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I'm in the software business for over 20 years. Currently working as an architect, but still do a lot of coding daily. I believe I have a pretty good grasp on c

I'm in the software business for over 20 years. Currently working as an architect, but still do a lot of coding daily. I believe I have a pretty good grasp on computer science concepts. Know several programming languages very well. Keep myself up to date with the latest trends. I couldn't pass a technical interview. At some point in life I gave up. I realized the only way I can get a good job is via somebody in the company knowing me, ideally them reaching out to me to work for them. For the jobs, where I passed the technical interviews, I quit fairly quickly, as they were horrible jobs. So when doing interviews myself, I just chat with them about the project we have and things they mentioned on their CV. You can easily detect if they are honest in their CV and their level of competence without actually asking too many technical questions, just by having them talk about the stuff on their CV.

lumost 4y ago
I'll give my 2 cents on why larger firms strongly emphasize these white boarding skills. In an organization of ~500+ highly paid and (hopefully) competent engineers - there is a very high premium on outward signs of technical competence. If a fresh college grad isn't quite sure that their "senior" is really "senior" - or worse a neighboring manager becomes displeased, then there is a problem. Similarly in very large code bases with heavy testing and performance requirements, iteration times can become slow... resulting in a stronger need for planning, design, debate etc. The white board technical interview effectively tests that you can communicate competently on an arbitrary coding/design topic. An inability to do this can be a death sentence in a large, interconnected engineering organization.
- lukaslalinsky 4y ago
  Yep, that's the thing. I'm bad at on-the-spot communication. My mental process is too complicated and during the pauses when it's happening, I show all aspects of an incompetent person. If I have the time to think/prepare for a particular topic, you get a very difference experience. But yeah, for large companies, having a quick brain and being able to talk about anything pretty much immediately is a very useful skill.
- _jdzr 4y ago
  | interconnect engineering organization Have you worked at FAANG before? Their "interconnectedness" is near non-existent. I'd agree if you'd say that some teams are well connected. I'd also agree if you mentioned that these teams are almost always senior+ level engineers. These are not easy teams to join... In my experience they're almost impossible to join without connections. I think @lukaslalinsky has a much better opinion on this. That being said I think your point is valid for companies which do have pronounced non-siloing culture... But, in my experience, those companies haven't given me white boarding or LC style interview questions ;-).
  - Jensson 4y ago
    Google and Facebook doesn't silo their teams, and they have harder algorithmic interviews than Amazon or Apple (although Amazon and Apple focus more on other skills).
    - _jdzr 4y ago
      I have a close friend who's at Google and disagrees with this.
  - lumost 4y ago
    I have, and the interconnectedness is strong. Even a junior engineer's work is visible to a group of 30-100 people typically. If someone is missing what's interpreted as "Basics" then it will become apparent quickly. Basics here could mean "putting out sloppy CRs/Designs", not communicating timelines well, or when problems arise - not addressing them in a way that everyone else on the team thinks is correct. Bear in mind that most FAANGs are also built on 20-30 years of fast paced technical development. There are services built on top of internal frameworks, built on top of internal frameworks that sometimes haven't been maintained in 5-10 years. Searching for the answer is many times impossible.
    - _jdzr 4y ago
      Glad you've had a positive experience with it. All I'm arguing is it's much less likely that an entire company has this versus a particular org or even a specific set of teams. I have many friends at FAANG and many of them would disagree with your take on them being interconnected and definitely lean more toward it being team dependent. This also is similar to my experience.
- oaiey 4y ago
  Totally Agree. It is also very insightful for the recruiter and vey fair (time wise compared to take-home assignments) to the candidate.

lumost 4y ago

I'll give my 2 cents on why larger firms strongly emphasize these white boarding skills. In an organization of ~500+ highly paid and (hopefully) competent engineers - there is a very high premium on outward signs of technical competence. If a fresh college grad isn't quite sure that their "senior" is really "senior" - or worse a neighboring manager becomes displeased, then there is a problem. Similarly in very large code bases with heavy testing and performance requirements, iteration times can become slow... resulting in a stronger need for planning, design, debate etc. The white board technical interview effectively tests that you can communicate competently on an arbitrary coding/design topic. An inability to do this can be a death sentence in a large, interconnected engineering organization.

lukaslalinsky 4y ago
Yep, that's the thing. I'm bad at on-the-spot communication. My mental process is too complicated and during the pauses when it's happening, I show all aspects of an incompetent person. If I have the time to think/prepare for a particular topic, you get a very difference experience. But yeah, for large companies, having a quick brain and being able to talk about anything pretty much immediately is a very useful skill.
_jdzr 4y ago
| interconnect engineering organization Have you worked at FAANG before? Their "interconnectedness" is near non-existent. I'd agree if you'd say that some teams are well connected. I'd also agree if you mentioned that these teams are almost always senior+ level engineers. These are not easy teams to join... In my experience they're almost impossible to join without connections. I think @lukaslalinsky has a much better opinion on this. That being said I think your point is valid for companies which do have pronounced non-siloing culture... But, in my experience, those companies haven't given me white boarding or LC style interview questions ;-).
- Jensson 4y ago
  Google and Facebook doesn't silo their teams, and they have harder algorithmic interviews than Amazon or Apple (although Amazon and Apple focus more on other skills).
  - _jdzr 4y ago
    I have a close friend who's at Google and disagrees with this.
- lumost 4y ago
  I have, and the interconnectedness is strong. Even a junior engineer's work is visible to a group of 30-100 people typically. If someone is missing what's interpreted as "Basics" then it will become apparent quickly. Basics here could mean "putting out sloppy CRs/Designs", not communicating timelines well, or when problems arise - not addressing them in a way that everyone else on the team thinks is correct. Bear in mind that most FAANGs are also built on 20-30 years of fast paced technical development. There are services built on top of internal frameworks, built on top of internal frameworks that sometimes haven't been maintained in 5-10 years. Searching for the answer is many times impossible.
  - _jdzr 4y ago
    Glad you've had a positive experience with it. All I'm arguing is it's much less likely that an entire company has this versus a particular org or even a specific set of teams. I have many friends at FAANG and many of them would disagree with your take on them being interconnected and definitely lean more toward it being team dependent. This also is similar to my experience.
oaiey 4y ago
Totally Agree. It is also very insightful for the recruiter and vey fair (time wise compared to take-home assignments) to the candidate.