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> Some teams might ask you to do LeetCode, but in my case, I didn’t even have a technical interview I'm a bit surprised and in denial about this. Maybe this w

> Some teams might ask you to do LeetCode, but in my case, I didn’t even have a technical interview I'm a bit surprised and in denial about this. Maybe this was exceptional hiring practice during the COVID craze which has also resulted in most of the recent layoffs? I say that simply because I've personally and of everyone I know, have never encountered an interview that didn't involve that.

pulisse 3y ago
It's not so surprising: The position was just an internship, and the hiring manager was already familiar with the work product of the candidate (the app that drew their attention in the first place).
- didibus 3y ago
  Oh, internship, I missed that, because part of the article is behind some sign-up wall. That detail is so important, should be in the title. Internships are the exception. Good grades, good projects to show, sometimes connections, and a bit of luck is what you need. Then good performance during the internship and being on a team that still has head count to make an offer at the end of it. But internships tend to be ageist. If you're too old, or are past that fresh out of school phase, you probably won't qualify for them.
Apocryphon 3y ago
Apple is an incredibly heterogeneous company and conditions from interview practices to tech stacks vary incredibly from team to team.
- didibus 3y ago
  Yes, but I speak from experience at Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook. Where I have personally worked for, applied too, or know people who did both. To be fair, and somewhat surprisingly, I never have personally or know anyone that applied at Apple. So I do have a gap in first hand experience withe regards to Apple specifically. Still, I would be very surprised if it was so different. And as another commenter responded to me, it wasn't, the position was for an internship, so it makes sense now.
foobiekr 3y ago
Pretty much anyone who interviewed before the 2012 never did stupid code tricks like leetcode interviews. Instead, we asked how things actually worked.
- didibus 3y ago
  That's not true. Cracking the coding interview first came out in 2011 for example. I interviewed prior to 2012 and was asked to do leetcode style questions. So at least in big tech, it's been this way since prior to 2012.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    “Cracking the coding interview” was first published in 2008. One guesses that those techniques arose between 1999 (when google started) and then, but I’m sure it was in place in 2005.
    - didibus 3y ago
      Even earlier than I thought. It be interesting to know when the practice started, by what company and all the history behind it. But it does seem like it's been around a long time at this point.
      - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
        As described in that book, definitely Google. I wouldn’t be surprised if the canonical coding interview as we know it today started at Google, but there is also the infamous technique used by Joel Spolesky, FitBizz or something like that.
        hnfong 3y ago
        I interviewed for Google in 2007. Got asked a bunch of typical coding questions, which some people might label "leetcode style", but they were questions you'd see in 1st/2nd year CS homework assignments. But then, one interviewer asked about a graph theory problem which the first step was to first find all the strongly connected components and group them to one, and then required a couple more non-obvious proofs of specific properties of the graph to get to the solution. Definitely significantly harder than the typical "leetcode hard" questions.

pulisse 3y ago

It's not so surprising: The position was just an internship, and the hiring manager was already familiar with the work product of the candidate (the app that drew their attention in the first place).

didibus 3y ago
Oh, internship, I missed that, because part of the article is behind some sign-up wall. That detail is so important, should be in the title. Internships are the exception. Good grades, good projects to show, sometimes connections, and a bit of luck is what you need. Then good performance during the internship and being on a team that still has head count to make an offer at the end of it. But internships tend to be ageist. If you're too old, or are past that fresh out of school phase, you probably won't qualify for them.

Apocryphon 3y ago

Apple is an incredibly heterogeneous company and conditions from interview practices to tech stacks vary incredibly from team to team.

didibus 3y ago
Yes, but I speak from experience at Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook. Where I have personally worked for, applied too, or know people who did both. To be fair, and somewhat surprisingly, I never have personally or know anyone that applied at Apple. So I do have a gap in first hand experience withe regards to Apple specifically. Still, I would be very surprised if it was so different. And as another commenter responded to me, it wasn't, the position was for an internship, so it makes sense now.

foobiekr 3y ago

Pretty much anyone who interviewed before the 2012 never did stupid code tricks like leetcode interviews. Instead, we asked how things actually worked.

didibus 3y ago
That's not true. Cracking the coding interview first came out in 2011 for example. I interviewed prior to 2012 and was asked to do leetcode style questions. So at least in big tech, it's been this way since prior to 2012.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  “Cracking the coding interview” was first published in 2008. One guesses that those techniques arose between 1999 (when google started) and then, but I’m sure it was in place in 2005.
  - didibus 3y ago
    Even earlier than I thought. It be interesting to know when the practice started, by what company and all the history behind it. But it does seem like it's been around a long time at this point.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      As described in that book, definitely Google. I wouldn’t be surprised if the canonical coding interview as we know it today started at Google, but there is also the infamous technique used by Joel Spolesky, FitBizz or something like that.
      - hnfong 3y ago
        I interviewed for Google in 2007. Got asked a bunch of typical coding questions, which some people might label "leetcode style", but they were questions you'd see in 1st/2nd year CS homework assignments. But then, one interviewer asked about a graph theory problem which the first step was to first find all the strongly connected components and group them to one, and then required a couple more non-obvious proofs of specific properties of the graph to get to the solution. Definitely significantly harder than the typical "leetcode hard" questions.