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I will not do a tech interview

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Re: I will not do a tech interview

#11

well you better have something to show then such as a public github repo.

A good github repo does go a long way. I have one project I did as an interview 'test' that I leave up there simply because it shows my thought process etc. It was not a proprietary thing so no sensitive information is in it.

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#12
post #4

Well, I need to interview candidates because I need to know if they are up for the job when systems breaks. If a table query fails because it needs a btree index due to range searches, I want the candidate to know how a btree index works and why it fixes the issue. Also If somebody cant tell me the difference between http udp and tcp, its a no hire for me. So for me, I really want to interview somebody before he can…

I never understood the fascination with asking an applicant about minutia of data structures and algorithms. Isn't that the domain of reference material?

I gain much more insight into a person by asking them to describe a large system they've designed, what choices they made, the effects those choices had, ect. How did their initial assumptions hold up through the course of the project? How did they adapt to changing requirements? These are the things you can't find the answer to in 30 seconds on stack overflow.

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#13
post #4

Well, I need to interview candidates because I need to know if they are up for the job when systems breaks. If a table query fails because it needs a btree index due to range searches, I want the candidate to know how a btree index works and why it fixes the issue. Also If somebody cant tell me the difference between http udp and tcp, its a no hire for me. So for me, I really want to interview somebody before he can…

I don't know what kind of work you're in, but "knowing how a btree index works" (i mean how it really works, not just knowing the word "b-tree", if that's what you meant, nm) ranks pretty high in my book, it'd be outright bizarre if that same person didn't know the difference between udp and tcp?

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#14
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only there were some way an employee could learn about btree's after taking a job...

I don't want my employees to have to learn everything just-in-time. By that logic, the people you hire wouldn't need to know anything. In addition, they don't know what they don't know, so they may not even know that they need a btree index.

Except that in my experience, software development is mostly about learning things just-in-time. Most projects pose new challenges, or you want to use new technologies, and so on.

Imagine you hired some Cobol developers some decades ago, and therefore you would still be stuck using Cobol on your projects.

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#15
post #4

Well, I need to interview candidates because I need to know if they are up for the job when systems breaks. If a table query fails because it needs a btree index due to range searches, I want the candidate to know how a btree index works and why it fixes the issue. Also If somebody cant tell me the difference between http udp and tcp, its a no hire for me. So for me, I really want to interview somebody before he can…

If only there were some way an employee could learn about btree's after taking a job...

The truth of the matter is that, for most of us, when faced with a problem we work with what we know. If you ensure breadth of knowledge, you can get better at each aspect, but if you only know a few fundamental ideas, that means that you have to be capable of looking at a problem and rediscovering the right data structure to handle it with. Essentially, you have to be as smart as the guys who came up with it in the first place and more. Better to know the data structures and how they work.

Recognition is easier than rediscovery.

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#16
I have passed a bunch of job interviews in the past - but I feel the exact same away and hire this way these days. I really do not see the point of brainteasers or white board coding questions if you have a budget where you can just pay out a contract like this.

Also, I believe there was an article posted here a few weeks back that indicated Google's brainteasers did not lead to quality candidates - I know I am cherry picking something that supports my beliefs but it was here nonetheless.

Also, I have interviewed a lot of people with 4.0 BS/MS in 5 years that turned out to be horrible employees. They were awesome with the brain teaser questions but sucked when they actually had to build something.

I guess I do not see how you can lose if you take the contract-to-hire approach ..

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#17
post #8

I like oracle way of hiring. You got a degree from a decent college with decent GPA you are in. Very clear and straight forward. If you got in a decent college and graduated with a decent GPA - you are smart and somewhat hardworking, you should be doing well in your job.

Google recently revealed that going back over the data they kept about past hires demonstrated that an individual's GPA was completely independent of the quality of their future contributions to the company.

Why should Oracle be any different?

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#18
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only there were some way an employee could learn about btree's after taking a job...

I don't want my employees to have to learn everything just-in-time. By that logic, the people you hire wouldn't need to know anything. In addition, they don't know what they don't know, so they may not even know that they need a btree index.

> I don't want my employees to have to learn everything just-in-time

What about just some things. And in most cases, it's not learning for the first time but brushing up on the topic. To expect people to have encyclopedic knowledge of every edge-case problem your company deals with on a day-to-day basis is ridiculous.

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#19
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only there were some way an employee could learn about btree's after taking a job...

I don't want my employees to have to learn everything just-in-time. By that logic, the people you hire wouldn't need to know anything. In addition, they don't know what they don't know, so they may not even know that they need a btree index.

I hire people based on their ability to learn, not what they know.

If you're asking interview questions that can be googled in 20-30 seconds, you're wasting your time and theirs.

Re: I will not do a tech interview

#20
post #4

Well, I need to interview candidates because I need to know if they are up for the job when systems breaks. If a table query fails because it needs a btree index due to range searches, I want the candidate to know how a btree index works and why it fixes the issue. Also If somebody cant tell me the difference between http udp and tcp, its a no hire for me. So for me, I really want to interview somebody before he can…

I never understood the fascination with asking an applicant about minutia of data structures and algorithms. Isn't that the domain of reference material? I gain much more insight into a person by asking them to describe a large system they've designed, what choices they made, the effects those choices had, ect. How did their initial assumptions hold up through the course of the project? How did they adapt to changing…

Put yourselves in the shoes of an employer. There are a hundred candidates applying to your position. Would the answer of "just trust me" convince you to hire one person above the 99 other applicants? If only one of those 100 applicants showed they had the skills you wanted, right out of the box, wouldn't you feel better about hiring him?

I think the attitude of "they should hire me, since I can learn anything" is self-centered. There are a lot more people that can't learn. Without testing methods available there is no way to distinguish the self-starters from the frauds.

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