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We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

blog.interviewing.io

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Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#131

Post by [deleted] »

desdiv wrote: post #90
poikniok wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must ask, did you get a university degree and if so how? Personally I have found interviews to be trivial compared to exams in school, so while I do get quite nervous for some of my math examinations I have never had this experience in interviews.

I have a CS degree from a first-tier school. My experience with exams and interviews is almost the exact opposite of yours. In exams I don't get as nervous because I know that if I know the material then I will pass, if I don't then I won't. You can't bullshit your way past the professor/TA grading your exam. But in interviews I know that people who are far better than me have failed[0], and that people less competen…

[deleted]

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#132

Post by Sacho »

b0rsuk wrote: post #112
poikniok wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must ask, did you get a university degree and if so how? Personally I have found interviews to be trivial compared to exams in school, so while I do get quite nervous for some of my math examinations I have never had this experience in interviews.

Last but not least, after you fail an exam you can usually see it with errors underlined and often have the teacher explain them for you. If you answer interview questions in a suboptimal way, you get no feedback. You don't know what was the error you made, if any. Maybe another candidate simply read about the logic puzzle that was used. The canned response I got was "We're sorry, but we can't currently recruit you.…

Hmm sure, but companies that don't give canned responses are liable for lawsuits. A teacher's explanation can be wrong or misleading. I've also had some of teachers refuse to explain the alleged errors in my work, and I've even had to argue with teachers that they are wrong and I'm right.

I suppose if you went to a great school and then to some shitty interviews, you'd like the school more than the interviews, and vice versa. The difference however is that a teacher is only motivated by their altruism to help you, whereas a company has actual financial motivation to find good people during the interview.

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#133

Post by wolco »

jroseattle wrote: post #125
wyager wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being an introvert isn't an excuse for poor communication. Regardless of its cause, poor communication is bad in a work environment, and it makes sense for interviews to select against it.

This is significant, and can be more so depending on the company and environment. I've had my own team members tell me they aren't engaged, don't speak up in meetings, etc. because they are an introvert. Like it's a condition we must accommodate. Bullshit. Communication is a skill. We value clear communication in our company. If you join our company, you may not be an expert in communication, but you will grow that s…

If you want diversity you try to accommodate different personaility types. Otherwise you end up with a mono culture.

There is value in silence and limited communication.

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#134

Post by vacri »

sundvor wrote: post #96
graphememes wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally to get candidates who are like this to open up, I simply assert: "Tell me what you are thinking about right now" "What is jumping out at you for you to be stalling?" "Did you see something?" --> "Why?" --> "You seem to be quiet and deep in thought, what are you thinking about?" etc...

Yeah, that's great if you're NT and all that, but if you're interviewing someone who is anxious about the situation this might only add to the pressure, creating a melt down situation making it impossible for them to think. In a normal work environment where he or she is left to think freely the the same candidate might excel .

You can bikeshed interviewing processes that leave out this or that potential candidate forever. And any candidate who bombs in any kind of interview could turn out to be the next Einstein.

There is no one-size-fits-all interview technique; if there was, it would be used all over the place. Good interviewing techniques are about playing the numbers, not leaving no programmer behind.

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#135

Post by [deleted] »

_0ffh wrote: post #63
watwut wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Half the people don't even tell me what they are thinking." Maybe they are introverted or simply need to think before they talk. Around 50% of people are introverted (less in usa). Many people are like that and simultaneously quite skilled. Moreover, some environments punish errors, so people who worked/studied there tend to be conditioned to think before talking. "And no matter how many times I try to work with the…

I'm not sure about introverted. I am, but when I get excited about a topic, I can be as loud as the next person. As long as I feel I have something to contribute, that is. I can rant for two minutes straight and then suddenly and unexpectedly shut up when I've made my point. People are sometimes surprised and ask why I suddenly stopped talking. I'll answer: "I've made my point."... :3 So my bet is on error avoidance.

