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An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

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Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#101

Post by dingnuts »

stego-tech wrote: post #76
davedx wrote: post #6

Feels like in some sections of the US like big tech, the talent vetting process has evolved into some adversarial battle of attrition where the idea is to grind down the pool of candidates until only a few are left rather than find some potential new colleagues. Tools like this have emerged as a direct response to that process. What a bizarre way to begin a working relationship.

Sadly, these sorts of “practical interviews” aren’t just limited to Big Tech. There’s been an arms race for thirty years now between applicants and employers, the latter creating new hurdles to overcome and the former finding new ways to bypass unnecessary hurdles. Employers demanded applications instead of resumes, so candidates used copy machines. Then they wanted block lettering, so candidates used type writers. A…

this does NOT match my experience as an interviewer. Our company went through piles of candidates who were not qualified and it took us months to find a good fit after going through hundreds of resumes and scores of interviews.

I hope the folks we hired are paid enough to retain because there were was absolutely no glut of talent. It was hard to find the folks we wound up hiring. There was a glut of applications, yes, but the vast majority were totally unqualified.

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#102

Post by emseetech »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #92
davedx wrote: post #6

Feels like in some sections of the US like big tech, the talent vetting process has evolved into some adversarial battle of attrition where the idea is to grind down the pool of candidates until only a few are left rather than find some potential new colleagues. Tools like this have emerged as a direct response to that process. What a bizarre way to begin a working relationship.

I've recently been studying leetcode (for reasons) and went through an interview process. It was, by far, the most boring interview I've ever had to participate in. The leetcode problem was easy (detect if two strings are anagrams; solved with O(n) solution in talk about non-functional requirements -> write some API routes -> draw a load balancer (because of course, there's always a load balancer) -> draw a service -…

| distinct lack of focus on code reviews as part of the assessment

"Writing code is easy, reading code is hard"

An interview based on reading, explaining and critiquing complicated code would give a better window into a candidate's skills than having them solve the kind of coding challenge that can be completed in a short interview.

Also, being able to identify which algorithms would be useful in solving a unique problem and explain what the pros & cons are would go further than implementing an algorithm abstractly.

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#103

Post by lordnacho »

sirwhinesalot wrote: post #29

I don't get why companies waste time with this sort of interview that just turns into this stupid cat and mouse game. Even ignoring this sort of software, someone cramming leet code exercises is the same thing in my view (they won't remember or use in their work 99% of that stuff). Just talk to the person, talk about the sorts of problems you expect them to solve. Can they understand the problem? Do they have ideas o…

I agree. My whole interview technique is just to have a long conversation with the person.

My team was hiring recently. Guy comes on, says he's never used Rust, but has some thoughts on it. We talked about all the pros and cons of it, what the system requirements would be, and so on. He talks us through everything to do with the domain, just two seniors talking to each other at a high level. Very pleasant.

We hire him, and a month later he's making idiomatic Rust.

No need to put people through a ridiculous gauntlet.

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#104

Post by emseetech »

davedx wrote: post #6

Feels like in some sections of the US like big tech, the talent vetting process has evolved into some adversarial battle of attrition where the idea is to grind down the pool of candidates until only a few are left rather than find some potential new colleagues. Tools like this have emerged as a direct response to that process. What a bizarre way to begin a working relationship.

The move away from on-the-job training has played a role. If a company doesn't provide any early guidance and mentorship (which everyone could use regardless of industry experience), then that has to be replaced by finding the perfect candidate who can immediately be productive.

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#105

Post by BurningFrog »

emseetech wrote: post #102
CharlieDigital wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've recently been studying leetcode (for reasons) and went through an interview process. It was, by far, the most boring interview I've ever had to participate in. The leetcode problem was easy (detect if two strings are anagrams; solved with O(n) solution in talk about non-functional requirements -> write some API routes -> draw a load balancer (because of course, there's always a load balancer) -> draw a service -…

| distinct lack of focus on code reviews as part of the assessment "Writing code is easy, reading code is hard" An interview based on reading, explaining and critiquing complicated code would give a better window into a candidate's skills than having them solve the kind of coding challenge that can be completed in a short interview. Also, being able to identify which algorithms would be useful in solving a unique pro…

That was my favorite interview ever.

The guy gave me 30 lines of code, and asked questions about it. Including finding the questionable constructs in it.

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#106

Post by tail_exchange »

This kind of tool is why companies will push back towards on-site interviews, and consequently RTO, given that the people who interviewed are the ones who could easily go to the office to be interviewed.

Honestly, it's hard to blame the company. If the employee is willing to lie and cheat even before they were hired, it's expected that companies will take away their tool to do it: remote calls and WFH. As always, the honest worker gets shafted.

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#107

Post by shlant »

qwer1234321 wrote: post #32

I might be calling obvious but if candidate uses something like this, is this not lying to potential employer? I'd rather be rejected than got job I'm not qualified to do, that's why I never prepare for interview above studying the actual company- and that is more to give me proper signal if I want to work for them, I want to be motivated to make move on more than just money. I also have never done leetcode, though I…

> I'd rather be rejected than got job I'm not qualified to do

As many people have pointed out, the interview process has diverged from real-world, day-to-day tasks you would be expected to accomplish once you get the job. Not actually being able to do a leetcode test (either due to lacking knowledge or interview stress) might not have any reflection on someones ability to succeed in the role they are interviewing for. How many people are dealing with sorting algorithms or traversing binary trees without access to the internet as part of their job?

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#108

Post by tmpz22 »

tail_exchange wrote: post #106

This kind of tool is why companies will push back towards on-site interviews, and consequently RTO, given that the people who interviewed are the ones who could easily go to the office to be interviewed. Honestly, it's hard to blame the company. If the employee is willing to lie and cheat even before they were hired, it's expected that companies will take away their tool to do it: remote calls and WFH. As always, the…

Yeah tech has always been a meritocracy built on ethics and we need to remember that.

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#109

Post by CharlieDigital »

BurningFrog wrote: post #105
emseetech wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

| distinct lack of focus on code reviews as part of the assessment "Writing code is easy, reading code is hard" An interview based on reading, explaining and critiquing complicated code would give a better window into a candidate's skills than having them solve the kind of coding challenge that can be completed in a short interview. Also, being able to identify which algorithms would be useful in solving a unique pro…

That was my favorite interview ever. The guy gave me 30 lines of code, and asked questions about it. Including finding the questionable constructs in it.

It was also my favorite interview format as well.

Interviewer had a small API. Found missing error handling, missing validations, poor choice of ID column type, missing index for a high volume read query, possible XSS vector.

Loved the format so much I ended up making a small FOSS tool for code review as interview: https://coderev.app

Re: An invisible desktop application that will help you pass technical interviews

#110

Post by eastbound »

stego-tech wrote: post #76
davedx wrote: post #6

Feels like in some sections of the US like big tech, the talent vetting process has evolved into some adversarial battle of attrition where the idea is to grind down the pool of candidates until only a few are left rather than find some potential new colleagues. Tools like this have emerged as a direct response to that process. What a bizarre way to begin a working relationship.

Sadly, these sorts of “practical interviews” aren’t just limited to Big Tech. There’s been an arms race for thirty years now between applicants and employers, the latter creating new hurdles to overcome and the former finding new ways to bypass unnecessary hurdles. Employers demanded applications instead of resumes, so candidates used copy machines. Then they wanted block lettering, so candidates used type writers. A…

As an employer, I know candidates use LinkedIn’s “Apply in one click” in bulk. When we contact them, half of them notice they don’t even fit the criteria in our ad (be a Java developer, for starters).
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