5 ms·
Sorry, you don't see the intention behind asking people to write code on a whiteboard? Being able to lay out ideas, code, and architecture on a whiteboard is a
by smeyer 12y ago
Sorry, you don't see the intention behind asking people to write code on a whiteboard? Being able to lay out ideas, code, and architecture on a whiteboard is a useful skill in and of itself for communicating with coworkers, let alone using it as a way to get insight into how an interviewee codes.
- kevinmchugh 12y agoIf you want to see how someone codes, ask them for a sample of code that they wrote under realistic circumstances. On a white board in front of strangers who are only there to judge is not a realistic circumstance. A realistic circumstance involves the candidate's preferred development environment and tools. It is not always possible for job seekers to share code they've written in the past, not everyone has time or interest in side projects, and none of our employers allow us to share the code we write for them, but it is always possible to ask people to add a feature to some library you maintain or write a small demo program.
- xpto123 12y agoOne good way would be to make the person come for a week and give them the chance to do a couple of simple initial coding tasks. Something self-contained that you would normally give to a newcomer in the team.
- smeyer 12y ago>come for a week Just who is willing to put up with a week long interview? If someone is searching for a job while they already have one, this is completely untenable.
- xpto123 12y agoYeah that's true. It would only work if you already left the previous job. Then I will switch that to a full day. You do a concrete and well-defined task that the team will review. Not ideal but probably much more useful than the current interview formats commonly used.
- xpto123 12y agoI don't, because its an unrealistic situation that has nothing to do with real work. Its selecting the candidate by its handwriting. Almost as bad is ask to code in ms word to someone used to use an IDE for years.
- xpto123 12y agoIts not useful skill to code in a whiteboard, drawing diagrams maybe? Even that how often does it happen.
- smeyer 12y agoIn my office, whiteboards get used all the time in design discussions and code reviews. It's a very common occurrence.
- xpto123 12y agobut mostly for diagrams, not to write code I suppose? Because in the interview they can ask you to do a 20 lines of code in a whiteboard (happened to me).
- mohamedattahri 12y agoWhiteboards are for thinking collaboratively, not writing code.