One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews • Hacker News Board

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#11

Post by shiftb » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:07 PM UTC

elbear wrote: post #7

Maybe it works for them, but I don't find any motivation to work on test project that exist only for their own sake. I mean, if the test project is actually a part of the real project that I would be working, then that's okay. But to build something with made up requirements puts me off.

The challenges are all real projects that we've already built (and thus have a baseline for).

We don't agree with brainteaser interviews. Having someone build a made up project would be just as bad as a brainteaser. We wouldn't do that to a candidate.

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#12

Post by ryanSrich » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:08 PM UTC

jlarocco wrote: post #10

ryanSrich wrote: post #8

Am I missing something here? The title says 1 hour hire but the problem listed says 7.5 (rails test: 0.5, backend: 3, frontend: 4). That seems anything but efficient and somewhat strange. Why not provide the potential candidate with some actual work that you need done?

7.5 hours of candidate time, one hour of the hiring engineer time.

So they expect me to put in 7.5 hours of my time but they only want to spend an hour of their time. Got it. Sounds like a great company to work for...

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#13

Post by apoorvamehta » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:09 PM UTC

nahname wrote: post #4

Algorithms are easy, the solutions are all online. Cleaning up code is hard. Give the candidate a project with some failing tests and messed up code. Tell them to clean it up and add a feature or two. Congrats, you just tested someone on what they will actually be doing in their day job.

Fully agreed. We look at code cleanliness as part of the review. And, the algorithmic questions are not problems that you'd normally find online. They are custom problem that we've had to solve at Instacart

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#14

Post by lumens » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:09 PM UTC

trailnay wrote: post #3

"unable to implement a simple linked list" "Vet the technical competency of full stack rails engineers..." because there are linked lists in ruby? rolleyes 3 hrs of backend/algo testing? rolleyes 4 hrs of frontend? rolleyes I hope they enjoyed tooting their own horn, yet another place I know to avoid bothering to interview at.

This. As a company, you miss out on the best candidates by implementing an interview process that serves your needs almost exclusively (at the expense of the candidate's desires).

Why didn't the engineers sit around the room and say, "Why do only 1 of 100 candidates that we interview meet our bar? Are we sourcing the right people?" or "Why does it take us 8 hours of someones engineering time to figure out if we want them to meet the team?".

Asking the best candidates–the ones you really want to hire–to do a full day of work just to be able to meet the team is insanity.

Full disclosure: Founder of Mighty Spring (https://www.mightyspring.com) — we're solving exactly these sorts of problems (for both companies and candidates) by turning a truly great recruiting interaction into a web service. Invites are sent out regularly.

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#15

Post by patmcc » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:10 PM UTC

shiftb wrote: post #11

elbear wrote: post #7

Maybe it works for them, but I don't find any motivation to work on test project that exist only for their own sake. I mean, if the test project is actually a part of the real project that I would be working, then that's okay. But to build something with made up requirements puts me off.

The challenges are all real projects that we've already built (and thus have a baseline for). We don't agree with brainteaser interviews. Having someone build a made up project would be just as bad as a brainteaser. We wouldn't do that to a candidate.

So you believe in 8 hours * 99 applications (792 hours total - 4 months of work) of wasted time (not even your time) per hire?

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#16

Post by apoorvamehta » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:11 PM UTC

ryanSrich wrote: post #12

jlarocco wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

7.5 hours of candidate time, one hour of the hiring engineer time.

So they expect me to put in 7.5 hours of my time but they only want to spend an hour of their time. Got it. Sounds like a great company to work for...

One day for a several year investment seems pretty logical to us.

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#17

Post by jlarocco » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:11 PM UTC

ryanSrich wrote: post #12

jlarocco wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

7.5 hours of candidate time, one hour of the hiring engineer time.

So they expect me to put in 7.5 hours of my time but they only want to spend an hour of their time. Got it. Sounds like a great company to work for...

Agreed. Maybe their next step can be a 1-800 number style menu system for doing the initial phone screenings :)

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#18

Post by hablahaha » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:13 PM UTC

rnovak wrote: post #5

"...We've had to pass on some amazing engineers just because they did not have the rails web, front or back end experience. " Why would anyone want to work with amazing engineers?

That statement is pretty much antithesis to everything anyone has ever said about hiring amazing engineers...What's ironic is, a Rails interview test is actually best for people who are willing to learn Rails and demonstrate that they can solve your problem with your tools. It's not really great (and potentially offensive) for people who will most likely be able to pass those tests in their sleep.

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#19

Post by shiftb » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:13 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #6

Sorry, but they're crazy if they think halfway decent engineers are going to spend 7.5 hours of their time doing a coding quiz before they even have a personal interview with them. They seem to be forgetting that potential engineers are interviewing them just as much as they're interviewing the engineers -- and such a crazy up-front time commitment is a sure way to weed out the engineers who have better things to do…

I understand why you got that impression.

We've automated the technical skills part of it. Hiring at Instacart isn't a completely automated, no personal interaction, process.

In between the candidate applying and the technical challenges is usually a phone call where we talk to the candidate to make sure we're on the same page. We find out what their goals are and if we can help. We explain how we work, and see if they'll like it. We explain the hiring process. We answer questions they have about us.

If we're both happy at the end of the call then we move them into the automated process.

Re: One Hour Hire - Hacking Engineer Interviews

#20

Post by minimaxir » Tue, Oct 08, 2013, 10:15 PM UTC

apoorvamehta wrote: post #16

ryanSrich wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they expect me to put in 7.5 hours of my time but they only want to spend an hour of their time. Got it. Sounds like a great company to work for...

One day for a several year investment seems pretty logical to us.

Employment is a two-way street, especially for someone in-demand as a Rails engineer.