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I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

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Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#401

Post by silversconfused »

jerf wrote: post #342
wernsey wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A problem is that when you topple a dictator you need to first secure the levers of power lest you be toppled yourself. Suppose your new country has a $1bil in its budget, then spending that billion on schools and hospitals and infrastructure for the people means that there is suddenly $1bil that is not being siphoned of by the corrupt old guard that might still hold levers of power. If you give them nothing, then th…

I have to admit I'd give a pretty Machievellian answer as well, on the assumption the question includes having to keep the position. In harsher political climes, you can't afford to put "building a strong society" on the top of your priority list. One of the ways strong societies become strong societies and stay strong societies is to make it possible to play a lot of politics as much less of a bloodsport, so things…

Why not? It worked for George Washington.

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#402

Post by geofft »

ALittleLight wrote: post #221
geofft wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/05/business/the-quiet-allure... > Though David Rowe, a veteran architect of the Wharton forecasting model, has played a key role in developing the firm's econometric model, the senior staff, including Miss Eickhoff, Judith Mackey and Lucille Wu, is mostly female. Mr. Greenspan explains the gender bias with the free-market pragmatism that has become his hallmark: "I always valued men an…

Isn't this admitting that he's underpaying women? Because if he paid them as much as he would pay a man then they wouldn't be cheaper.

I think he's claiming his competitors are overpaying men by artificially pretending supply is half the size it actually is. Or looked at another way, the market value of men is determined by companies that hire everyone + companies that only hire men, but the market value of women is determined only by companies that hire everyone, so demand is lower. Either way, it's not "underpaying" relative to either intrinsic value or value in a fair (everyone is willing to hire everyone) market, which is most of the moral argument for why underpaying is bad. It's "underpaying" in the strict technical sense of paying less than what others are willing to pay men, but that only applies in the hypothetical where one single woman were being hired as if she were a man; if all women on the market were hired like men, supply would increase which would affect everyone's pay.

I think there are multiple solutions to a gender wage gap resulting from markets with irrational participants, and reducing the market value of the overpaid gender is a perfectly valid way to accomplish it. I think that's what he's doing.

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#403

Post by kradroy »

minimaxir wrote: post #235
jordansmithnz wrote: post #39

This 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…

In a data science interview at a respected company I received a take-home with the framing “A Product Manager wants a dashboard with a massive amount of features (including interactivity, model prediction and GIS)” and received only 48 hours to do it. I thought there was some weird trick because that assignment had an unreasonable amount of scope in that timeframe. I found out the company uses a BI tool to streamline…

A previous manager once told me how to deal with product managers: "You tell them what you need from them. Not the other way around." Don't let the PM write the spec. They state the problem and you ask them questions to come to the solution. You also give them the timeline. If they don't like it, then cut features.

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#404

Post by brazzledazzle »

leadingthenet wrote: post #67
wycy wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's Reminders app is so glitchy that your interview task probably would've been vastly superior to the actual consumer product.

It's barebones, but glitchy?! I've been using it for years, and it's been rock stable for me.

Ridiculously glitchy for me too. No idea if it will remind me or not. No idea if clearing something will really clear it. Unusable really. I assumed it was piss poor exchange/activesync support but if it happens to others without any sort of syncing maybe there's something more to it.

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#405

Post by majormajor »

corndoge wrote: post #240
agrippanux wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When interviewing execs who would be building new departments a few years ago, I would pose the question of "In the wake of Arab spring in Libya, the people decide that you are their next leader. What happens in your first 100 days?". The answers ran the gamut from lazy to fantastic to terrifying. A lot of answers where generic "coalition building" variety. The better answers identified key areas to focus on like inf…

>Bad answers had... Asking a politically charged question on statecraft and judging the answer based on your own personal ideas about how to run a state strikes me as a bizarre way to conduct an interview, even for an exec. >The worst answers had the exec killing people Play stupid games, win stupid prizes?

> Asking a politically charged question on statecraft and judging the answer based on your own personal ideas about how to run a state strikes me as a bizarre way to conduct an interview, even for an exec.

Seems like exactly what you want so you don't get people who will be playing the opposite sort of political games than you want (whichever sort you may prefer).

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#407

Post by geofft »

airstrike wrote: post #317
ALittleLight wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this admitting that he's underpaying women? Because if he paid them as much as he would pay a man then they wouldn't be cheaper.

By hiring women he's reducing the supply of women in the market which presumably raises their value, but I do agree the more progressive approach would be to hire women for the value he would be willing to pay men

Note that he's not necessarily willing to pay men more - the reporter says the senior staff was "mostly female," not balanced. He might have just been willing to pay men and women the same salary, which was less than what other companies were willing to pay men.

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#408

Post by kradroy »

klyrs wrote: post #105
irrational wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've joked about giving potential hires a challenge to fix a problem we are currently experiencing, but we wouldn't really do it. That takes some balls to ask interviewees to write or fix production code.

Back in 2000, I had an in-person interview at a very small b2b website. They'd been using overseas contractors (zero local technical people) and the founder/interviewer barely knew a thing about computers. He didn't know how to run a technical interview, so he sat me down at a computer, logged in as root on prod (lol the only server), and pointed me at a couple of bugs. I knocked them out lickety-split and was hired…

I had that type of "interview" 10 years ago. I got the job. It was the worst job I've ever had outside of being a grad student.

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#409

Post by busterarm »

thrwaway190516 wrote: post #341
agrippanux wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When interviewing execs who would be building new departments a few years ago, I would pose the question of "In the wake of Arab spring in Libya, the people decide that you are their next leader. What happens in your first 100 days?". The answers ran the gamut from lazy to fantastic to terrifying. A lot of answers where generic "coalition building" variety. The better answers identified key areas to focus on like inf…

Unlike others relying, I think your interview question is good. Let's break down why. In your phrasing you asked "what happens". Did any candidates you thought were good give the actual answer: a disaster for Libya, and the person is removed from power? That is the actual answer. Of course not. All of your "passing" answers to "what happens" includes building up infrastructure, basic services, etc. In other words, wh…

> What actually happens of course is nothing good. It doesn't mean it's not a bad interview question, but a good answer is not the factually correct answer.

OP is hiring executives, not yes-men. You want people who give you the factually correct answer, because you want people who will behave ethically. Execs have to worry about regulation and corporate risk and you do not want liars in those positions.

That's why this is a terrible question.

Re: I turned my interview task for Google into a startup

#410

Post by ghaff »

hrktb wrote: post #372
monsieurbanana wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's how you want to test potential engineers, I don't necessarily see a problem with the task itself. Just pay them! I'm sure Uber can find the budget for that.

I'm sure they're fine with engineers who don't ask to be payed for random tasks encroaching their private life. Snark aside, it can iffy to pay someone for a task at your company when they are still under contract in their previous job. In that sense, while your point is sensible, it can be difficult to go that route from the candidate side.

Yup. Will anyone who cares find out that a competitor paid you to do some task? Probably not, but it seems like an iffy proposition to violate your current employment agreement to have an interview.
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