folks making funding decisions, but never been in the hot seat with them. It does seem closer to the "walk me through your portfolio/a project" interview than a whiteboard interview. Although obviously the stakes can be much higher.
krageon 6y ago
> I suggest practicing over and over again Anxiety isn't related to experience (or actual competence). When it's on the level mentioned, what works is CBT (if you're lucky). That may include practice, but it will certainly not be the only element.
- NotSammyHagar 6y ago
  I guess it will vary from person to person. For me, my anxiety is definitely reduced the more prepared I actually am, and the more I feel. Have I implemented all the basic algorithms in the last month in my test language, did I actually run them, do quick sort and other sorts whats the time complexity, then try a series of harder programming projects. Do some of the super common ones like design twitter. Binary search - can you avoid the overflow things when doing the divide by two... And for experienced people, be ready to say what you left your most recent job, what you gained, what did't work well, is there a noticable arc to your career, if you want a new job type how are you prepared.

redis_mlc 6y ago

1) A friend said something valuable to me 20 years ago, "Just think of interviews as lottery tickets." Luck is a large factor in what questions you'll be asked and by whom. Knowing this takes most of the pressure off candidates. 2) It's tempting to think of co-workers in the same industry as your colleagues or even friends, but that's not true in the software industry. As you can see from HN forum post responses, the people in our industry are mostly pedantic assholes. Understanding this is key to avoiding disappointment derived from other people. 3) One of the biggest challenges our industry is facing is that between millennials who have never read a newspaper and literally don't know anything at a fundamental level, and those who do know more than "the socials", which is interpreted in the office as heresy now.