Amazon software engineer interview • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#141

Post by optimusclimb » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:34 AM UTC

soham wrote: post #77

geoelectric wrote: post #40

I'm all for interview prep, but this sounds like a fairly standard tech company loop. I usually take a few days to brush up on algorithms and structures for the first one I do in a batch, and have some canned answers for the personal questions, but otherwise go in with what I know. Some of that's experience now, but I don't remember any point in my career where I'd have done something this extensive. I hope the poste…

Interesting and valid points. I have some things to add. Disclaimer first: I'm a technical interview coach. We run http://InterviewKickstart.com , which provides structured and intense group programs for early and mid-career software engineers, with the sole purpose of preparing for technical interviews. In an ideal world, brushing up is all what it should take before going into interviews. Practicing Software Engine…

> e.g. If they ask you to merge sorted arrays and you don't know that Heap sort is the best way to do it, you've lost the interview no matter how clear your thought process is. Not because the interviewer is not watchful. But because your competition has solved it with Heap Sort. So even if both of you demonstrated a clear thought process, the other person gets the job, because s/he is more prepared.

Sadly, there's a ton of very qualified software engineers that make up this "competition" that you speak of, and still lose. Meanwhile, there's another group of people that realize how ridiculous proving yourself in that way every few years throughout the course of one's career is, become sales engineers, and make more money. They also don't have to have a whiteboard pissing contest anymore over such things.

I really wonder if lawyers who have been practicing for 7 years, or consultants from the Bain's and McKinseys of the world get asked questions about classes they took in junior year of undergrad when they interview.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#142

Post by jpgvm » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:39 AM UTC

It still seems silly that a working software engineer would need to take time out to practice stuff they don't generally use in their actual work (which they will probably continue doing when hired).

Knowledge of algorithms and datastructures is useful, perhaps essential in some fields but definitely not all - or even most. Even then just understanding the tradeoffs is probably enough.

Unless I'm interviewing someone for something like a database product I am not going to drill them on LSM trees/B+ trees/Fractal trees.

I'm not going to bust a dudes balls over not knowing what a priority heap is if after I explain it he can have a decent conversation about where it might be useful.

These sorts of interviews are dumb and I have never accepted a job where I have been subjected to them and probably never will.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#143

Post by optimusclimb » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:43 AM UTC

linkregister wrote: post #64

spapas82 wrote: post #60

This is totally crazy to me. Why should somebody lose about a month of his life to prepare for the interview? Why should the interview need preparation at all? The whole point of the interview is lost if you read books and prepare for that since you are not tested for your real on-the-work skills but you are tested for your interview-answering skills, memorizing trick questions and solving toy problems! I think that…

I didn't get the impression that the author took a month off work to do the interview prep; judging by the work load (3 exercises per chapter, a few STAR-format essays), it looks like the amount of time one would have after work and on weekends. For someone working full-time it would be grueling, but no more grueling than the workload in an after-work Master's degree program. I view the interview prep ritual as a nec…

> it looks like the amount of time one would have after work and on weekends.

If you're single with no children and no hobbies.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#144

Post by f0under » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 5:55 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #135

scaleout1 wrote: post #124

This article makes me sad. Interviewing in our industry is so broken. I have been out of school for a while and switch jobs every few years and this is the technique I use to beat the bullshit interview process . Make a list of companies that I would apply to and sort them from most interesting to no-way-in-hell-i-am-working-here order . spend a weak reviewing typical algo/data structure questions . For the companies…

Studying algo/data structure questions is not gaming the system. I'd far prefer to hire someone who did this over someone who didn't prepare and just tried to wing it, then complained about how unfair it is to ask such questions.

Why is that? Besides preparing for understanding the role, culture, etc why would you need someone to brush up on their algo knowledge for your job interview? Do you believe that algo prep would make them better at their job?

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#145

Post by asQuirreL » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:21 AM UTC

f0under wrote: post #144

WalterBright wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Studying algo/data structure questions is not gaming the system. I'd far prefer to hire someone who did this over someone who didn't prepare and just tried to wing it, then complained about how unfair it is to ask such questions.

Why is that? Besides preparing for understanding the role, culture, etc why would you need someone to brush up on their algo knowledge for your job interview? Do you believe that algo prep would make them better at their job?

Perhaps the willingness to prepare indicates the candidate is motivated and the algorithmic knowledge they gain from it forms a solid basis and language in which it is possible to test their problem solving abilities?

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#146

Post by gaza3g » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:24 AM UTC

driverdan wrote: post #129

Between bad interviews I've been in or read about and spending the past 6+ months working on our hiring process I've become very opinionated about hiring. The process Amazon and many other tech companies use is fucking terrible. Algorithm tests and surprise CS 101 questions do not identify good employees. They're biased towards recent grads, do not address most real world situations, can be gamed through studying, an…

Can you post an example of what a typical outline would look like?

As someone who interviews a lot, I'm quite interested in implementing a no-surprise interview process for the place I'm currently at as I too have been at the other end of a lot of bad interviews.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#147

Post by nojvek » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:27 AM UTC

driverdan wrote: post #129

Between bad interviews I've been in or read about and spending the past 6+ months working on our hiring process I've become very opinionated about hiring. The process Amazon and many other tech companies use is fucking terrible. Algorithm tests and surprise CS 101 questions do not identify good employees. They're biased towards recent grads, do not address most real world situations, can be gamed through studying, an…

This is awesome. What company is this?

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#148

Post by mavelikara » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:45 AM UTC

f0under wrote: post #144

WalterBright wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Studying algo/data structure questions is not gaming the system. I'd far prefer to hire someone who did this over someone who didn't prepare and just tried to wing it, then complained about how unfair it is to ask such questions.

Why is that? Besides preparing for understanding the role, culture, etc why would you need someone to brush up on their algo knowledge for your job interview? Do you believe that algo prep would make them better at their job?

> why would you need someone to brush up on their algo knowledge for your job interview? Do you believe that algo prep would make them better at their job?

Ahem, Walter writes programing language compilers for industrial use. I strongly suspect that algo prep will make them better at their job if he was involved in the hiring :-)

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#149

Post by WalterBright » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:51 AM UTC

asQuirreL wrote: post #145

f0under wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that? Besides preparing for understanding the role, culture, etc why would you need someone to brush up on their algo knowledge for your job interview? Do you believe that algo prep would make them better at their job?

Perhaps the willingness to prepare indicates the candidate is motivated and the algorithmic knowledge they gain from it forms a solid basis and language in which it is possible to test their problem solving abilities?

Right. I figure also that a candidate who'll do the homework necessary to prepare for the interview rather than winging it will be more likely to do the homework necessary for the real problems he'll face at work.

(I've known many engineers who wing things at work rather than spend the time to research a correct solution, and not just in software.)

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#150

Post by WalterBright » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 6:58 AM UTC

mavelikara wrote: post #148

f0under wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that? Besides preparing for understanding the role, culture, etc why would you need someone to brush up on their algo knowledge for your job interview? Do you believe that algo prep would make them better at their job?

> why would you need someone to brush up on their algo knowledge for your job interview? Do you believe that algo prep would make them better at their job? Ahem, Walter writes programing language compilers for industrial use. I strongly suspect that algo prep will make them better at their job if he was involved in the hiring :-)

Actually, if you asked me cold about various algorithms, I'd probably bomb the answer. But that isn't a problem, as when I need to know some detail it's trivial to look it up. But if I'm going on an interview for a job I cared about, and I expected algorithm questions, I'd consider trolling up on that stuff to be required homework.