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Interview advice that got me offers

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Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#231

Post by aidenn0 »

valarauko wrote: post #213
aidenn0 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between expectations can be more than 100% of the lower number.

That is surprising to me, but more pertinently, how often is this the case? Even if expectations don't match, how often do you actually undercut the recruiter's expectations? I would think most people would have a reasonable ballpark idea of what the recruiter has in mind - so just overshoot and then get negotiated down from there. The suggested tactic only really makes sense to me if you frequently expect to be unde…

Young engineers often undercut their value by a lot. That's part of why they are popular

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#232

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

programmerslave wrote: post #161
mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #4

“Keeping those skills sharp even when you’re not job hunting.” It’s so tiring to continue to see this. If the “skills” you need to keep sharp are not the same thing as the skills you exercise through your job, that’s a giant red flag that the hiring company should be avoided. If you’re practicing leetcode or Kaggle in your spare time to pass interviews, you need to stop and realize you’ve set up your goals completely…

This is bad advice, all the companies that pay well ask algorithms problems. Either play ball or be stuck at low wages

The best paying tech jobs I’ve had did not ask leetcode style hazing questions. I earn more and feel more valued at a mid size e-commerce company than I ever did previously working for FAANG or quant finance forms.

I think the high wage allure of those companies only applies to very junior engineers. Once you have 4 years of experience, if you’re good, lots of places will pay FAANG levels of total comp, and most won’t put you through leetcode hazing or stick you at the back of a thousand-engineer wait line for interesting projects.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#233

Post by neilv »

_qulr wrote: post #218
xyzelement wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same kind of person who never finds a partner because of the "ceremony around" dating, I guess? In both situations, it's not like you're adding a commodity product to your Amazon shopping card. The matching is non-trivial and both parties have to recognize and commit to the effort-full process. To abstract your comment all the way out - how many people live well below their potential because they are too lazy or afra…

> Same kind of person who never finds a partner because of the "ceremony around" dating, I guess? If dates were conducted like coding interviews — assuming the candidate is a liar and forcing them to prove in detail why they're not — you'd never get a second date. A job is supposed to be a voluntary, mutually advantageous relationship between two parties. So interviews ought to be kind of like dating, where you're tr…

I kinda like this analogy. To take it a bit further, when there ought to be a two-way street, a toxic behavior would be for person A to use some kind of negging, to try to force the dynamic of person B feeling insecure, and seeking A's approval.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#234

Post by jpmoral »

borroka wrote: post #224
jefftk wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One striking example was when I solved the coding problems posed to me in 15 minutes out of the 45 available, the interviewer said "that's great, I don't have any more questions, please use this time for you to ask about the company" and then the recruiter told me I was rejected because I did not do the coding part well enough. That's terrible behavior from the interviewer. Did you try raising this with your recrui…

The decision is already made, there is no point, nobody is going to backpedal on anything. I remember saying: "I don't get it", but she was clueless about the interview itself. It was a company in LA with a ghost.

If I liked other people I'd met well enough I'd give that feedback (politely and without assigning blame), not to change their mind but just to let them know.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#235

Post by peferron »

tootie wrote: post #52
vincentmarle wrote: post #9

The hardest part about interviewing is that there is no feedback loop; I once interviewed at 10 companies within 2 weeks and got rejected from all of them, but to this day I still don't know what part I need to improve upon.

Same. I interviewed with Amazon twice and it's like a 10-hour meat grinder. No offer either time and I have no idea what I did wrong. I absolutely don't get those wide open questions like "How would you design 1-hour delivery?" (real question btw). As someone who has done a lot of consulting work, my instincts are never, ever try to answer such a ridiculously broad question on your own with no context. The answer to…

It sounds like a super fun question. I'm almost tempted to start thinking about it even though I'm not interviewing for anything.

Given how many features AWS alone ships every year, I'm sure Amazon is very familiar with prioritizing features and building MVPs. But you're interviewing for a software engineering position (I assume) and the question is explicitly about design, so project planning is off topic here. It's fine to mention it in passing, but the meat of the answer should be about the "initial technical approach" that you mention.

Your comment suggests that, due to your consulting experience, you flat out refused to draft an initial technical approach on the spot. That may be wise is other situations, but you aren't here as a consultant. Amazon isn't going to start implementing 1-hour delivery based on your plans. They're asking this question to see you think and work your way through a complex problem.

