My last company did interviews like this - I was always disgusted at the way most of the team would sit around and just find things to pick on in the person's code. Dumb stuff too. It became an excuse for a lot of the engineers to just make fun of someone who had successfully completed the program, but didn't take the time to JavaDoc everything and follow the same code style best practices we did. Things you can easily address with a bit of training and code review, and that maybe they already do when they're not trying to interview for a lot of jobs while still in school. Sad, really.
I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
201–210 of 615 posts
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#202This reminds me of a take home software engineering interview I was once given via email. Same deal, I was told about 5 hours. I’m an iOS developer, so I was expecting a pretty simple app. I opened the PDF to find not one, but three separate tasks. Completion of all three was expected, with an estimate of about two hours each. One of the tasks was to replicate Apple’s ‘Reminders’ app in its entirety, backend sync fun…
I recently Skype interviewed for a local startup run by a former Googler. He was very proud how much the interview process was based on Google's, with multiple stages to ensure they get the highest quality developers.
The startup sounded interesting, and I might have been prepared to spend the recommended 5 hours on the code test, had I had a chance to actually go into the office and meet the team...!
At least at the end of a Google interview you get to work for Google.
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#203This reminds me of a take home software engineering interview I was once given via email. Same deal, I was told about 5 hours. I’m an iOS developer, so I was expecting a pretty simple app. I opened the PDF to find not one, but three separate tasks. Completion of all three was expected, with an estimate of about two hours each. One of the tasks was to replicate Apple’s ‘Reminders’ app in its entirety, backend sync fun…
To be fair, even though the hourly expectations are often unrealistic, I much prefer a coding challenge (as a former hackathon goer, I likes me a challenge) over a sweaty nervous “whiteboard session” where they nerd grill you on some irrelevant algorithm questions. Unfortunately, most companies do both.
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is that even remotely related to the job at hand? Why would you sabotage possible good candidates just so you can get your needless debate rocks off?
Because you're joining a team and should be a good fit beyond technical expertise. I would be very happy to have answered that question and would be a plus one in my books if I can have these types of heated talks with my coworkers.
Non-baited statement (and I'm aware it's discussed a lot here), but my experience with people saying the candidate wouldn't be a good 'fit' was just a way to enforce bias either unconsciously or consciously.
And led to problems with group-think and an inability to think in different ways.
Now granted my hiring sample is less than 100, but that has been my experience so far.
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a large-ish personal project to show and if 700+ commits of my code don't tell them enough, nothing will.
From my experience, you're in the minority.
In having a large private codebase to show prospect clients or employers? Or in having it accepted as an alternative to standardized tests?
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#206My last company did interviews like this - I was always disgusted at the way most of the team would sit around and just find things to pick on in the person's code. Dumb stuff too. It became an excuse for a lot of the engineers to just make fun of someone who had successfully completed the program, but didn't take the time to JavaDoc everything and follow the same code style best practices we did. Things you can easi…
Not saying this approach was correct, but given a choice, what type of interview would you prefer? Hackerrank? In person, programming challenges, smaller take-home assignment, other?
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
> We then gave the interviewee four days to complete the task with a recommended time of 2 days. How magnanimous. Who the hell is subjecting themselves to this?
People who are between jobs and whose bank accounts are running perilously low.
Actually, I did one of these jumping from one megacorp to another. It took up my entire weekend, but I landed the interview. I then had to take 2 days off to fly out for the interview. Luckily, I got the job.
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#208When people are turning their interview questions into successful companies, maybe it is time to start asking some easier interview questions. This is a visceral demonstration of how absolutely ridiculous interviews have gotten.
Google can afford to do that. They have so many applicants willing to jump through the hoops, they can pick the top 1-2%.
The top 1-2% can turn shitty interview exams into successful startup products.
So clearly the process isn't working here.
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
They had given me a live demo of their product on a call beforehand, so I know they didn't have this. They wanted me to design a feature they didn't have yet on their current product.
If they had paid you for your time would it have been ok?
Depends on if you're happy just being a hired gun instead of an employee.
The real problem is that they've broken the social contract implicit in the interviewing process, which is that the work you're doing is only to prove yourself and that they won't benefit by it except to be able to gauge your skills. If instead they had been honest up-front that they wanted to hire you short term as a trial period type thing with the possibility of hiring you as a full employee down the line, that would be fair.
Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's usually easy to tell if the applicant is a quack or if they are skilled by how they talk about different technology: commiserating about familiar pain points, how they solved common problems. I almost feel at this point that it's unprofessional to hand out tests to people. The problem with what you're describing is that it's using a proxy (discussion) to vet a particular skill (ability to program). It's very e…
Maybe just ask applicants to spend an hour or two onsite without internet making them to solve project euler-type problems and discuss their solutions afterwards. I’m sure you can somehow include technologies relevant to the position and keep the problems to the same scope. Or these companies could begin creating actual value instead of just draining it from the world. Why don’t they expand their pipeline that conver…
> Maybe just ask applicants to spend an hour or two onsite without internet making them to solve project euler-type problems and discuss their solutions afterwards.
I 1,000% do not care about someone's ability to solve a random programming puzzle without the internet.
Again, this is a (bad) proxy for the skill I'm actually trying to hire for. If I'm hiring a backend engineer, why would I ask someone to implement QuickSort? Wouldn't it be better to give them a realish application and have them add a feature or fix a bug?
> Why don’t they expand their pipeline that converts intern/junior positions into more senior positions?
My company has a very healthy pipeline of interns and junior developers. In a year or two, they'll be very good. In five to ten years, they'll be amazing. But I also have shit that I need to get done by the end of the month, and I need people with years of experience to complete them.
And regardless of which level I'm hiring at, I want to see them code, and I want it to be in an environment as close to how they will be working as possible. Google, Stack Overflow, an IDE, a build system, unit tests ... I want to see how they will perform as Software Engineers, not Euler-grinders.