4 ms·

Practice On my first real software interview, even though I got 90% of the answers correct, I didn't get an offer. I didn't ask specific enough questions, cons

by vdnkh 11y ago

Practice On my first real software interview, even though I got 90% of the answers correct, I didn't get an offer. I didn't ask specific enough questions, constrain the problem, or quantify my reasoning to satisfaction. And the funny thing is I knew I needed to do that. I had been preparing a while before the interview, and knew I had to do everything stated in this article, but it just went out the window. And I'm very good at doing this on the job. But at the whiteboard I didn't even realize I wasn't really explaining myself. I knew the answer (more or less) and just blurted it out, happy to be correct. But process is much more important. And it takes discipline to slow down and explain yourself. Now when I'm practicing, I talk to myself while writing on the whiteboard, and I have a little script I follow in the beginning of the problem that ensures I spell out my assumptions, the input/output, and the expected behavior of the algorithm. When I get myself in this mode of breaking down the problem, I find questions just roll off the top of my head.

facepalm 11y ago
I dunno - couldn't the interviewer just ask if they want those things from you?
- vdnkh 11y ago
  You're expected to ask them. It's a minefield, really. But it's really not far off what I do on my job. When I get a spec I always ask questions like that. It's just hard to come up with scenarios when you've been given an isolated algorithm.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
r00fus 11y ago
Wow, where were you interviewing? Really what you're describing sounds like a fault of the interviewer. If I were in his/her shoes, I'd have been excited that you drove towards an answer, and now changed the scenario (requirements shift!) and asked you to follow along. The idea of an interview as a one-way communication is not useful. It has to be two-way, and that requires a good interviewer (or interview process).
- vdnkh 11y ago
  I'd rather not say, but they're a moderately trendy mid-sized business marketing company located in NYC. I thought I nailed that interview. The first question I got rather handily; I got the first part off the bat, the second part I needed a small hint. Nothing major. The second guy was what probably did me in; I interrupted his lunch break and he didn't seem thrilled about that. I got the first part of his question easily, but the second part he was expecting an answer with tries that I couldn't get. I was on the right track though. The third interviewer asked me question about a system their team designed. He told me that he deliberately left things out I needed to ask. I got a bunch of them, and ended up designing the exact same system his team did, down to the technologies used. I floundered with the second guy, and it cost me. Oh well. If you're wondering what their explanation was, it was that I wasn't "technical" enough. Whatever that means.

by vdnkh 11y ago

facepalm 11y ago

I dunno - couldn't the interviewer just ask if they want those things from you?

vdnkh 11y ago
You're expected to ask them. It's a minefield, really. But it's really not far off what I do on my job. When I get a spec I always ask questions like that. It's just hard to come up with scenarios when you've been given an isolated algorithm.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

r00fus 11y ago

Wow, where were you interviewing? Really what you're describing sounds like a fault of the interviewer. If I were in his/her shoes, I'd have been excited that you drove towards an answer, and now changed the scenario (requirements shift!) and asked you to follow along. The idea of an interview as a one-way communication is not useful. It has to be two-way, and that requires a good interviewer (or interview process).

vdnkh 11y ago
I'd rather not say, but they're a moderately trendy mid-sized business marketing company located in NYC. I thought I nailed that interview. The first question I got rather handily; I got the first part off the bat, the second part I needed a small hint. Nothing major. The second guy was what probably did me in; I interrupted his lunch break and he didn't seem thrilled about that. I got the first part of his question easily, but the second part he was expecting an answer with tries that I couldn't get. I was on the right track though. The third interviewer asked me question about a system their team designed. He told me that he deliberately left things out I needed to ask. I got a bunch of them, and ended up designing the exact same system his team did, down to the technologies used. I floundered with the second guy, and it cost me. Oh well. If you're wondering what their explanation was, it was that I wasn't "technical" enough. Whatever that means.