Additionally, your answer is so vague that it could apply to almost any question ("How to do X?" "Gather stakeholders and come up with an initial technical approach").

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#236

Post by deviation »

deathanatos wrote: post #186
vsareto wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can be bypassed by changing that to "Salary Range for this position"

"Highly-competitive within the market" I have had very little luck getting a recruiter to supply a range. I've had a few, but they are few and far between. I've also had a few that I've gotten to name a range by first naming something comfortably above where I suspect their range is — to which the reply is then to talk me down to that number. (And, in the cases where I've done this, I've found out the recruiter's ran…

If a hiring manager or recruiter gets back to me with a vague answer like this, I wouldn't be pursuing the position.

Plenty of recruiters in the past were happy to give me specifics... I'm unsure why you haven't had much luck.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#237

Post by nzmsv »

jt2190 wrote: post #215
steverb wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If they are too high I'm usually upfront that at that rate they'd be flat compensation wise for a number of years" I've heard that once before and it always puzzled me. Basically you're telling the candidate that you want to underpay them now, so you can eventually pay them what they are worth. The math is in their favor even if they don't get a raise next year. And of course, next year they will be worth more anywa…

I’m unable to parse the sentence you quoted and get the same meaning. The quote is saying that the employee will be at the top of the budgeted pay range for that position, so their salary won’t grow much at all year over year. I’m unclear on where you’re getting “underpay” from. Perhaps you’re assuming that the budgeted salary is below fair market value, and there’s a vague promise to increase the budget/salary in th…

Because the sooner you get to the top of your budgeted salary the more years you spend collecting it. Collecting a higher salary for longer makes you more money.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#238

Post by AnHonestComment »

slg wrote: post #101

>Learn to answer the more ambiguous questions This is something I have never done before my most recent job search but it has been a huge help. Previously all my interview prep was on tech and I pretty much winged it for the behavioral stuff since interview prep guides seem to always focus on the tech side. Plus it always feels worse and more obvious when you struggle with or fail to properly answer the tech question…

This is something I think Amazon does well: their behavioral questions have a known format and prompt, and their recruiters tell you that and that you should practice.

At Amazon, the behavioral questions should be a STAR format response to prompts about Amazon leadership principles.

If you write down two STAR format stories to each principle, you’ll always have something to say for the behavioral questions. (Most stories hit several LPs, depending on what you emphasize. So it’s only a handful, total.)

I made flash cards for each story, so I could practice hitting the key points.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#239

Post by jlokier »

chrisseaton wrote: post #137
hnrodey wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trying to understand their thought process, is the candidate coachable, can the candidate accept feedback, does the candidate at least understand the underlying ideas, etc. The more prestigious the employer then the less forgiving they are on your shortcomings.

> is the candidate coachable, can the candidate accept feedback, does the candidate at least understand the underlying ideas ...isn't that judging? Making a judgement on whether a candidate is coachable is judging isn't it?

The word "judging" has multiple variant meanings. It is being used to mean two different things in this subthread.

Judging whether a candidate is coachable, their thought processes relevant to the job, understands the ideas etc is what the interview is for, you're right.

But "I'm not judging" doesn't refer to that. It refers instead to the concept in the word "judgemental". Some definitions of that are "having or displaying an overly critical point of view" and "thinking, speaking, or behaving in a manner that reflects a critical and condemnatory point of view".

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#240

Post by tootie »

leDude345 wrote: post #110
tootie wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. I interviewed with Amazon twice and it's like a 10-hour meat grinder. No offer either time and I have no idea what I did wrong. I absolutely don't get those wide open questions like "How would you design 1-hour delivery?" (real question btw). As someone who has done a lot of consulting work, my instincts are never, ever try to answer such a ridiculously broad question on your own with no context. The answer to…

There is no stock right or wrong answer for those kinds of questions. You should ask questions to understand which area the interviewer wants you to concentrate on (if any). Some interviewers are happy if you choose an area where you can showcase your experience, others expect you to answer an area they have in mind. If you cover enough, with enough detail, they will be happy. Ask questions.

That's what I thought, but they seemed annoyed at my questions.
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