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The whiteboard interview attempts to be used as a way to figure out a developers thought flow, however it is a flawed system.... Many programmers are introvert

The whiteboard interview attempts to be used as a way to figure out a developers thought flow, however it is a flawed system.... Many programmers are introverted and not always the best at speaking in front of people they just met, most people aren't. The skill the whiteboard is checking is not the skill that will be used on the job, it is overly focused on an extroverted personality and how well this developer can present to new people. An introverted developer might mess up in an interview but be making the best designs, products and presentations to the team later when the team is known. The true test is in the trenches and no test in an interview by a select few people in the company can ever tell product delivery and developer skill, the interview steps are just some litmus tests. Companies want the best and brightest but many are getting cut off at the pass from a whiteboard. Is the interview really where we determine who is the best, not the work? What costs more, losing a good developer to an interview process or letting someone in you determine isn't a good fit 1-2 months in on a small project.

innocentoldguy 11y ago
I was asked to write code to solve this problem during an interview once: "You are driving at a constant speed. After a while, you pass a mile marker with a two-digit number on it. One hour later, you pass another mile marker with the same two numbers on it, but in reverse order. In another hour, you pass a third mile marker with the same two digits separated by a zero. How many miles per hour are you traveling and what numbers were on each of the mile markers?" When I started working at the company, what was the first thing they had me do? Convert all the tabs in their Ruby source files into spaces. That right there is the problem with whiteboard questions.

innocentoldguy 11y ago

I was asked to write code to solve this problem during an interview once: "You are driving at a constant speed. After a while, you pass a mile marker with a two-digit number on it. One hour later, you pass another mile marker with the same two numbers on it, but in reverse order. In another hour, you pass a third mile marker with the same two digits separated by a zero. How many miles per hour are you traveling and what numbers were on each of the mile markers?" When I started working at the company, what was the first thing they had me do? Convert all the tabs in their Ruby source files into spaces. That right there is the problem with whiteboard questions.