2 ms·

There is no value in the way technical interviews are being done - which is just a hazing ritual and what one remembers by practicing or rote memorization. If I

by sherdil2022 2y ago

There is no value in the way technical interviews are being done - which is just a hazing ritual and what one remembers by practicing or rote memorization. If I don’t know how to center text or figure out how much rain water can be trapped using dynamic peogramming - doesn’t mean that I can’t design or architect a complex real-world system. Plus the way these tech interviews are done, it is not inclusive for those who feel like fish out of water die to panic attacks and/or anxiety.

michael_mroczka 2y ago
I can see how you’d get to that conclusion, but I don’t agree with this take. “No value” is particularly strong wording. This is a fairly simple, cheap, and fast process for screening people at scale (think “hundreds per week”), I agree that startups mostly shouldn’t rely on this type of interview (and most don’t from what I can gather). None of us authors are advocating exclusively for this interview type. Designing real-world systems is great, which is why most big tech companies have system design rounds in their processes (except for new grad interviews). Finally, speaking as someone with diagnosed severe anxiety and a specific disorder that causes frequent panic attacks, I completely empathize with being a “fish out of water” in this process. If it helps, you should know that most big tech companies have accommodations for such things depending on your needs (extra time, allowance of service animals in the interview room, etc). I’m not sure any interview process will be anxiety-free (it isn’t for “normal” people either), but through time and effort I have passed Google, Meta, Amazon, and other big tech interviews that have this process. In my experience, these are hindrances to be addressed but not immovable blockers to passing an interview.

2 ms·

There is no value in the way technical interviews are being done - which is just a hazing ritual and what one remembers by practicing or rote memorization. If I

by sherdil2022 2y ago

michael_mroczka 2y ago
I can see how you’d get to that conclusion, but I don’t agree with this take. “No value” is particularly strong wording. This is a fairly simple, cheap, and fast process for screening people at scale (think “hundreds per week”), I agree that startups mostly shouldn’t rely on this type of interview (and most don’t from what I can gather). None of us authors are advocating exclusively for this interview type. Designing real-world systems is great, which is why most big tech companies have system design rounds in their processes (except for new grad interviews). Finally, speaking as someone with diagnosed severe anxiety and a specific disorder that causes frequent panic attacks, I completely empathize with being a “fish out of water” in this process. If it helps, you should know that most big tech companies have accommodations for such things depending on your needs (extra time, allowance of service animals in the interview room, etc). I’m not sure any interview process will be anxiety-free (it isn’t for “normal” people either), but through time and effort I have passed Google, Meta, Amazon, and other big tech interviews that have this process. In my experience, these are hindrances to be addressed but not immovable blockers to passing an interview.