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Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

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Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#51

Post by hexis »

superchink wrote: post #34
DanAtC wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice, make your problem the interviewee's problem and waste more of everyone's time.

ideally things go perfectly all the time, but people sometimes make mistakes. what would you rather they do? pass on the candidate because they didn’t get enough data to support a hire? or give them more chances to demonstrate their capabilities?

I think the candidate should pass on the company. It's always good to provide a cost for their mistake. There is no job worth getting jerked around before they even start paying you.

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#52

Post by taw1516 »

I am very comfortable with algorithmic and system design questions. However, what I am struggling with is articulating past experiences. Throughout my last 5 years at my previous employer, I didn't jot down in my personal notes any accomplishments or technical designs. And my memory is so rusty now that I have a hard time reciting them. I understand this is squarely my fault. Wondering if you have any advice on approaching my next job? (senior / manager role)

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#53

Post by brandall10 »

superchink wrote: post #34
DanAtC wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice, make your problem the interviewee's problem and waste more of everyone's time.

ideally things go perfectly all the time, but people sometimes make mistakes. what would you rather they do? pass on the candidate because they didn’t get enough data to support a hire? or give them more chances to demonstrate their capabilities?

They should do the right thing and if the candidate hit the bar on what was asked, however repetitive, they should get the offer.

As to "not enough data"... how exactly? If there is a list of things to check off that is to be distributed amongst the interviewing team, there should never be an issue. If people are winging it and just happen to ask repetitive questions then everyone asked what they needed to know and signal should be there.

It sounds like Google's process is fundamentally buggy. They should fix that.

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#54

Post by lesuorac »

eieio wrote: post #21
vitus wrote: post #11

Do note that these interview slates will vary depending on level of candidate experience. At Google, we generally do not ask system design interviews of new grads / entry-level candidates. It's pretty rare for mid-level candidates (L4), and expected for senior and up (L5+). Also, there are situations where candidates may have an extra interview added to their slate. One common reason for this: the hiring committee do…

> One common reason for this: the hiring committee doesn't have enough signal because the interviewers don't coordinate appropriately, and end up asking heavily overlapping questions (e.g. 3 questions that basically reduce to "use DFS"). I'm curious - how much up-front coordination is mandated? Plenty of the interview loops I've done agree in advance to the exact set of questions we'll ask during an onsite specifical…

> I'm curious - how much up-front coordination is mandated?

None is mandated.

It's incredibly rare (maybe 5%) to also be requested to put your question into a spreadsheet (that all the interviewers can see) to avoid any overlap pre-interview. Post-interview you have to submit what question you asked into the official (not a spreadsheet) tool.

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#55

Post by lesuorac »

mattnewton wrote: post #25
teaearlgraycold wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Google interview has degraded in the last few years. When I interviewed 6 years ago as a fresh grad they flew me out to Seattle. Now I don’t believe you can go in person even if you want to on your own dime - at least not for the level I interviewed at when I got in a couple years ago (this was after Google’s supposed return-to-office).

Does a couple years ago = early 2021 during the pandemic?

Kinda of; that's why it changed but it never changed back.

I'm kind of surprised that its impossible to do it locally at all. I know one time I was interviewing at FaceBook and I asked to do the phone screen in-person and they let me (I lived near the office).

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#56

Post by krooj »

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #36

To reiterate: Ignore all study materials. Go to leetcode.com and literally memorize the most common questions for the company you are interviewing at. This is what your competition is doing. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. Just memorize it Do the same thing for system design. Memorize the answers word for word. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. The highest paid tech jobs go to candidates that regurgitate perfect answers to inter…

If you do this and I am the one interviewing you, I will fail you. I will figure out what you actually do/don't know and if you are incapable of performing at the applied level, I will fail you.

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#57

Post by ldjkfkdsjnv »

krooj wrote: post #56
ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #36

To reiterate: Ignore all study materials. Go to leetcode.com and literally memorize the most common questions for the company you are interviewing at. This is what your competition is doing. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. Just memorize it Do the same thing for system design. Memorize the answers word for word. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. The highest paid tech jobs go to candidates that regurgitate perfect answers to inter…

If you do this and I am the one interviewing you, I will fail you. I will figure out what you actually do/don't know and if you are incapable of performing at the applied level, I will fail you.

Thats fine, but the majority of engineers at Meta/Google will be impressed

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#58

Post by vjerancrnjak »

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #36

To reiterate: Ignore all study materials. Go to leetcode.com and literally memorize the most common questions for the company you are interviewing at. This is what your competition is doing. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. Just memorize it Do the same thing for system design. Memorize the answers word for word. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. The highest paid tech jobs go to candidates that regurgitate perfect answers to inter…

I recently stumbled upon an interviewer that asks "what will happen to this algorithm if I delete these 2 lines of code?" (the interviewee is the author) and deletes happen on simple if-else condition that maintains useful invariants and the interviewer said it eliminates most candidates.

I guess that's how memorization works.

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#59

Post by khzw8yyy »

CalRobert wrote: post #38
ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #36

To reiterate: Ignore all study materials. Go to leetcode.com and literally memorize the most common questions for the company you are interviewing at. This is what your competition is doing. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. Just memorize it Do the same thing for system design. Memorize the answers word for word. DO NOT LEARN THE MATERIAL. The highest paid tech jobs go to candidates that regurgitate perfect answers to inter…

This is true. And it's a bit frustrating because I have to take care of two young children when I'm off work, not grind leetcode. But maybe that's the point.

This is absolutely the point. All these interviews are checking is "does this person spend all of their free time on a task we assign to them, no matter how boring". Or, "do they go above and beyond".

Re: Show HN: Onsites.fyi - Curated Big Tech Interview Experiences

#60

Post by [deleted] »

jackblemming wrote: post #31

So it looks like all big tech interview pipelines are more or the less the same? Fascinating and also probably indicative of something weird. If you are building a hiring pipeline, please do NOT copy this awful approach. These companies can get away with it due to their prestige, top percentage compensation, and need to easily filter hundreds of thousands of applicants. You should instead treat your applicants like h…

[deleted]
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