An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020) • Hacker News Board

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#111

Post by stathibus » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 2:45 AM UTC

benlivengood wrote: post #110

mrfusion wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve gotten interview questions I’d recently solved and my problem was it was too easy. I had trouble acting like it was the right amount of struggle. Is there a trick for that?

I've interviewed folks for FAANG roles. If you know how to solve the problem already, just tell the interviewer up front. Either they have another question or they will go deeper into a discussion about why and how you solved it the way you did, testing it, other approaches and why they are or are not good tradeoffs, etc. It's pretty obvious to interviewers if you've solved a problem before, and we appreciate the hon…

A good way to avoid this conundrum is to ask questions that are worth solving in real life.

If the candidate breezes through the discussion because they've actually had to solve the problem before, then their victory is well earned.

If on the other hand its an academic question in the same vein as the data structures or algorithms puzzles you find on $interviewprepforum, then the fact that they've solved it before tells you very little.

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#112

Post by o10449366 » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 2:47 AM UTC

kache_ wrote: post #71

diehunde wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people say this. But the reality is that solving 100 LC questions and actually understand the solution enough to solve a variation of the problem is a lot of work. Especially if you are working full-time. I wouldn't call that "game it", just usual study and hard work.

When gaming it is just passing by studying, a repeatable process that anyone (with a CS degree) can do, just means the interview process is quite well designed. The interview process is a test of endurance, not intelligence. And it should be exactly that, since software engineering is mostly an exercise of endurance and focus. Every time a friend of mine QQs about failing a FANG interview, I give them the study presc…

Software engineers that QQ about how unfair algorithm interviews are are clearly out of touch with how difficult and truly unfair interviews are for other high paying industries like law or medicine (in the US) where getting interviews is based on pedigree and getting one or two rejections can permanently deny you from top firms/positions.

There are always things that can be improved about interview processes, but many software engineers display great immaturity when it comes to trading a few weeks of time studying content that should already be partially familiar to them from school for six figure salaries/raises.

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#113

Post by transitivebs » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 2:51 AM UTC

Here's a similar resource for anyone interested in this topic: https://transitivebullsh.it/gaming-cs-interviews

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#114

Post by simplestats » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 2:52 AM UTC

aix1 wrote: post #28

LewisVerstappen wrote: post #2

> After being given the algorithm problem, ask for the specific runtime your solution will need to have. Almost certainly, the interviewer will tell you. In my experience, interviewers will rarely tell you the runtime of the optimal solution. Regardless, very interesting blog post.

> In my experience, interviewers will rarely tell you the runtime of the optimal solution. I agree. As an interviewer, I genuinely want each candidate to do well and I think that, on balance, setting a specific complexity goal is likely to do more harm that good. For a strong candidate, it could limit their opportunity to shine by narrowing down the solution space and discouraging them from exploring tradeoffs (e.g.…

In my experience, "no solution at all" is already the default. When people choke on questions it is because they get stuck trying to guess at what you want, and panic thinking it must be some clever trick they don't recognize. Becasue we've all seen a million tricks and forgotten most of them.

If you're happy with just getting it done quick and dirty, at least as a start, then telling them so is obviously better than not doing so. Beyond that, anything more about what you want will help trigger their thinking in terms of the right approach. Unless of course you really are looking for some clever trick (and I have certainly seen those annoying questions).

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#115

Post by smallnamespace » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 2:52 AM UTC

titanomachy wrote: post #81

kache_ wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When gaming it is just passing by studying, a repeatable process that anyone (with a CS degree) can do, just means the interview process is quite well designed. The interview process is a test of endurance, not intelligence. And it should be exactly that, since software engineering is mostly an exercise of endurance and focus. Every time a friend of mine QQs about failing a FANG interview, I give them the study presc…

I don’t know if it’s as useful a signal as you imply. For me, it’s easy to be motivated studying leetcode: small, self-contained puzzles with just the right amount of challenge and immediate gratification. Actually doing a FAANG job can be a slog where it takes months to see results from your work. I can get hired as a software engineer wherever, but I’m only mediocre at doing the job. I’m not the only person I know…

No matter what the filtering process is, the average person in [industry] will be mediocre by definition.

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#116

Post by lvass » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 3:01 AM UTC

aurelianito wrote: post #4

The first example test given (rate limiter) gives a bad answer. I wouldn't use this method.

It's also trivially solvable in O(1) time using a double-ended queue, but that would deviate from the "algorithm" proposed by the article.

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#117

Post by 46756e » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 3:05 AM UTC

o10449366 wrote: post #112

kache_ wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When gaming it is just passing by studying, a repeatable process that anyone (with a CS degree) can do, just means the interview process is quite well designed. The interview process is a test of endurance, not intelligence. And it should be exactly that, since software engineering is mostly an exercise of endurance and focus. Every time a friend of mine QQs about failing a FANG interview, I give them the study presc…

Software engineers that QQ about how unfair algorithm interviews are are clearly out of touch with how difficult and truly unfair interviews are for other high paying industries like law or medicine (in the US) where getting interviews is based on pedigree and getting one or two rejections can permanently deny you from top firms/positions. There are always things that can be improved about interview processes, but ma…

Not especially experienced with interviewing, but definitely agree with this.

Leetcode sucks, but I’ll take it over how finance jobs are where it’s all about connections and where you interned when you were 19.

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#118

Post by simplestats » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 3:08 AM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #75

Frost1x wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's a full-fledged examination that expects you to excel while being constantly watched and judged. and interrupted, frequently, because that's also perfectly normal. It's comical how this industry now thinks these arcane and often quite difficult DS&A interview question processes are reasonable and how it's been so normalized people just study this for weeks before applying to a new position, sacrificing evenings…

Yeah but it's a "how much do you want this job?" test. Which is not necessarily crazy, if you want to retain people in the firm it makes some sense to have them feel they worked hard for it, plus that they might not get through the eyes of the needle next time.

Or even a "how hard do you throw yourself into overcoming hurdles" test, which would be more useful. Because the attraction of a job inversely correlates somewhat with your value to the company, since weaker applicants would be outperforming their ability in terms of pay.

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#119

Post by fermentation » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 3:16 AM UTC

o10449366 wrote: post #107

nomy99 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can you give me a link to one of these forums?

1point3acres is the most prolific, but there are many others.

Wow there seems to be an absolutely massive amount of useful information, maybe I should learn how to read it!

Re: An Algorithm for Passing Programming Interviews (2020)

#120

Post by ireadfaces » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 3:18 AM UTC

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #10

Before people start complaining about leetcode and how it doesnt exemplify skills: its a proxy for a combination of: intelligence and how hard you are willing to study the computer science knowledge shown is just a bonus EDIT: One last thing to throw in, its pretty clear that theres a correlation between the top software companies and how hard their leetcode interviews are. You can claim all you want it doesnt work,…

I have also worked with many companies that are pretty huge, cash positive, exploding growth, and with very complex software as their product. They made a rule of not hiring using DS&A after accidentaly coming across a tier-3 college student with no knowledge of DSA and still doing pretty well (and he didn't jump ships too), so then changed their strategy to: only test them for what you need from them. I will give it to Google and FB that their technical scale is much much larger than that company, so they might demand engineers who can understand that.