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Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

news.ncsu.edu

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Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#121

Post by axaxs »

I can relate to this. There are two interviews that gave me really bad anxiety, but I think it's because I went in with anxiety as both required moving across the country in different directions. The first I was accepted, but I think only because the hiring manager worked with me before. I felt short of breath and like I wasn't listening to half the questions. The other was Facebook, which was probably the hardest interview I'd ever done. One particular question involved a lot of keeping things in your head and math (network/node design), and I just froze and got frustrated and in the end gave a crap answer with no thought. Given a half hour without someone staring at me waiting on an answer, I probably could have came up with something decent, I figure.

I'm not particularly upset at either case, I'm happily employed. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of my head that I was disappointed that I didn't get to convey 'the true me' to either company, whatever that means.

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#122

Post by scott_paul »

When I interview a candidate, I'm explicitly and intentionally looking at how they respond to stress, how (if) they're able to say "I don't know", and how they communicate complicated ideas. I open with soft-balls to put them at ease and get them opened up and talking. Then dive deeper into technical things. All the questions are technical, but the main answer I get is how they communicate, how they relate to people, and how they deal with the unknown.

If you understand that a technical interview assesses anxiety, and you roll that into the plan, if you know what the game is, then you're 1/2 way to a win-win already.

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#123

Post by ojnabieoot »

zelly wrote: post #88

I fear there's a movement to get rid of leetcode interviews and I'm against it. What's the alternative? We go back to "you have to look the part", nepotism, credentialism, and other such BS in other industries. A data structures and algorithms test is fair and objective. You can objectively get all the challenges correct and then there's little reason to not hire you. Compare that to interviewing for, say, an investm…

> A data structures and algorithms test is fair and objective

The article makes clear that the issue isn't the content of a technical interview, but rather how it is administered. Specifically, from Chris Parnin, a co-author in the study:

> But the format may also serve as a barrier to entire classes of candidates. For example, in our study, all of the women who took the public interview failed, while all of the women who took the private interview passed. Our study was limited, and a larger sample size would be needed to draw firm conclusions, but the idea that the very design of the interview process may effectively exclude an entire class of job candidates is troubling.

So the "objective" in-person tech interview excludes a huge bunch of talented applicants because there is nothing objective about it at all.

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#124

Post by cannam »

jcadam wrote: post #6

Huh, the only successful interviews I have are the ones where I'm burned out after a long, fruitless, frustrating job search. And so I walk in assuming the interview will be a waste of time and just not caring anymore. That's when I get an offer.

Similarly, I used to find I interviewed better when I had a hangover.

(I'm older now, have hangovers less often, and find them much more tiring, so this might not apply any more)

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#125

Post by decafninja »

klipklop wrote: post #113
decafninja wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel in the tech industry, networking and knowing people only gets you so far - typically just to the whiteboard interview. Then you have to solve the leetcode problems just like everyone else. Especially so in larger companies. FWIW, all of my friends who somehow managed to get into FAANG or other top tech companies swear that were they to go through the interview again, odds are they would fail. This despite all…

Agreed. Connections at best let me skip the phone screen and do the onsite leetcode at FAANG. Maybe I just don't have friends at the >= VP level?

Would VP level help?

Not a close friend, but do have a close associate who was VP level at Google. We were having coffee and he offered to refer me, but said I'd still have to go through the whole standard interview loop - even the phone screen in fact.

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#126

Post by kritiko »

Judgmentality wrote: post #77
twicetwice wrote: post #46

Interesting. I usually do pretty well in interviews and I've always attributed that to my four years on the debate team in high school. This tells me it might be even more true than I previously thought. Even when I'm nervous as hell, when you put me in front of a judge (interviewer), I click into "performance mode" where I project confidence even if I know what I'm saying is BS, let alone just a bit unsure. This is…

> That and debate gave me the ability to just start a sentence without knowing where it will end and then talk my way to a conclusion that sounds like it makes sense You're effectively advocating for more bullshit. The problem is that this works in the first place - we shouldn't be rewarding it.

What's the point of asking these sorts of questions? Typically to try to get a sense of how somebody thinks and what sort of rapport they have with the interviewer while problem solving, not that they get to the "correct" answer.

I think they have some utility because this is a common occurrence when dealing with clients.

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#127

Post by cleandreams »

I have totally blown interviews and also done very well. To me, the interview is a distinct skill set. You have to treat it as it's own thing. What matters is practice, practice. Not a little bit. Say 6 weeks. Then you are ready to slay. When I haven't done that I've been rattled and done poorly.

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#128

Post by eckza »

ipnon wrote: post #95
Judgmentality wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That and debate gave me the ability to just start a sentence without knowing where it will end and then talk my way to a conclusion that sounds like it makes sense You're effectively advocating for more bullshit. The problem is that this works in the first place - we shouldn't be rewarding it.

We can't expect everyone utterance to be rational and logical. We're all just human at the end of the day. We should expect job candidates to try their best to get the job.

Yes we can! We’re computer programmers. Everything can and must be quantified.

/s

Re: Tech sector job interviews assess anxiety, not software skills: study

#129

Post by ian-g »

I don't think it helps that what works for some people doesn't work for others. I coded very very little before I graduated college but got my first tech-ish job because I knew a guy and I could explain my thought process well despite having no idea what grep was.

A friend of mine would have fallen on their face during that sort of interview, but they're more book smart than me and write quite well.

If we were the two candidates there, I would have got the job, but they would have done it better. I don't know what the solution is, but it isn't more of the same

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