3 ms·

These kinds of interviews essentially ask: are you willing to put in the time to be one of the best in the world at what you do? Are you gritty, or wishy-washy

by codex 13y ago

These kinds of interviews essentially ask: are you willing to put in the time to be one of the best in the world at what you do? Are you gritty, or wishy-washy? If the answer is no, don't bother to apply. That's not an unreasonable way to hire, in my opinion.

mc-lovin 13y ago
It's also a matter of attitude. If you're not willing to put up with having to study for what you perceive to be arbitrary interview questions, you probably won't do well with all the other annoying things that can't be changed that big companies tend to have. Which is kind of what many people in this thread are saying when they say they don't want to work for a company stupid enough to use algorithms and data structures questions as their main interview method.
- codex 13y ago
  It's the worst method out there--except for all the other ones. The problem with the "here's my portfolio of work" screening method is that companies generally expect a certain level of productivity (and IQ), and there's no way to tell how long you worked on your portfolio. Did you write that code in two hours or two years? Any code can be made to look good given an infinite amount of time to polish it and test it. Behavioral interviewing questions, on the other hand, just don't work for coders; too easy to bullshit. The arguments against coding interviews seem weak, to me. They appear to be rationalizations for not getting the job--an insult to the ego that must be rectified by bending reality. They essentially boil down to, "I shouldn't have to sweat these details; they're beneath me." But all of the greats sweat the small stuff, almost obsessively, and pay their dues. For the vast majority of mindless coding jobs out there, you don't need to hit the high notes. But when you're moving the state of the art forward--indeed, civilization forward, inventing what has not been invented before--you need complete mastery. If you just want to build stuff, on the other hand, these skills are unnecessary. But that's not engineering. That's construction work, for construction workers.
  - sergiosgc 13y ago
    “Any code can be made to look good given an infinite amount of time to polish it and test it„ Sorry, but no. Some code turds are beyond polishing... All you'll get are polished turds.
michaelt 13y ago
Google's how-to-prepare-for-an-interview e-mails used to say "give yourself at least 2 weeks to review and hone your coding, algorithmic and problem solving skills." That's fine if you only want the unemployed and new graduates - how well do you suppose it works out for people with full time jobs?

by codex 13y ago

mc-lovin 13y ago

It's also a matter of attitude. If you're not willing to put up with having to study for what you perceive to be arbitrary interview questions, you probably won't do well with all the other annoying things that can't be changed that big companies tend to have. Which is kind of what many people in this thread are saying when they say they don't want to work for a company stupid enough to use algorithms and data structures questions as their main interview method.

codex 13y ago
It's the worst method out there--except for all the other ones. The problem with the "here's my portfolio of work" screening method is that companies generally expect a certain level of productivity (and IQ), and there's no way to tell how long you worked on your portfolio. Did you write that code in two hours or two years? Any code can be made to look good given an infinite amount of time to polish it and test it. Behavioral interviewing questions, on the other hand, just don't work for coders; too easy to bullshit. The arguments against coding interviews seem weak, to me. They appear to be rationalizations for not getting the job--an insult to the ego that must be rectified by bending reality. They essentially boil down to, "I shouldn't have to sweat these details; they're beneath me." But all of the greats sweat the small stuff, almost obsessively, and pay their dues. For the vast majority of mindless coding jobs out there, you don't need to hit the high notes. But when you're moving the state of the art forward--indeed, civilization forward, inventing what has not been invented before--you need complete mastery. If you just want to build stuff, on the other hand, these skills are unnecessary. But that's not engineering. That's construction work, for construction workers.
- sergiosgc 13y ago
  “Any code can be made to look good given an infinite amount of time to polish it and test it„ Sorry, but no. Some code turds are beyond polishing... All you'll get are polished turds.

michaelt 13y ago

Google's how-to-prepare-for-an-interview e-mails used to say "give yourself at least 2 weeks to review and hone your coding, algorithmic and problem solving skills." That's fine if you only want the unemployed and new graduates - how well do you suppose it works out for people with full time jobs?