[deleted]

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#136

Post by javabean22 »

paganel wrote: post #73
lettergram wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually how I conduct interviews. It's been immensely successful at weeding out candidates within 5 minutes; although most interviews are 45 - 60 minutes. Basically, give them less than ten lines of code, ask them what it does, where are a couple bugs, ask what would you name the function, etc. Then we talk about how to improve it. I'd say, less than 20% of people I interview pass. It's actually amazingly low…

> Half the people don't even tell me what they are thinking. And no matter how many times I try to work with them, act like their buddy, or w.e. they just kind of shut down. They think in their head, don't work through the problem at all. As it happens most of my "aha!" code-related moments come when I'm either under the shower or when I'm washing the dishes. Very rarely did it happen for me to look at a piece code w…

omg, are you me. No ahas at interviews. Good to great ahas at random times. Fuck whiteboarding interviews.

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#137

Post by flukus »

_0ffh wrote: post #63
watwut wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Half the people don't even tell me what they are thinking." Maybe they are introverted or simply need to think before they talk. Around 50% of people are introverted (less in usa). Many people are like that and simultaneously quite skilled. Moreover, some environments punish errors, so people who worked/studied there tend to be conditioned to think before talking. "And no matter how many times I try to work with the…

I'm not sure about introverted. I am, but when I get excited about a topic, I can be as loud as the next person. As long as I feel I have something to contribute, that is. I can rant for two minutes straight and then suddenly and unexpectedly shut up when I've made my point. People are sometimes surprised and ask why I suddenly stopped talking. I'll answer: "I've made my point."... :3 So my bet is on error avoidance.

I'm pretty similar, but solving a bug in an interview question is hardly something I'd get excited about.

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#138

Post by watwut »

wyager wrote: post #120
watwut wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Half the people don't even tell me what they are thinking." Maybe they are introverted or simply need to think before they talk. Around 50% of people are introverted (less in usa). Many people are like that and simultaneously quite skilled. Moreover, some environments punish errors, so people who worked/studied there tend to be conditioned to think before talking. "And no matter how many times I try to work with the…

Being an introvert isn't an excuse for poor communication. Regardless of its cause, poor communication is bad in a work environment, and it makes sense for interviews to select against it.

Thinking in your head before talking is not poor communication through. Not being able to explain yourself is, never talking is and shooting every half baked idea loud while others concentrate is.

The fact that someone takes time to put together ideas before opening their mouth is not bad sign. Bad sign would be if they don't share result once they have done thinking.

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#139

Post by javabean22 »

desdiv wrote: post #74
Jemaclus wrote: post #5

> Furthermore, no matter what, poor technical ability seems highly correlated with poor communication ability – regardless of language, it’s relatively rare for candidates to perform well technically but not effectively communicate what they’re doing (or vice versa), largely (and fortunately) debunking the myth of the incoherent, fast-talking, awkward engineer. My interpretation of this is that interviewees who can c…

When I'm nervous, I don't communicate well. When I'm nervous, I don't code well. I don't know about other people, but for me personally, when you measure me under a high-stress situation, all you are measuring is just my level of nervousness.

That's A Bingo. That's how false negatives are made.

Re: We analyzed thousands of interviews on everything from language to code style

#140

Post by watwut »

jroseattle wrote: post #125
wyager wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being an introvert isn't an excuse for poor communication. Regardless of its cause, poor communication is bad in a work environment, and it makes sense for interviews to select against it.

This is significant, and can be more so depending on the company and environment. I've had my own team members tell me they aren't engaged, don't speak up in meetings, etc. because they are an introvert. Like it's a condition we must accommodate. Bullshit. Communication is a skill. We value clear communication in our company. If you join our company, you may not be an expert in communication, but you will grow that s…

"don't speak up in meetings"

People should speak in meetings when they have something to say. Not just so they speak - that just waste everybody time.

The more important point is that if 80% of people shut down while they are talking to someone, maybe has more to do with that someone then 80% of population being uncommunicative.

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