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How to Interview Engineers

blog.triplebyte.com

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Re: How to Interview Engineers

#71

Post by stanleydrew »

mattnewton wrote: post #55
padobson wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think this is a crazy expectation. I last switched jobs while working at Apple last October. Having the BATNA of your current employment is crucial to the negotiation process and I can't imagine forgoing that- if you have no current income that's an insane bargaining handicap. Anyone with experience absolutely is not going to go for "quit your job, and maybe we'll give you a new one after a week, maybe it won't wor…

This is silly. Your BATNA can be the amount a competing company is willing to pay you in another offer.

If you lack confidence that you'll be able to find at least another two job offers in a timeframe that makes you comfortable, then I agree don't quit your job.

Anyone with experience shouldn't lack that confidence though.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#72

Post by emerongi »

fwefwwfe wrote: post #29
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?

Clearly they must be racist, too.

And homophobic.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#73

Post by pklausler »

The sad reality of programming interviews is that it's absolutely necessary to ask several near-trivial questions in order to flush out the candidates with awesome resumes and impressive degrees who simply have no idea how to analyze a simple problem and solve it using a computer.

Lately, I've been asking "given the starting and ending times of two calendar appointments, determine whether or not they conflict." No loops, no fancy algorithms, no tricks... and asking it has not been a waste of time. I get people writing doubly-nested loops over all of the seconds in the two intervals, comparing for equality; I get multi-line predicates full of redundancy that still yield false positives and negatives; it's depressing as hell.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#74

Post by Apocryphon »

emerongi wrote: post #70
supran wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're too forgiving. I turn down interviews when they list "linked lists, hashing, breadth/depth first search" on their study guide. I've never had to write a linked list EVER in my career, don't fucking bother me with that shit. Also, if the position is in a language where linked lists would be stupid (i.e. python), then I definitely reject that company. I can explain what everyone of them is, and why you'd want to…

I've written at least 5 linked lists in the past year. They're quite useful.

What were you using them for?

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#75

Post by dieterrams »

kudokatz wrote: post #56
padobson wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> When did you last switch jobs? I recently went through a round of employment where I quit my job at the beginning. The tone of this implies that lining up a new job without first quitting is outdated and negative. From the other side, quitting before having a new position can look irresponsible. I have never quit a job without another lined up and have done quite nicely, myself. Why ever invest in trashy projects w…

I spent a year not working and had no trouble lining up dozens of interviews when I started looking. However, it did take several months before (a) my interview game was up to par, and (b) I found a company I actually wanted to work for.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#76

Post by ionwake »

pklausler wrote: post #73

The sad reality of programming interviews is that it's absolutely necessary to ask several near-trivial questions in order to flush out the candidates with awesome resumes and impressive degrees who simply have no idea how to analyze a simple problem and solve it using a computer. Lately, I've been asking "given the starting and ending times of two calendar appointments, determine whether or not they conflict." No lo…

The funny part is I reckon you would struggle to answer the question yourself when put on the spot, if you had no prior experience of it. Just my opinion of course and I am speculating.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#77

Post by stevenwoo »

emerongi wrote: post #70
supran wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're too forgiving. I turn down interviews when they list "linked lists, hashing, breadth/depth first search" on their study guide. I've never had to write a linked list EVER in my career, don't fucking bother me with that shit. Also, if the position is in a language where linked lists would be stupid (i.e. python), then I definitely reject that company. I can explain what everyone of them is, and why you'd want to…

I've written at least 5 linked lists in the past year. They're quite useful.

Five different implementations of linked lists?

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#78

Post by danthemanvsqz »

Interesting read from the POV of the staffing agency and hiring company. But why should I jump through those hoops when I don't even know if I'm interested in the job? I really think the hiring companies need to sell me on them before they ask me to spend an hour of my time.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#79

Post by richardknop »

padobson wrote: post #36
angryasian wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have found a new programming job while still working full time at an old job about 5-6 times now. I almost never had any time off between jobs.

Re: How to Interview Engineers

#80

Post by YorickPeterse »

padobson wrote: post #36
angryasian wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

    > I can't imagine finding a new programming job while still working at the old job.
Imagine having things such as: a family, a car, a mortgage, bills, etc.

Giving up a job (therefore your income) just to find another job is not an option for many.

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