Becoming a dungeon master for an interview • Hacker News Board

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#41

Post by sailorganymede » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:28 PM UTC

dmoy wrote: post #37

one_buggy_boi wrote: post #33

> When interviewing as a software engineer, for example, you’ll run into places that lean heavily on algorithms interviews. And don’t get me wrong, those interviews can be fun (in the same way that Project Euler can be fun), but it’s not very relevant for most jobs I'm curious what changed around 2015-2016 that led to the current interview process. In the before times the interview was more of a technical conversatio…

> I'm curious what changed around 2015-2016 that led to the current interview process. In the before times the interview was more of a technical conversation, sure they had some gotcha questions, but nothing too brutal. If you had real experience that you co... Places just copied big tech companies that were already doing that for many years prior to 2015. I had leetcode style interviews well before 2010 even.

Pretty much this. Companies needed software engineers, looked at what Google was doing, and copied. And they call themselves innovative for doing it.

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#42

Post by kanbara » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:32 PM UTC

jstarfish wrote: post #27

paulcole wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great! Isn’t that the point? That some people who really don’t want the job won’t invest a bit of their time and people who do really want the job will?

[flagged]

leetcode interviews and intense algorithmic problems for roles which don’t require such acumen can definitely be ageist

the pronoun issue is your own, however, and speaks nothing to the character of colleagues who may be genderqueer. they aren’t aliens, they’re human beings.

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#43

Post by ProjectArcturis » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:35 PM UTC

jstarfish wrote: post #27

paulcole wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great! Isn’t that the point? That some people who really don’t want the job won’t invest a bit of their time and people who do really want the job will?

[flagged]

Not gonna lie, you had me in the first half.

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#44

Post by monlockandkey » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:38 PM UTC

one_buggy_boi wrote: post #33

> When interviewing as a software engineer, for example, you’ll run into places that lean heavily on algorithms interviews. And don’t get me wrong, those interviews can be fun (in the same way that Project Euler can be fun), but it’s not very relevant for most jobs I'm curious what changed around 2015-2016 that led to the current interview process. In the before times the interview was more of a technical conversatio…

Leetcode started around 2015

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#45

Post by kqr » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:39 PM UTC

This is called simulation and it is a useful tool both when selecting for and training for cognitive skills.

Importantly and usefully, simulations for cognitive work do not require any sort of physical fidelity, so it's really easy to set up basic scenarios like for hiring.

(The main cost in using simulation for training lies in designing scenarios that train for expertise. That takes slightly more advanced elicitation methods which fall under the umbrella of cognitive task analysis.)

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#46

Post by randomgiy3142 » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:41 PM UTC

A good interview should be a good fit for both parties. Just have a casual lunch with them. You should be able to tease out if they are a good fit. These “hacks” are so ridiculous. Way to overthink something.

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#47

Post by xw30992 » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:42 PM UTC

monlockandkey wrote: post #44

one_buggy_boi wrote: post #33

> When interviewing as a software engineer, for example, you’ll run into places that lean heavily on algorithms interviews. And don’t get me wrong, those interviews can be fun (in the same way that Project Euler can be fun), but it’s not very relevant for most jobs I'm curious what changed around 2015-2016 that led to the current interview process. In the before times the interview was more of a technical conversatio…

Leetcode started around 2015

Personally I love leetcode. I do it on Sundays like others do crossword puzzles.

But once upon a time these leetcode interviews made a ton of sense. Just getting your program to run at all was basically a leetcode exercise.

see for example: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/03/war-stories-how-princ...

I have my war stories too. It was fun but frustrating. Definitely not as productive as today.

Early 2000s internet was kind of like that too. The web was huge relative to what we had to work with and there wasn't the kind of products/services available then so asking leetcode stuff had a logic to it.

Admittedly, that's not where we are now for most programmers so it makes sense that the interview process should adapt.

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#48

Post by herval » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:50 PM UTC

xw30992 wrote: post #47

monlockandkey wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leetcode started around 2015

Personally I love leetcode. I do it on Sundays like others do crossword puzzles. But once upon a time these leetcode interviews made a ton of sense. Just getting your program to run at all was basically a leetcode exercise. see for example: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/03/war-stories-how-princ... I have my war stories too. It was fun but frustrating. Definitely not as productive as today. Early 2000s internet…

The kind of people who do best at FAANG interviews are the ones who enjoy leetcoding. We’re all selecting for the wrong skills.

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#49

Post by TheCleric » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:52 PM UTC

paulcole wrote: post #11

abathur wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> was willing to submit to it for the approval of this company I abstain, myself. I have too much real work that I'd like to push forward to be able justify spending weeks of free time on fake work.

Great! Isn’t that the point? That some people who really don’t want the job won’t invest a bit of their time and people who do really want the job will?

Sure. If what the company doing the hiring is explicitly trying to get employees who are willing to do that.

However if they just want knowledgeable, quality employees, some will self select out of that process.

Re: Becoming a dungeon master for an interview

#50

Post by bluedino » Sat, Feb 10, 2024, 9:53 PM UTC

dmoy wrote: post #37

one_buggy_boi wrote: post #33

> When interviewing as a software engineer, for example, you’ll run into places that lean heavily on algorithms interviews. And don’t get me wrong, those interviews can be fun (in the same way that Project Euler can be fun), but it’s not very relevant for most jobs I'm curious what changed around 2015-2016 that led to the current interview process. In the before times the interview was more of a technical conversatio…

> I'm curious what changed around 2015-2016 that led to the current interview process. In the before times the interview was more of a technical conversation, sure they had some gotcha questions, but nothing too brutal. If you had real experience that you co... Places just copied big tech companies that were already doing that for many years prior to 2015. I had leetcode style interviews well before 2010 even.

Part of the problem is people just memorize things for interviews. We interviewed three candidates that were almost exact copies of each other in their responses. Maybe they all read the same interview book?

I also witnessed someone give a completely wrong (algorithm) whiteboard answer to a problem. Obviously they weren't thinking about the problem as they did it.