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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

#411

Post by hessproject »

djhaskin987 wrote: post #140

Is HN truly this bad of a bubble that everyone thinks interview tests are normal? The last time I had to do a test it was on site and I was just out of college. Most interviews just talk about the challenges of the team, my past work on similar problems, and how I solved them. I've been on the other side of the table too. It's usually easy to tell if the applicant is a quack or if they are skilled by how they talk ab…

Just my two cents, but as a candidate I much prefer the tests to a whiteboard. I've had interview tests for a majority of my recent (senior level) positions in NYC, but the questions generally aren't to this extreme, certainly not basis for a new startup level problems.

More like "we've laid out an API contract, implement these 3 endpoints in a language you like along with these few extra small requirements and some unit tests". Usually takes 2-3 hours and I think it's a more fair assessment of my work and at least I get to use my own environment and work on my own time with tools I know rather than with someone sitting over my shoulder and a marker. It also helps drive the discussion during in-person interviews away from the binary tree puzzle type questions and focuses more on design decisions and other considerations I took in to account.

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

#412

Post by JudgeWapner »

ravenstine wrote: post #237

None of the places I've worked at had me do a coding challenge. Either they already knew who I was through networking or they asked me to show them a personal project and explain how it worked. Each job was a great opportunity. When I start looking for a new opportunity in a year or two, I may consider coding challenges to be a soft red flag in that I don't think they're worth wasting time over. I spent so many hours…

> I hated the idea that schmoozing outperforms merit, but it's absolutely true

Try thinking about it quantitatively. Someone who spends the time to schmooze (read: invest time in developing a human relationship) has essentially posted that time as collateral. They added chips to the figurative pot, and if they were a fraud or recklessly destroyed that relationship, they forfeit that collateral (lose the relationship, lose the honor and respect they earned). So that's why it's convincing to invest in people who are willing to post collateral. Now certainly, there are people who have no shame and will pull cons. So this method isn't infallible. But they can only get so far before they get exposed, especially in our industry.

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

#413

Post by anarazel »

rosege wrote: post #288
corndoge wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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?

Its actually not such a stupid answer. Its completely inhumane etc but it worked well for Saddam Hussein (among others) who conducted a purge on taking office in 1979 and then never had his leadership questioned again.

Because that's what you want in your organisation. The person best at being an unchallanged dictator.

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

#414

Post by 0xffff2 »

max76 wrote: post #365
0xffff2 wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I have a fundamentally different view of software requirements. Even before dotnet core even existed I would have explicitly confirmed that the company wasn't using Mono if they didn't spell it out for me.

Mono's use was very limited because it was an out of date and slower implementation of .NET. It's used in such niche contexts (Xamarin and Unity) that it was easy to determine if the team you are applying is using MONO or Framework. .NET core changed the ability to make the Windows assumption. Almost everyone has received the memo by now, but there was a period of time between .NET core 1.0 (June 2016) and the releas…

> However, if you were interviewing with a .NET team before June 2016 even asking the question "What operating system will this run on?" would have been a sign of incompetence.

It really depends on how you're asking the question. "What OS will this run on?" is going to be perceived differently from "Are you expecting anything unusual like Mono support?".

The OP didn't actually say that this was a .NET application, but if it was the answer to either question would have been important. If the answer had been that the company expected a standard Windows environment, I don't think it's likely that the second question would be perceived negatively.

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

#415

Post by ryandrake »

ghaff wrote: post #194
xiphias2 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's great if you do it as long as you pay for it. I was doing a 1 week payed interview at Coinbase. I was not hired, but my memories of the interview process are great.

This sort of thing mostly works fine for students and similar. (And internships are often great for everyone concerned.) But this doesn't really work for someone who already is working full-time. Some pay is fine but there's no way I'm taking a week of vacation to interview with you.

Also keep in mind that many tech companies have anti-moonlighting clauses or otherwise forbid side projects. You’re losing current employees from these companies from the interview funnel.

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

#416

Post by lawlessone »

la_barba wrote: post #374
aswanson wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. That's just abusive...

That is devaluing the word abuse. A voluntary optional task which you can decline at any time, is not "abuse" no matter how you spin it.

There are lots of situations that are voluntary but abusive.

You can look at any job and claim it can't be abuse because people can leave the job.

You ignore that leaving the job means loss of income, status, or worse even.

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

#418

Post by gesman »

loktarogar wrote: post #340
aantix wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst is when you do the task and then they just don’t respond. Not even a simple, “we’re not interested”. No feedback. Just. Left. Wondering. It’s cruel. It’s demeaning. Tanium was especially cruel. 6 hours of live coding interviews and the only reason I got any response from them was because I had to consistently hound them for a couple of weeks and ask a friend that worked there to internally ping someone.

Had one with Deliveroo. They responded, but they were declining me because I didn't do what they explicitly told me not to do in the instructions. They wanted people who "went above and beyond".

This is BS.

They probably were doing interviews to satisfy ongoing visa process for already selected candidate.

And the declining everyone with lame excuse.

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

#419

Post by lhorie »

distances wrote: post #335
thoreauway wrote: post #305

I interviewed at Uber before they launched. Their "take home" was to create... Uber. Here's the exact challenge: UberCab Coder Challenge 1) Write a program that determines the wait time, trip time, rating, and fare for a black car trip in San Francisco, given that the customer's pickup location and destination is randomly placed anywhere in San Francisco proper, and given that there are X number of cars all placed ra…

Having never worked in SV, are these home assignments common there? I know several engineers who would refuse to do any homework at all as a matter of principle, so a task of this magnitude without compensation sounds laughable on the face of it.

FWIW, this is not how Uber does interviews anymore. Now the process involves a technical phone screen and an onsite, with coding exercises that are meant to be completed in 30-45 minutes. I believe it's pretty on par with other tech companies in the Bay area.

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

#420

Post by smeyer »

amelius wrote: post #3

> You have ‘4–6 hours’ to design a slick product, with a memorable brand and cohesive working method. No one acknowledges the fact that in reality, you’re about to dedicate up to 5 working days on this task, with the potential for them to ghost you straight afterwards. To make this more fair, why not let the designer work at the company's office, so the interviewer can actually see how much time it took, and the inte…

My employer has sometimes given out challenges that take a few hours. We just ask the candidate when they'd like to do the take-home and email it to them on that schedule. Then they have to submit their solution within the allotted time. It's a nice way to make sure the candidate knows it really only will take a couple hours, because neither side wants the candidate to spend 30 hours on a 3 hour take-home.
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