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How to Interview Engineers

blog.triplebyte.com

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Re: How to Interview Engineers

#31

Post by daveguy »

Kpourdeilami wrote: post #20
jdp23 wrote: post #12

Looking at Triplebyte's "about us" page, it appears that their engineering team is 100% male. This should be a big red flag for any company trying to get diverse engineering team - why work with a company that doesn't hire women engineers?

Small startups often don't have access to a diverse talent pool to hire from since it is hard to convince anyone other than people you already to join the company. I don't think they deliberately refuse to hire women engineers judging by the diversity page[0] on their website 0: https://triplebyte.com/diversity

And they have several female employees with CS and engineering backgrounds:

https://triplebyte.com/about

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#32

Post by [deleted] »

altharaz wrote: post #17

At my company our engineers defined the following process. First, we defined the skills we're looking for i.e. Programming / SysAdmin / Cybersecurity. Our process goes as follows: 1. We ask candidates to answer a quizz by phone, with questions in the 3 chosen fields. Duration = 1h. 2. We ask candidates to solve remotely with Google Docs 5 real-world problems asking for skills in Algorithmics, Data Modeling, Object-Or…

[deleted]

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#33

Post by kafkaesq »

altharaz wrote: post #17

At my company our engineers defined the following process. First, we defined the skills we're looking for i.e. Programming / SysAdmin / Cybersecurity. Our process goes as follows: 1. We ask candidates to answer a quizz by phone, with questions in the 3 chosen fields. Duration = 1h. 2. We ask candidates to solve remotely with Google Docs 5 real-world problems asking for skills in Algorithmics, Data Modeling, Object-Or…

We ask candidates to solve remotely with Google Docs

Google Docs are horrible coding environments. In fact, anything besides the candidate's native editing environment makes for an obtuse and off-putting experience, all around. I mean, yeah, the candidate can suck it up and make it work if they felt they "had" to. But on balance it's just unnecessary mental gymnastics -- and completely avoidable source of awkwardness and all around unpleasantness in the interview experience.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#34

Post by dvnguyen »

rsyring wrote: post #6
jobu wrote: post #5

"15% dislike academic CS (and think that talking about CS is a sign that a candidate will not be productive)" That seems really weird. Academic CS isn't really necessary for most programming jobs, but I can't see how it would ever be a detriment.

I had a guy work for me that was very academic minded regarding programming. He had a hard time letting go of the "pure" way of doing things and taking a good/practical approach to just getting stuff done. It can definitely be, but won't always be, a detriment in my experience.

What you've described is someone who follow some practices religiously. I don't see any correlation between people like that and ones with academic background.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#35

Post by pm90 »

pmiller2 wrote: post #7
rsyring wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a guy work for me that was very academic minded regarding programming. He had a hard time letting go of the "pure" way of doing things and taking a good/practical approach to just getting stuff done. It can definitely be, but won't always be, a detriment in my experience.

That's a mindset flaw, not one that can be attributed to having CS knowledge, or enjoying talking about academic CS.

This is exactly true. There are certain things about which you absolutely need to be anal about being pure, such as scientific experiments and theoretical deductions/proofs. And there are others where you need to be more practical. This one person seems to have been applying the same mentality to both, which is a personal flaw, not solely a result of having more academic credentials/experience.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#36

Post by padobson »

angryasian wrote: post #23
padobson wrote: post #9

Spending a week working beside an engineer (or seeing how they complete a substantial project) almost certainly provides a better measure of their abilities than watching them solve interview problems for 1 hour Trial employment is expensive for the company. [...] Trial employment (and large take-home projects) are expensive for the candidate. I can't help but think there's way to mitigate that expense among several…

If I'm already employed, it be weird to take a week off just to work for another company. Also ramp up time takes at least a day or two. This whole process seems troublesome for both the employee and employer

When did you last switch jobs?

I recently went through a round of employment where I quit my job at the beginning.

Between updating my resume/social networks, brushing up on academic CS, finding leads, scheduling interviews and follow-up interviews and managing/negotiating offers, it was absolutely a full-time job.

I can't imagine finding a new programming job while still working at the old job.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#37

Post by [deleted] »

scottLobster wrote: post #19
logfromblammo wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Every time I hear that question, I die a little inside. I'm not sure it's possible to answer it honestly without taking yourself out of contention.

I suppose it depends on your 5-year goals and the position, but as an entry-level developer my first thought would be: "Well as I'm interviewing here I would obviously see taking this position as a step foreword for all the reasons we've discussed. Naturally I don't see this position as the job I'll work until I retire, and obviously I'll be looking for at least some mild expansion of responsibilities in the future.…

[deleted]

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#38

Post by cookiecaper »

jobu wrote: post #5

"15% dislike academic CS (and think that talking about CS is a sign that a candidate will not be productive)" That seems really weird. Academic CS isn't really necessary for most programming jobs, but I can't see how it would ever be a detriment.

Too much focus on academic topics is likely a sign of inexperience. If the candidate had good real-world experience, they could (and should) speak of practicalities instead of theory. If the explanation involves a reasonable amount of theory, that's all well and good, but too much is an orange flag because it signals inexperience. It may also signal a propensity for dwelling on theory instead of Getting Things Done(TM). Companies almost always favor iterative execution of imperfect systems over protracted theorizing/analysis.

Depending on context and delivery, overfocus on academics could also be interpreted as snobbery, giving an impression that the candidate is difficult to work with, or that they think less of potential colleagues who don't have the same formal training.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#39

Post by ssivark »

padobson wrote: post #9

Spending a week working beside an engineer (or seeing how they complete a substantial project) almost certainly provides a better measure of their abilities than watching them solve interview problems for 1 hour Trial employment is expensive for the company. [...] Trial employment (and large take-home projects) are expensive for the candidate. I can't help but think there's way to mitigate that expense among several…

> Meanwhile, the interviewee gets to do a single, focused project for a week, but effectively interviews with 25 companies!

Isn't this basically what bootcamps are about? (at least from a job seeker's perspective)

In practice, only those without jobs have the time to attend one... and if one isn't actively working in the field, then 2-3 weeks might be better than 1 week.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#40

Post by base698 »

logfromblammo wrote: post #10
kafkaesq wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Of course, there's also plenty of just bad interview questions) Well yeah, there's that unfortunate fact. The problem is, a lot of interviewers can't tell the good from the bad -- and it can only take one bad question to effectively sink the interview.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Every time I hear that question, I die a little inside. I'm not sure it's possible to answer it honestly without taking yourself out of contention.

If you're at the same company, generally the answer is obvious. Overly bored with the tech and internal politics. Probably, brushing up on interviews to escape.
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