4 ms·

Trick questions (although not known as such at the time) are the basis of most of the work we do? XY problem is a thing for a reason, and I cannot count the num

by hirsin 2y ago

Trick questions (although not known as such at the time) are the basis of most of the work we do? XY problem is a thing for a reason, and I cannot count the number of times my teams and I have ratholed on something complex only to realize we were solving for the wrong problem, i.e. A trick question. As a sibling puts it though, it's a matter of level. Senior/staff and above? Yeah, that's mostly what you do. Lower than that, then you should be able to mostly trust those upper folks to have seen through the trick.

palata 2y ago
> are the basis of most of the work we do? I don't know about you, but in my work, I always have more than 3 seconds to find a solution. I can slowly think about the problem, sleep on it, read about it, try stuff, think about it while running, etc. I usually do at least some of those for new problems. Then of course there is a bunch of stuff that is not challenging and for which I can start coding right away. In an interview, those trick questions will just show you who already has experience with the problem you mentioned and who doesn't. It doesn't say at all (IMO) how good the interviewee is at tackling challenging problem. The question then is: do you want to hire someone who is good at solving challenging problems, or someone who already knows how to solve the one problem you are hiring them for?
- theamk 2y ago
  If the interviewer expects you to answer entire design question in 3 seconds, that interview is pretty broken. Those questions should take longish time (minutes to tens of minutes), and should let candidate showcase their thought process.
  - palata 2y ago
    I meant that the interviewer expects you to start answering after 3 seconds. Of course you can elaborate over (tens of) minutes. But that's very far from actual work, where you have time to think before you start solving a problem. You may say "yeah but you just have to think out loud, that's what the interviewer wants". But again that's not how I work. If the interviewer wants to see me design a system, they should watch me read documentation for hours, then think about it while running, and read again, draw a quick thing, etc.

by hirsin 2y ago

palata 2y ago

> are the basis of most of the work we do? I don't know about you, but in my work, I always have more than 3 seconds to find a solution. I can slowly think about the problem, sleep on it, read about it, try stuff, think about it while running, etc. I usually do at least some of those for new problems. Then of course there is a bunch of stuff that is not challenging and for which I can start coding right away. In an interview, those trick questions will just show you who already has experience with the problem you mentioned and who doesn't. It doesn't say at all (IMO) how good the interviewee is at tackling challenging problem. The question then is: do you want to hire someone who is good at solving challenging problems, or someone who already knows how to solve the one problem you are hiring them for?

theamk 2y ago
If the interviewer expects you to answer entire design question in 3 seconds, that interview is pretty broken. Those questions should take longish time (minutes to tens of minutes), and should let candidate showcase their thought process.
- palata 2y ago
  I meant that the interviewer expects you to start answering after 3 seconds. Of course you can elaborate over (tens of) minutes. But that's very far from actual work, where you have time to think before you start solving a problem. You may say "yeah but you just have to think out loud, that's what the interviewer wants". But again that's not how I work. If the interviewer wants to see me design a system, they should watch me read documentation for hours, then think about it while running, and read again, draw a quick thing, etc.