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I've interviewed for top technical companies in Silicon Valley and have gotten job offers. I've never encountered a scenario as dire as the one you paint. Rar

I've interviewed for top technical companies in Silicon Valley and have gotten job offers. I've never encountered a scenario as dire as the one you paint. Rarely do these problems go beyond something that can be reasoned out on one's feet. If people are studying for 50+ hours to pass one of these interviews, then they are doing it wrong. You can't prepare for one of these by studying. I give problems SPECIFICALLY because I don't want the candidate to know how to solve it on the way in. I want to see how they think on their feet. If they solve a problem quickly, I give them a different problem or toss in a curve ball. I don't care about what they know coming in. I care about how they apply general knowledge towards solving problems that they have never seen. I care about how they interact with someone in a brainstorming session. I'm interested to see how they handle these sorts of problems, because they will be dealing with them every day. These aren't exams meant to prove that you've studied hard. They are open problems with dozens of potential solutions. These are meant to see how you think and how you work with others.

geebee 11y ago
Agreed, based on my experience, the experience of interviewing at top technical companies was better than what I've described. Those spots are where I actually kind of enjoyed my interviews. I do think you need to prepare for them, though. Substantial practice and studying made a big difference for me. However, I was very, very rusty on things like dynamic programming and recursion, tree traversal, and so forth. The solution may not be (probably won't be) eliminating the technical interview. Going about it the "right way" (which is an open question) is important, though. What you are doing certainly doesn't sound like a bad experience or process. As for other interviews... yeah, unfortunately, I really do think it gets "that bad" at times. Enough that I can see why people are hesitant to apply for new positions.
- nanolith 11y ago
  Yeah. There can be no doubt that there are plenty of companies that have failed to grasp the point of the technical interview. I've had to coach employees in the past because they often gravitate towards silly questions like "name the 8 primitive types in Java." Who cares? The interview is a two-way street. Not only is the interviewer trying to see if the candidate is a good fit, but the candidate is trying to see if the company is a good fit. Companies that fail to build a good technical interview will lose opportunities to gain good candidates, because these candidates will be turned off by the process. Ultimately, this is all about building a team that not only works well together, but has the potential for growth. That requires a good culture. The interview process should be the candidate's first introduction to that culture.

geebee 11y ago

Agreed, based on my experience, the experience of interviewing at top technical companies was better than what I've described. Those spots are where I actually kind of enjoyed my interviews. I do think you need to prepare for them, though. Substantial practice and studying made a big difference for me. However, I was very, very rusty on things like dynamic programming and recursion, tree traversal, and so forth. The solution may not be (probably won't be) eliminating the technical interview. Going about it the "right way" (which is an open question) is important, though. What you are doing certainly doesn't sound like a bad experience or process. As for other interviews... yeah, unfortunately, I really do think it gets "that bad" at times. Enough that I can see why people are hesitant to apply for new positions.

nanolith 11y ago
Yeah. There can be no doubt that there are plenty of companies that have failed to grasp the point of the technical interview. I've had to coach employees in the past because they often gravitate towards silly questions like "name the 8 primitive types in Java." Who cares? The interview is a two-way street. Not only is the interviewer trying to see if the candidate is a good fit, but the candidate is trying to see if the company is a good fit. Companies that fail to build a good technical interview will lose opportunities to gain good candidates, because these candidates will be turned off by the process. Ultimately, this is all about building a team that not only works well together, but has the potential for growth. That requires a good culture. The interview process should be the candidate's first introduction to that culture.