Work for companies that need you more than you need them, and know it.
If you can't find companies like that where you are, consider being somewhere else. There's more to the world than the Silicon Valley treadmill.
Tech Interview Torture Chamber
161–170 of 232 posts
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#162Surprised I don't see my main pet peeve - early reference check. Before I even talk to anyone I'm asked to provide three phone numbers of three former managers. So I have to call them up, make sure the number is still working, and ask for the favor that they can give me a reference in case anyone reads my application. All of these other things are on me. References I have to call two or three (or at one company, six)…
> go after normal business hours
Think about it from the other perspective, you want to do an interview after normal business hours. This means that a recruiter, several engineers and a culture interviewer have to also be present after work hours. Now scale this up to a few dozen candidates; I wouldn't want to work in a place that does this on the regular.
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#163always carry a sharpie
You write on my whiteboard with a sharpie, we're going to have you escorted from the building.
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds pretty awful. I've been programming for half my life and I'd fall over on that stuff.
I've been programming 3/4 of my life and I'd fall over on that stuff. I'm a CTO of 12 years and I'd fall over on that stuff. I have a successful open-source project [1] which is all algorithms and data-structures , and I'd fall over on that stuff. At some point interviewers must get it, that these artificial test environments bear no relevance to how we write code in the real world, and putting these false constraint…
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13816370 it seems like we arrived at a similar approach.
I wonder if there is a cultural component to it, I'm also in the UK.
Also interesting field you are in, that is tangential to something I'm contemplating as a future project :).
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#165Surprised I don't see my main pet peeve - early reference check. Before I even talk to anyone I'm asked to provide three phone numbers of three former managers. So I have to call them up, make sure the number is still working, and ask for the favor that they can give me a reference in case anyone reads my application. All of these other things are on me. References I have to call two or three (or at one company, six)…
> That is, scheduling the in-person interview. If a company is flexible, I could take an extended lunch and have an interview (or better yet, go after normal business hours). Good point. Having to always blow a vacation day on an interview seriously limits the number you can do per month/year. Want to do 10 interviews a month? You've blown half the month right there.
I mean, the interviewER has to be there, too...
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#166I once had to do a take home project... the spec said I could write either a console application or a GUI. Fast forward to the in person meeting, they go through my solution and nitpick random things like "why use NuGet packages" or "why no test cases" (I had written them but they got mysteriously removed from the solution). Finally the CTO speaks up and asked why I didn't write a GUI, as many other candidates had (m…
CTO then snarkily asks me "do you always do the minimum"?
I would have responded "Yes". The less we do, the less scope to go wrong, the less maintenance we have, etc etc.
In fact I don't want to work with anyone who would answer "No" to that.
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#167Don't give them any updates for weeks, if at all. Who will appreciate hearing back from your company more: Joe Shmoe, or Joe Solitary Confinement?
If I apply for a job, and they have no interest in me, I honestly prefer they don't bother contacting me at all. Generic rejection letters are a waste of both of our time.
Once I've applied for a job, it's out of my mind completely unless they contact me again for an interview. I move on to applying for the next Job - I don't wait around wondering whether they'll get back to me. It's a much better mindset for me personally - I apply for more jobs and rejection doesn't phase me.
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've actually gotten to the point where I just skip applying to jobs when I'm redirected to one of those portals. Fuck 'em. The only exception is when I think it's a company I really, really want to work for, and there aren't many of those any more.
If you really [think that you] want to work somewhere, and this is what I've done in the past, you can just look up their recruiters on linkedin or something and cold call them - most recruiters or HR departments are overjoyed at this kind of personal attention, and can even get you some perks and recognition along the way. Plus you just send a nice email (your cover letter essentially, but not as forced) and attach…
My experience is that those recruiters ultimately ask you to apply through their portal.
Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#169As a senior engineer who already has a good job, here's how I've adapted to the stupid tech interview and plan on doing for future jobs: - Stay at my job longer and push for more raises/promotions. So far this has worked well. I may not get more in raw $ amount vs job hopping, but when risk adjusted (the risks of any new job such as bad manager, etc.) it's worked out ok so far. I think some job hopping is still good…
I like your first point, though your 2nd and 3rd points tell me you haven't applied for a while :) They've all adopted the google model, small or big companies it doesn't matter. You start with a 45 minute technical phone screen (algorithm/data structures), sometimes a second tech phone screen, an onsite of at least 5 hours with at least 3 to 4 45-minute technical screens (algo/data structures) as if it wasn't enough…
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Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds pretty awful. I've been programming for half my life and I'd fall over on that stuff.
I've been programming 3/4 of my life and I'd fall over on that stuff. I'm a CTO of 12 years and I'd fall over on that stuff. I have a successful open-source project [1] which is all algorithms and data-structures , and I'd fall over on that stuff. At some point interviewers must get it, that these artificial test environments bear no relevance to how we write code in the real world, and putting these false constraint…
I see that you're located in the UK. In Europe the hiring process is much different than in the San Francisco Bay Area for instance. Here it's crazy, we don't hire software engineers, we hire "developers" instead, which tells you what people are looking for. We love hackathons and we believe developers dream about code all night long. Since people are coming from Asia, India, Eastern Europe, etc. the environment is interesting. People think differently in general about software development. It's all about hacking rather than designing or thinking high level. Being smart here means being able to crack tough algorithm problems. This is a very old school way of thinking, it reminds me google back in 2000-2005.