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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

#151

Post by disambiguation »

decafninja wrote: post #41
erentz wrote: post #11

It was made the clearest to me when I interviewed a colleague who had left to another company and two years later was interviewing to return. I knew he knew everything and had the skills for the job because, well, I know him, I’d worked with him before. He’d done this very job previously. Yet he still performed terribly in the interview and (rightly or wrongly) I had to base my evaluation on my knowledge of him rathe…

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…

> I feel in the tech industry, networking and knowing people only gets you so far

I think it depends how influential your connection is.

At my previous FAANG job, my director was tapping his network to back-fill some positions and i heard through the grape vine that she waved parts of the interview in order expedite the process.

it could've been a rumor, but then again the person who joined was terrible to work with so i'm biased.

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

#153

Post by jupiter90000 »

decafninja wrote: post #41
erentz wrote: post #11

It was made the clearest to me when I interviewed a colleague who had left to another company and two years later was interviewing to return. I knew he knew everything and had the skills for the job because, well, I know him, I’d worked with him before. He’d done this very job previously. Yet he still performed terribly in the interview and (rightly or wrongly) I had to base my evaluation on my knowledge of him rathe…

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…

If you know the right people, they might tell you pretty much what Leetcode questions will be asked, who you might be interviewing with, what their personalities are like, etc. though. That is alot easier than going in blind (for most people I would assume).

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

#154

Post by olyjohn »

dpc_pw wrote: post #36

That experiment assumes that SWE job is exclusively about solving technical problems, so we can just "lock the candidate in a private room and let them solve it". In reality human to human interactions, sometimes stressful, are part of the job. Customer & PM requirements, technical debates, giving feedback, explaining your technical solutions, etc. are common. Maybe part of the problem is the education that does not…

That's a good point. But for a lot of people it's not even a problem to do that in front of your co-workers who you work with on a daily basis. Even when I had to work with customers, I had zero problems talking to them, getting requirements, and figuring things out.

If I had to land that customer for the business, I would surely botch it. That's why I didn't go into sales.

I think that the difference is you have much higher stakes in an interview. If you make a mistake with a co-worker or customer, you can usually just go back and fix it. If you make a mistake in your interview, it can cost you the job and it's not so easy to go back and fix.

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

#156

Post by lostcolony »

decafninja wrote: post #125
klipklop wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Depends on the company. I think the FAANGs basically all require jumping through the same hoops. Optimistically it prevents nepotism, but I think that's less of a worry in tech circles, and the times I've seen interviewers overridden because of connection between tech people, it's generally worked out. Of course, for non-tech (product, marketing and the like), it's been hilariously bad.

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

#157

Post by jedberg »

decafninja wrote: post #41
erentz wrote: post #11

It was made the clearest to me when I interviewed a colleague who had left to another company and two years later was interviewing to return. I knew he knew everything and had the skills for the job because, well, I know him, I’d worked with him before. He’d done this very job previously. Yet he still performed terribly in the interview and (rightly or wrongly) I had to base my evaluation on my knowledge of him rathe…

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…

The trick is knowing someone who works with your interviewers. If they talk you up to the interviewers ahead of time, it will bias them to be more forgiving, offer more help because "I'm sure it's just nerves", etc.

It's generally not even on purpose, just subconscience bias.

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

#158

Post by bradlys »

alkibiades wrote: post #84
goostavos wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually a little scared to leave my current FAANG gig for that exact reason tbh. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't make it back in the door without more leetcode grinding + repeated loops than I'm willing to do at this point in my career. Plus, stack on top of that, I've seen how the sausage is made. I've done 90+ interviews on the other side. At the end of the day, it comes down to how lucky you got in the loop. I'…

idk if it’s just luck. i’ve had loops in college where i failed them. but then later in my career i had times where i got every company i interviewed at. Excessive preparation was the key difference. I do think luck plays a big part but i don’t think it’s the only factor, or even the biggest. (maybe 2nd biggest)

Luck is likely not far off from preparation in terms of effect though. Luck could be divided up into separate parts like: chance you get an interviewer who asks easy problems, chance you get a hostile interviewer, chance your interviewer is racist/sexist/tabs-ist/hates-your-face, chance your interviewer loves you for no apparent reason, chance your interview is going through a divorce, etc..

I've seen some of the best interviewers I know still fail at various companies. Including ones they were given offers to before. Luck might not be the #1 component but it sure feels like it's not a distant second.

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

#159

Post by leafboi »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #115

I conducted a couple hundred interviews for my first FAANG employer, and I was constantly amazed at the percentage of candidates with years of Microsoft or Facebook experience on the resumes who apparently did not know how to program. I always thought, 'huh, guess I know why they quit after 3 years, amazing that they all lasted this long." Then I interviewed for another company and utterly bombed. It became suddenly…

You've been arrogant for years and you know what? So have I. I and many, many people in this industry have been doing this for years.

What's different from you and many other people is that you admit and face your bias rather than justify it.

I'm seriously curious what google interview board members have to say about this study. People like Gayle Laakmaan have been saying things to justify the whole process for years; but now that there's actual science, what do they have to say in the face of science?

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

#160

Post by alkibiades »

Looking at the article, it seems all they looked at was whether the code worked or not.

interviews also assess communication and thought process. and working code isn’t necessarily good code. also wonder if the people in the private room used their phones to research answers

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