5 ms·

My approach to interviews over the past decade has been as follows: 1. My preparation for an interview involves researching the company, not technical matters.

My approach to interviews over the past decade has been as follows: 1. My preparation for an interview involves researching the company, not technical matters. I don't brush up on coding interview questions. I've never done leetcode. 2. If I find the interview questions to be ridiculously off-topic (such as silly algorithm questions), I end the interview. You're not the kind of company I want to work with. 3. If I find the questions to be valid, but I can't answer them, then I'm not the right candidate for the job (hopefully I'd already have found this out during the research phase, but we all make mistakes). 4. If we can get past all this gatekeeping to the actual important topic if what BUSINESS issues they're trying to solve, and how I can fit into this process, then we've got a real interview and I'm interested. So far I haven't been out of work more than a few months.

gardenhedge 2y ago
How do you end the interview? To me it seems like that might be awkward.
- theideaofcoffee 2y ago
  I'm not op, but I have had to do this a few times because of the same reasons. You pause, take a breath and kindly say "thank you for the opportunity, but at this time I don't think this is the right fit" and leave it at that. No need to embellish, or add extraneous detail or think you're being awkward because they will do the same thing if they don't want to go further in the process with you. It's just business, treat it as such.
  - josephg 2y ago
    If I’m considering ending the interview, I’ll instead critique it on the spot. It’s more interesting for everyone. If they pass me over, that’s fine - I’m already considering walking out anyway. “Hey, can I stop you there for a minute? This interview style isn’t really working for me to the point that I’m considering cutting the interview short and heading out. Here’s why …” - and then have that conversation. Some people will take that badly - and that’s fine. But I have no idea what will happen next after saying something like that. And that makes it an interesting direction to take it.
- epolanski 2y ago
  Not OP, but I do this too. I generally ask the purpose of the question. Sometimes there are valid reasons for why they look at very strong algorithm skills and then I simply admit it's not really my cup of tea nor my passion. Sometimes they answer variations of "it's standard/it's how we do it" so then I propose whether we would like to code something more similar to what the daily job would be to which they generally play along, even happily. But if some don't I then say that I don't see a fit. Might be awkward but...who cares? I don't, they won't after 5 seconds the interview's over either.
xandrius 2y ago
We should be a union of people who won't take this kind of bs. I have the same exact procedure as I think interviews like that show a complete lack of understanding of what makes a developer great in a company, and let me tell you, solving CodeSignal/Leetcode unpaid for hours isn't that.
iamleppert 2y ago
I have done a few of these types of interviews. It's incredibly awkward. At one place, I was even issued a laptop, a badge and added to the Github organization. I mean, I guess? But it felt like I was starting work, not doing an interview. People there also didn't know if I was a new employee or who I was when I went to lunch and get snacks. I spent more time getting my local dev up and running than actually doing the task I was assigned, which they could have gathered the same information about me in a 30 minute interview. If you can't determine from a few interviews you want to hire me or not, it's a no from me. It's a HUGE red flag if an employer can't seem to make up their mind so they have to resort to awkward "test drives" like this. If you have a job at the time already, it also makes it almost impossible to pull off without using PTO. Add all these things together and you really don't want to work for a company who is very inexperienced in hiring such that they resort to tests like these. It shows they don't know how to interview, are not efficient with your time (and probably their time also), and a high chance they are non-technical.
quantum_state 2y ago
It’s the right and honest way to go about it: good fit from perspectives of both sides … that’s the original purpose of interviews.
hintymad 2y ago
The past decade is the golden age for software developers, so we had lots of options. I was wondering if we will still have so much freedom as the market has increasingly become the buyer's one.
- belmarca 2y ago
  I haven't been interviewing full-time, but these past couple of years I have had barely any success. Currently getting insta-refused even for jobs with lower skill requirements. I've heard similar from friends and colleagues. There's a bootstrap issue as well. A developer with a brand name on their resume is much more desirable than one without, even for equal skill and experience.
  - k4rli 2y ago
    Please don't post such statements without location. This is completely irrelevant without knowing the country at least.

gardenhedge 2y ago

How do you end the interview? To me it seems like that might be awkward.

theideaofcoffee 2y ago
I'm not op, but I have had to do this a few times because of the same reasons. You pause, take a breath and kindly say "thank you for the opportunity, but at this time I don't think this is the right fit" and leave it at that. No need to embellish, or add extraneous detail or think you're being awkward because they will do the same thing if they don't want to go further in the process with you. It's just business, treat it as such.
- josephg 2y ago
  If I’m considering ending the interview, I’ll instead critique it on the spot. It’s more interesting for everyone. If they pass me over, that’s fine - I’m already considering walking out anyway. “Hey, can I stop you there for a minute? This interview style isn’t really working for me to the point that I’m considering cutting the interview short and heading out. Here’s why …” - and then have that conversation. Some people will take that badly - and that’s fine. But I have no idea what will happen next after saying something like that. And that makes it an interesting direction to take it.
epolanski 2y ago
Not OP, but I do this too. I generally ask the purpose of the question. Sometimes there are valid reasons for why they look at very strong algorithm skills and then I simply admit it's not really my cup of tea nor my passion. Sometimes they answer variations of "it's standard/it's how we do it" so then I propose whether we would like to code something more similar to what the daily job would be to which they generally play along, even happily. But if some don't I then say that I don't see a fit. Might be awkward but...who cares? I don't, they won't after 5 seconds the interview's over either.

xandrius 2y ago

We should be a union of people who won't take this kind of bs. I have the same exact procedure as I think interviews like that show a complete lack of understanding of what makes a developer great in a company, and let me tell you, solving CodeSignal/Leetcode unpaid for hours isn't that.

iamleppert 2y ago

I have done a few of these types of interviews. It's incredibly awkward. At one place, I was even issued a laptop, a badge and added to the Github organization. I mean, I guess? But it felt like I was starting work, not doing an interview. People there also didn't know if I was a new employee or who I was when I went to lunch and get snacks. I spent more time getting my local dev up and running than actually doing the task I was assigned, which they could have gathered the same information about me in a 30 minute interview. If you can't determine from a few interviews you want to hire me or not, it's a no from me. It's a HUGE red flag if an employer can't seem to make up their mind so they have to resort to awkward "test drives" like this. If you have a job at the time already, it also makes it almost impossible to pull off without using PTO. Add all these things together and you really don't want to work for a company who is very inexperienced in hiring such that they resort to tests like these. It shows they don't know how to interview, are not efficient with your time (and probably their time also), and a high chance they are non-technical.

quantum_state 2y ago

It’s the right and honest way to go about it: good fit from perspectives of both sides … that’s the original purpose of interviews.

hintymad 2y ago

The past decade is the golden age for software developers, so we had lots of options. I was wondering if we will still have so much freedom as the market has increasingly become the buyer's one.

belmarca 2y ago
I haven't been interviewing full-time, but these past couple of years I have had barely any success. Currently getting insta-refused even for jobs with lower skill requirements. I've heard similar from friends and colleagues. There's a bootstrap issue as well. A developer with a brand name on their resume is much more desirable than one without, even for equal skill and experience.
- k4rli 2y ago
  Please don't post such statements without location. This is completely irrelevant without knowing the country at least.