Here's a story. I interviewed for Amazon a while back, online whiteboard (laptop + phone interview). They asked me to code up some esoteric binary tree algorith

Here's a story. I interviewed for Amazon a while back, online whiteboard (laptop + phone interview). They asked me to code up some esoteric binary tree algorithm that I definitely didn't remember. In "real life" I would do the responsible thing and google/wikipedia this algorithm, re-teach myself how it works, etc. But nope, gotta do it on the spot. Alright sure - open up a new tab (while on the phone), google it, and proceed to rewrite someone's StackOverflow answer, explaining it along the way. Now that I believe takes skill, especially since you gotta fake out the interviewer and make your discovery process seem "realistic". Suffice to say, I decided not to follow up with them for the next interview. If this is what they look for in their workforce, go hire kids who waste their time memorizing "Cracking the Coding Interview". I'd rather write useful software with my time, thank you very much.