4 ms·

Does honesty go against you in interviews these days? I'm getting old.

by kitd 5y ago

weatherlite 5y ago
It does in this case yes, how would you see it as an advantage? You have to pass X number of algo/data structure, your being honest will only make them find a different question. If you get the different question wrong guess what you are out. It is what it is.
- bornfreddy 5y ago
  If the hiring process is set to punish honesty, then maybe by being honest you avoid working at places with such a process and consequently with the people who passed it? Note that I'm not saying that FAANGs are like that (I have no opinion on that).
  - weatherlite 5y ago
    It's not punished but it's not massively rewarded either
- kitd 5y ago
  how would you see it as an advantage? How would I see presenting myself as a trustworthy employee who won't pull the wool over your eyes? Pretty favourably tbh.
  - weatherlite 5y ago
    I am not denying honesty won't hurt, and probably would help you. But again, the interviewer is going to have to get a replacement question...you have a reduced chance of solving it correctly.
- jawilson2 5y ago
  I have a question that I've been asking for years that is somewhat domain-specific, but should be answerable by anyone who knows what a set/map are. About 20% of people get past "stage 1" within 5 minutes, usually people with finance/trading experience, and some will say "oh, I implemented something just like this a few years ago." Some people take 30 minutes and do ok, and some never finish. When someone tells me they have had this problem before, I tell them it should be really easy for them then, and we can move on to more interesting things! For those that DO get past stage one, it is a boss with multiple health bars. We talk about what improvements could be made, then what improvements on THOSE improvements. We keep digging until we are out of ideas. The best candidates are the ones that stump me, or introduce new ideas. I present this problem as a pair problem solving challenge, so there is no one right answer, and has a lot of back and forth.

Does honesty go against you in interviews these days? I'm getting old.

by kitd 5y ago

Does honesty go against you in interviews these days? I'm getting old.

It does in this case yes, how would you see it as an advantage? You have to pass X number of algo/data structure, your being honest will only make them find a different question. If you get the different question wrong guess what you are out. It is what it is.

bornfreddy 5y ago
If the hiring process is set to punish honesty, then maybe by being honest you avoid working at places with such a process and consequently with the people who passed it? Note that I'm not saying that FAANGs are like that (I have no opinion on that).
- weatherlite 5y ago
  It's not punished but it's not massively rewarded either
kitd 5y ago
how would you see it as an advantage? How would I see presenting myself as a trustworthy employee who won't pull the wool over your eyes? Pretty favourably tbh.
- weatherlite 5y ago
  I am not denying honesty won't hurt, and probably would help you. But again, the interviewer is going to have to get a replacement question...you have a reduced chance of solving it correctly.
jawilson2 5y ago
I have a question that I've been asking for years that is somewhat domain-specific, but should be answerable by anyone who knows what a set/map are. About 20% of people get past "stage 1" within 5 minutes, usually people with finance/trading experience, and some will say "oh, I implemented something just like this a few years ago." Some people take 30 minutes and do ok, and some never finish. When someone tells me they have had this problem before, I tell them it should be really easy for them then, and we can move on to more interesting things! For those that DO get past stage one, it is a boss with multiple health bars. We talk about what improvements could be made, then what improvements on THOSE improvements. We keep digging until we are out of ideas. The best candidates are the ones that stump me, or introduce new ideas. I present this problem as a pair problem solving challenge, so there is no one right answer, and has a lot of back and forth.