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Just my $0.02: I'd much rather spend a few weeks refreshing basic data structures and algorithms than doing the "non-algo" challenges I've gotten because they f
by o10449366 5y ago
Just my $0.02: I'd much rather spend a few weeks refreshing basic data structures and algorithms than doing the "non-algo" challenges I've gotten because they feel way less objective than getting questions where there's a correct answer.
Most of the time the alternative to non-algorithm questions is some form of take home assignment that's usually multiple hours long and that you get no feedback on or chance to correct.
For example, I interviewed with a company where they asked me to design a program to parse some CSV data and I was told in the next round I would pair with an engineer to go over an expansion of the code. The parsing was trivial in Python and I submitted my solution with full unit tests and what seemed sensible to me, but it was as useless of an exercise as asking me algorithm questions because on a job I'm almost always going to adjust my coding style and paradigm to the context and needs of the company.
I commented my code as such to explain that if there were different constraints on the data size or API I would make different design choices than the one I submitted, but it didn't matter - I submitted and received a rejection less than 24 hours later and never got to the next round where I would actually walk through the code with an engineer. It was a complete waste of multiple hours of my time trying to produce thoughtfully designed code - I'd much rather bang out a breadth first search in 45 minutes.
- sgerenser 5y agoAt least you got a rejection! I’ve done take home assignments that resulted in nothing but :crickets: in response.
- quasiprime 5y agoOn one hand I like take-home exercises because they are closer to what is a real world job and I guarantee the quality of my deliveries. Up to now I can say I've passed every single take home exercise that was thrown at me. On the other hand... the time I spent on those is abysmal. If I sum it up, I must have spent over a month working on take-home exercises. And even if I passed all of them, in the end no company gave me an offer because I wasn't a cultural fit or something. One company even ghosted me after having me to do a 1-week take-home exercise where I had to build an entire app, front end and back end, that consumed an open data API that had 1 million rows. I still prefer take-home exercises because are more realistic and make more sense than timed, algorithmic exercises. But I wish companies would do their cultural fitness thing _before_ having candidates to spend their time on their code challenges.
- raducu 5y agoThe interview is about interpersonal skills as well, even in the case of "technical" tests. I've given specially crafted answers based on what I could tell about the interviewer and what he wanted to hear. Your solution might have looked simplistic/smug and that's why they rejected you. Was that a good reverse filter for you? For me it wouldn't have been, and I'd have given then the sensible solution in the scope of the interview.