3 ms·

I am doing a lot of technical interviews, and it is very hard to find a good way to evaluate candidates. My current thinking is to ask a simple question which

I am doing a lot of technical interviews, and it is very hard to find a good way to evaluate candidates. My current thinking is to ask a simple question which serves as a jumping off point to a bigger discussion touching on broader topics. I want to be fair to candidates and I certainly don't want the interview to be a trivia contest, but at some point I need to see if the engineer has a general grasp on how software works in a larger system.

josephg 6y ago
Yes; this can work well but its a little noisy as a signal. (There's plenty of room with this sort of assessment for personal bias based to creep in based on whether or not you like the person). My recommendation is to make a list of attributes you want in a good hire. (My list is something like: coding, debugging, communication skills, CS fundamentals, systems architecture, domain knowledge for the job, ...). Then spend 20 minutes with each of these areas brainstorming simple ways you could assess that skill in 20 minutes or so. (They're all assessable, but you need to get creative). Then after you've done that, design an interview from your notes. If you've got 1-2 hours for the interview, you'll end up with something much better than just having a chat. (Though on the flip side, if you've only got 10 minutes for an interview, a question like you suggest can be great.)
- acjohnson55 6y ago
  Totally agree. This is the basic approach I advocate for (https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_7973484 https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_7973484). I'd further argue that one of the best bets is to get someone to tell you how they have applied a skill in the past, rather than to try to figure out how you can get them to perform a facsimile of the skill in 20 minutes.
runawaybottle 6y ago
We’ve entered dating territory. I have to date you. I need to match you. Yeah, I’ll just focus on Leetcode and focus on the big companies. I’m not dating you bro, it’s just business. In other words, apprenticeship is dead (for awhile). We will not cater to you.
invalidOrTaken 6y ago
I had one of the better interview experiences of my career a few weeks ago---the interviewer pasted a bunch of code in my editor and said, "Tell me why this code sucks." (it had credentials in the source code, was mixing different concerns all over the place). I don't know, I was quite a fan.

josephg 6y ago

Yes; this can work well but its a little noisy as a signal. (There's plenty of room with this sort of assessment for personal bias based to creep in based on whether or not you like the person). My recommendation is to make a list of attributes you want in a good hire. (My list is something like: coding, debugging, communication skills, CS fundamentals, systems architecture, domain knowledge for the job, ...). Then spend 20 minutes with each of these areas brainstorming simple ways you could assess that skill in 20 minutes or so. (They're all assessable, but you need to get creative). Then after you've done that, design an interview from your notes. If you've got 1-2 hours for the interview, you'll end up with something much better than just having a chat. (Though on the flip side, if you've only got 10 minutes for an interview, a question like you suggest can be great.)

acjohnson55 6y ago
Totally agree. This is the basic approach I advocate for (https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_7973484 https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_7973484). I'd further argue that one of the best bets is to get someone to tell you how they have applied a skill in the past, rather than to try to figure out how you can get them to perform a facsimile of the skill in 20 minutes.

runawaybottle 6y ago

We’ve entered dating territory. I have to date you. I need to match you. Yeah, I’ll just focus on Leetcode and focus on the big companies. I’m not dating you bro, it’s just business. In other words, apprenticeship is dead (for awhile). We will not cater to you.

invalidOrTaken 6y ago

I had one of the better interview experiences of my career a few weeks ago---the interviewer pasted a bunch of code in my editor and said, "Tell me why this code sucks." (it had credentials in the source code, was mixing different concerns all over the place). I don't know, I was quite a fan.