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Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

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Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#161

Post by pjmlp »

bitL wrote: post #109
qwerty456127 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reality is the majority of tech interviews today are filled with questions/tasks that have little or nothing to do with the actual job you are going to be assigned. In fact an average programmer doesn't actually need to know a single piece of computer science or math (almost all such stuff is abstracted by common libraries and frameworks, whatever is not can be looked up on demand) nor to memorize anything (thank…

It's a fitness test. Are you going to bring me value, or are you on the verge of burnout with outdated skills, trying to live off your past? "What did you do for me today?" is what matters for company to stay afloat and brutal competition is the way to achieve it. What kind of society it creates is another question.

The same kind of companies that when times comes to fire people they will just randomly choose X people from each department, regardless of their skills or sweat given to the company.

So much for the fitness test, maybe we should have one for employers as well.

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#162

Post by pjmlp »

bshimmin wrote: post #128
jnbiche wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FWIW, preparing for interviews is standard practice irrespective of the industry. This is simply wrong. I suppose if you've spent your whole life as a developer, it may seem like it would be done likewise other industries, but it's not the case. Typically, how you might "prepare" for interviews in other industries is...learning about your potential employer. And maybe reviewing your accomplishments. That's it. And…

Typically, how you might "prepare" for interviews in other industries is...learning about your potential employer. It has always shocked me that people don't instinctively think that doing this is an absolute necessity for every single job interview. I have very often been met with a totally blank look when I've asked candidates what they think it is the company I'm interviewing them for does, even when phrased as ni…

Thing is most people just want a job, regardless of whom pays their salary.

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#163

Post by pjmlp »

sidlls wrote: post #137
barry-cotter wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. If it was illegal to work as a programmer without a Master’s degree in Computer Science with a GPA above 3.0 the interview process would not look like the current one.

The industry wouldn't look the same, either: it wouldn't be nearly as profitable or widespread as it has become, and nobody but CS academics would care about it.

And it would be much better, we would stop having pseudo-"engineers".

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#164

Post by pjmlp »

SmirkingRevenge wrote: post #110
closeparen wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Interviews or exams” That you think interviews and exams are interchangeable concepts illustrates the problem. Nothing wrong with a rigorous filter at the gates of the profession, but lawyers don’t need to spend months studying for each company’s half-assed version of the bar exam each time they change jobs. Our industry is dysfunctional because, unlike law and medicine, no one trusts the credentialing mechanisms.

Our industry also has quite a lot of self-taught professionals, who can perform as well as their college educated counterparts, which is something you won't really get in professions like Law or Medicine. I think that's a good thing, when it comes to software.

Just because in countries like US, one can call himself/herself engineer, without any actual meaning.

At least in Europe things are a bit more strict.

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#165

Post by tedd4u »

jdiaz5513 wrote: post #42
sidlls wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently got a promotion to management. I have different responsibilities, but I get paid more and have more influence over solutions to interesting engineering and technical problems. This role feels even more like what my engineer friends in real engineering disciplines do than my role as Lead did: leverage their education and experience to solve complex, large scale problems. These interviews are good at testing…

Careful. Software engineering is very much a real engineering discipline, and it is a major cultural failing to not recognize it as such. Required viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDEpeWQHtFU

Thanks for sharing this +1

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#166

Post by pnw_hazor »

bitL wrote: post #109
qwerty456127 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reality is the majority of tech interviews today are filled with questions/tasks that have little or nothing to do with the actual job you are going to be assigned. In fact an average programmer doesn't actually need to know a single piece of computer science or math (almost all such stuff is abstracted by common libraries and frameworks, whatever is not can be looked up on demand) nor to memorize anything (thank…

It's a fitness test. Are you going to bring me value, or are you on the verge of burnout with outdated skills, trying to live off your past? "What did you do for me today?" is what matters for company to stay afloat and brutal competition is the way to achieve it. What kind of society it creates is another question.

Hazing is the word you are looking for.

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#167

Post by brailsafe »

ubernostrum wrote: post #113
brailsafe wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, preparing for interviews is standard practice irrespective of the industry.

Not quite in the way it is in this industry. What is unusual is that we essentially ask people to set aside and forget everything they know about how to do their jobs, and instead perform a separate set of skills which, since they are't used on the job, must be carefully re-acquired whenever it's time to go interview. No other industry I'm aware of does that.

Agreed.

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#168

Post by barry-cotter »

pjmlp wrote: post #163
sidlls wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The industry wouldn't look the same, either: it wouldn't be nearly as profitable or widespread as it has become, and nobody but CS academics would care about it.

And it would be much better, we would stop having pseudo-"engineers".

Quite, we should also eliminate nurses. The minimum qualification to work in healthcare should be a medical degree, just like we shouldn’t allow any car that’s worse in an accident than a Tesla on the road.

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#169

Post by pnw_hazor »

lz400 wrote: post #20

I think this is terrible. I feel there are many good engineers that can't possibly compete for decent jobs in tech companies because they haven't spent 6-12 months reading cracking the code interview, doing this Stanford course, practicing mock interviews in crowdsourced websites, getting their leetcode rank up, attending bootcamps where they pad their githubs and practicing any single interview question they can scr…

It is a filter to identify compliant boot-licker types.

Normies and free thinkers just take a pass.

However, golden wingless dragons seem to do just fine.

Re: Stanford CS9: Problem-Solving for the CS Technical Interview

#170

Post by RafiZ »

As other commenters alluded, interviewing and coding are indeed two different skills. However, contrary to some of the comments, I don't think there is anything wrong with preparing for an interview or even taking an entire course for that matter. If it helps you shine and showcase your real skills to an employer then why not? I’ve seen many brilliant software engineers get rejected for positions cut out for them only because they were so nervous at interviews that they had trouble even understanding simple questions until right after the interview ended. I know that because I'm a co-founder at Pramp.com, a free p2p mock interviewing platform for software engineers. It's incredible to see the improvement in one's confidence even after a single practice interview.
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