8 ms·
>Famously even if you know the answer pretty well, say because you were the original creator of the thing, but answer in a way that they can't link to the answe
by janoc 5y ago
>Famously even if you know the answer pretty well, say because you were the original creator of the thing, but answer in a way that they can't link to the answer key, you still fail.
Which is the most ridiculous part of it. You are being examined and evaluated over trivia in a subject that the examiner likely has no idea about and where there are only 1-2 possible "correct" answers.
That's like sending a janitor to "source" surgeons by asking questions to people in white coats in a competing hospital about appendectomy.
Yet this is considered effective (and acceptable) somehow ...
- lrem 5y agoWhat alternative would be more efficient and acceptable? A typical team of 6-8 replaces two persons per year. The number of resumes per opening is measured in thousands.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y agoAre you saying a company with the resources of Google, which expects all of its employees to answer trivia and whiteboard answers in interviews - all of that brainpower and money can't invent a better process?
- lrem 5y agoI don't think it's a matter of impossibility. The current process is simply a local optimum. Most practicing software engineers can pass the trivia quiz. Most time wasters can't, unless they googled for the answer key. The result is a pool of candidates that usually can understand a real interview question an engineer will ask. The system works, at the price of being annoying.
- mcv 5y agoIf there's only a single correct answer that the interviewer doesn't understand and an expert might get wrong, it's people who google the answers that have the best chance of passing. I tend to ask open-ended questions. Let them talk about code, and I can probably figure out whether they're full of shit or not. And a real coding challenge proves better whether someone can code than any code question or whiteboard challenge.
- incrudible 5y agoHaving too many resources tends to lead to sub-optimal processes. Just look at the Joint Strike Fighter program.
- radiator 5y agoIf the applicant has graduated from a university, technical school, whatever, then look at the records from their exams there. Also taking into account the average level of the university, technical school in question.
- tnecio 5y agoThat'd be really unfair on people who were busy e.g. gaining actual work experience
- VonGallifrey 5y ago> A typical team of 6-8 replaces two persons per year. How is this fact not seen as a complete failure of hiring practices or company/team leadership?
- bostik 5y agoIn an industry where the median tenure for a SWE is ~2.5 years, that's "doing no worse than the industry average". Turns out upper management rates predictability quite high.
- lrem 5y agoInternal mobility is strongly encouraged. People typically move after promotion, which is expected after 2 years. Some people don't like to move, bringing it down to about 2/year. All working as intended. Then, people moving out tend to want to join new teams, for the career growth opportunity, while you want new hires in established teams. Note: that's anecdotal from a couple years of observation. I haven't looked into any Google-wide statistics (and if I did I would not blabber about them). But I'd be surprised if this was way off.
- marcosdumay 5y agoIf you want to mechanically apply a trivia test, then at least make it multiple choice. You will still be choosing people through a mechanical procedure, what is quite stupid, but it's less stupid than that way.