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Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

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Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#211

Post by indymike »

voiceblue wrote: post #93
lotsoweiners wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 7. Background checks start in parallel with on-boarding. First week is spent with business unit teams to learn what the company actually, really does. Yikes!!! I’ve never heard of a potential employer giving offers before background check. Do you tell candidates this before they quit their current jobs?

Exactly. A lot can unexpectedly go wrong during a background check, some companies ask employees for (very old) W2's they may not have, etc. There was a time when I worked at and a new co-worker suddenly disappeared without a trace, and I was told in confidence by a VP they "were not who they said they were" which I presume means they failed a background check. This was during growing pains, they were probably doing…

We're not doing a salary verification so we don't make the new hire provide a bunch of data, aside answering questions about where you lived, when. We are doing a court record and criminal background check. When we have a problem 100% of the time the new hire has misrepresented themselves. We tell people exactly what the background check will discover, and we've even hired people who have disclosed issues prior to the check (nothing serious).

Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#212

Post by indymike »

gambiting wrote: post #197
indymike wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is normal for non-tech employers. It is novel in tech, but not something that is bonkers in other sectors. We're able to have developers on the payroll three-four weeks before offers are out by competitors.

I wonder where you find developers desperate enough to accept such conditions - I'm not sure I'd want to work with them.

This has never been a problem, except when someone is currently employed and is leaving a job to take one at our company. Right now, there's a lot of really good talent that does not have this issue.

Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#213

Post by Tainnor »

Aurornis wrote: post #29
shortrounddev2 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not him but 1.) DS and Algo knowledge are way overrated in day-to-day job functions. I have yet to have to implement a single DS or Algo from those classes (they are almost always available to the framework, standard library, or language), runtime complexity has literally never once come up in my life, and the most I've ever needed to know about data structures is "which one should I use here?" and 99% of the time it…

> runtime complexity has literally never once come up in my life There are definitely different types of programming jobs, but for some contrast: I have never had a job where runtime complexity did not come up as a significant factor somewhat frequently. It really comes down to what you’re doing, but at a certain scale or size of problem you really do need to know about algorithms, data structures, and runtime comple…

> There are definitely different types of programming jobs

That's what most people on HN forget. The programming world is huge. Even more so, if you include all the stuff we wouldn't traditionally include, such as people using code to optimise business or production processes.

It's always best to assume that you don't know what "most software jobs" are like, because you're very unlikely to have seen more than a tiny slice of it.

Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#215

Post by mardifoufs »

wly_cdgr wrote: post #214

You misunderstand, interviews are about gatekeeping, not about demonstrating relevant competence

And what would be the purpose of said 'gatekeeping' (that word really lost its meaning)? I'm pretty sure the intention is to filter out bad candidates, so if that's gatekeeping well... I guess hiring is inherently about gatekeeping

Not saying the method works, but I think it's weird to argue that it isn't at least an attempt at having good candidates.

Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#216

Post by mywittyname »

burkaman wrote: post #120
lotsoweiners wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 7. Background checks start in parallel with on-boarding. First week is spent with business unit teams to learn what the company actually, really does. Yikes!!! I’ve never heard of a potential employer giving offers before background check. Do you tell candidates this before they quit their current jobs?

Yeah this sounds like it should be illegal, although it's probably allowed in the US. There's no way it is clearly communicated to candidates, I don't think most people would agree to a contract that says "FYI we might fire you after a week if HireRight doesn't like you, no we can't check beforehand you'll just have to hope you meet our standards."

Yes, I agree that the company should be clear about this upfront.

I would think that people affected by this are probably used to this coming up and are up-front with what happened before the accepting the offer. "Hey, so great to hear about the verbal offer. So about white collar crimes..."

Unless the company is somehow getting expunged records or something like that, it's likely that the person is lying about something they shouldn't have and got caught.

Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#217

Post by klinquist »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #202
klinquist wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Undisclosed felonies is a popular one.

Had they disclosed the felony would they have made it that far?

I have heard of employers allowing you to explain them, yes. Example: Felony DUI: explain your remediation steps, AA, etc.

Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#218

Post by mywittyname »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #202
klinquist wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Undisclosed felonies is a popular one.

Had they disclosed the felony would they have made it that far?

Maybe. But they definitely should have brought it up before accepting the offer.

Embezzlement or something? Probably a no-go, especially if you are anywhere near money.

There's a whole host of crimes out there that you could have committed and be hired after. But the opportunity to explain yourself looks much better if you do it before accepting the offer.

Re: Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode – Try Code Reviews Instead

#219

Post by smegsicle »

bojo wrote: post #183
flashgordon wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a dark side of side projects (pun unintended). I went to an interview which was a nodejs shop. I was excited as they wanted to see a side project. Most of mine are just things I do for fun. Anyway it was in golang (with lots of control plane like features for a "fun" saas offering). Cto wasnt happy that I had chosen go and wanted to know why I hadn't chosen Node instead. (Never mind my Fe was in typescript).…

Yeesh, sounds like you dodged a huge bullet. What an insanely narrow minded individual. I want to see good engineering practices, I might be curious about your language decision, but I'd never tear you apart for your choice.

right, and i even explained that node was for single-language simpletons, but he didn't like that either
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