I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days • Hacker News Board

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#151

Post by ForrestN » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:46 PM UTC

m0zg wrote: post #137

ForrestN wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you do some quick research, you'll find that the harmful nature of Facebook is the subject of a vast public discourse in the United States and Europe. Lots of academics and public health professionals continue to research the negative consequences of facebook use. It's not an opinion, but I suppose it could still be considered a subject of some controversy. The best evidence I've seen, and that the commentators I…

Facebook's only real "fault" is that the "wrong" person got elected president in the US. The rest is just a politically motivated pile-on with tenuous evidence IMO, which wouldn't even be a subject of "vast public discourse" if someone else won. >> negative consequences of facebook use Do those "academics" also research the positive consequences as well? I'm in touch with my high school and university friends to this…

I encourage you to read the essay, and then also imagine your last paragraph with "cigarettes" instead of "FB."

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#152

Post by thefourthchime » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:47 PM UTC

odorousrex wrote: post #80

guessmyname wrote: post #9

> If it’s of any use: I was interviewing for my second job out of college with about two and a half years of experience without any particularly notable internships or employers on my resume; I went to a very small school that had zero known software companies at their “career fair”; I started preparing in late April and started applying in June/July; and, lastly, a few months in, my job is everything I could have po…

I cannot help but think that these big tech companies (FAANG, et. al) are missing out on diversifying and increasing their engineering expertise by passing over developers like you. I often think what would Google/Facebook would be like if they hired in some experienced engineers that may not be able to whiteboard a BFS tree or can tell you Djikstra's algorithm, but have proven business track records of getting proje…

I think companies are trying to find superheros. I would say maybe 5% of the people I've worked with are worlds smarter and more productive than the average programmer (like me).

Those people generally also do well on those whiteboard questions.

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#153

Post by SamReidHughes » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:47 PM UTC

randcraw wrote: post #122

SamReidHughes wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because Facebook makes one of the most useful pieces of software for everyday people. It's not a "destructive" product.

Many in Myanmar and Philippines might disagree. Facebook Admits It Was Used to Incite Violence in Myanmar https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/technology/myanmar-facebo... What Happens When the Government Uses Facebook as a Weapon? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-07/how-rodri...

It's a communication platform. You want a censored internet.

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#154

Post by dominotw » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:47 PM UTC

Cookingboy wrote: post #61

As someone who has interviewed with 3 of those 6 companies and gotten offers from all 3, I think the best way to approach these interviews is to not walk in with the mentality that it's a one sided "test" where you are put on a spot to defend yourself. In reality it's more often than not a role-playing exercise where you are pretending to be coworkers trying to solve problems together. Sure you'd be the one leading t…

dude at AirBnb asked me why didn't manage to get into (indian) IIT. Umm..because i am not smart enough?

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#155

Post by dekhn » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:48 PM UTC

quickthrower2 wrote: post #126

mav3rick wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just ridiculous. BFS is such a useful building block. If you're stubborn enough to not spend 10 mins on this the best of luck.

BFS is common sense. It’s what you use when you’ve lost your car keys for example. Quickly check each room in the house, then if no luck go one layer deeper in each room.

uh, I thoroughly search each room, starting at the left corner and recursively iterating via a hilbert curve.

doesn't everybody?

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#156

Post by anth_anm » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:48 PM UTC

guessmyname wrote: post #9

> If it’s of any use: I was interviewing for my second job out of college with about two and a half years of experience without any particularly notable internships or employers on my resume; I went to a very small school that had zero known software companies at their “career fair”; I started preparing in late April and started applying in June/July; and, lastly, a few months in, my job is everything I could have po…

2.5 years out of college sounds like it's still in that sweet spot where you can just grind Leetcode and pass interviews.

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#157

Post by nissimk » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:48 PM UTC

m0zg wrote: post #34

markdoubleyou wrote: post #12

"After about a month of consistently practicing problems each day (maybe 2–3 hours/day, more on weekends)..." I'm reading this as a guy with a wife, kids, full-time job, and rusty whiteboarding skills. My inability to make this kind of time investment makes me feel trapped at my current position.

The whole process is a roll of the dice. The more senior the role, the less fair that roll of the dice will be. If you can accept this fact, you don't have to be "trapped". That's how I think of it anyway: I never spend more than 2 weeks (_very_ part time) preparing. I do get rejected sometimes, but I get plenty of good offers too.

Yeah, I agree.. Doing enough prep to get a hundred percent acceptance rate is not worth it. And it is a level I couldn't achieve anyhow. I've done fine on my career with 50 percent or lower acceptance rate at interviews. It's one of the things I'm the worst at in this industry, but you only need to change jobs fairly infrequently.

I also question a lot of these "I landed every offer" claims. People often exaggerate their victories.

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#158

Post by m0zg » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:48 PM UTC

ForrestN wrote: post #151

m0zg wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook's only real "fault" is that the "wrong" person got elected president in the US. The rest is just a politically motivated pile-on with tenuous evidence IMO, which wouldn't even be a subject of "vast public discourse" if someone else won. >> negative consequences of facebook use Do those "academics" also research the positive consequences as well? I'm in touch with my high school and university friends to this…

I encourage you to read the essay, and then also imagine your last paragraph with "cigarettes" instead of "FB."

Why would anyone read the essay titled "The case against Facebook" and hope to get a balanced view?

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#159

Post by maccio92 » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:48 PM UTC

odorousrex wrote: post #80

guessmyname wrote: post #9

> If it’s of any use: I was interviewing for my second job out of college with about two and a half years of experience without any particularly notable internships or employers on my resume; I went to a very small school that had zero known software companies at their “career fair”; I started preparing in late April and started applying in June/July; and, lastly, a few months in, my job is everything I could have po…

I cannot help but think that these big tech companies (FAANG, et. al) are missing out on diversifying and increasing their engineering expertise by passing over developers like you. I often think what would Google/Facebook would be like if they hired in some experienced engineers that may not be able to whiteboard a BFS tree or can tell you Djikstra's algorithm, but have proven business track records of getting proje…

Yeah honestly, I think those are the type of engineers that are more suitable for managing other engineers, and the really heavy ones are more suited for strictly engineering.

Re: I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days

#160

Post by MeltySmelty » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:50 PM UTC

m0zg wrote: post #38

51lver wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ex FB user here checking in. FB free since `11. There's a ton of us.

Nevertheless, you are a small minority outside the HN bubble.

Haha, no. Keep telling yourself that, shill-boy.