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Tech Interview Torture Chamber

mattfriz.com

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181–190 of 232 posts

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#181

Post by D-Coder »

sverige wrote: post #92
snake_plissken wrote: post #48

Heh I've been applying to some gigs recently and those job application pages! They can be infuriatinggggg. Oh, upload the resume that you just spent 2 hours tweaking and feel great about? Simple enough you think. No, a parser tries to extract all of the relevant information from the PDF and place it in the appropriate fields with about a -50% success rate. Now it looks like you've had 5 jobs in the past 5 years. Want…

I've actually gotten to the point where I just skip applying to jobs when I'm redirected to one of those portals. Fuck 'em. The only exception is when I think it's a company I really, really want to work for, and there aren't many of those any more.

And each one wants you to create an account and a password, each with different requirements for # of letters, digits, and special characters. Because, you know, people are always trying to break into these sites to post fake resumes.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#182

Post by flukus »

buf wrote: post #124

I failed a technical interview recently. I was asked to write a rule engine, so I opened up Google and read about all the best ways about doing that for about 15 minutes of the interview. They weren't a fan. In the rejection email, they said I wasn't technical enough to fit in. I replied with my offer letter from Google.

If they think rules engines are a good idea then you probably dodged a bullet anyway.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#183

Post by flukus »

watwut wrote: post #41
Cakez0r wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't forget to treat everyone the same on the technical questions, whether they are a new grad with no professional experience or a 20 year veteran with a proven (and easily verifiable via references) track record of success. Don't know if you're being sarcastic here, but this is actually true. I've interviewed people who have worked in senior coding positions for years who have struggled to finish fizzbuzz style…

I would grill people who ask senior position more then those who look for junior position. Doing it other just don't make sense to me.

It needs to be a different style of grilling, based in their career. I don't remember how to write a bubble sort anymore, let alone other algorithms, those memories have been replaced by much more relevant information.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#184

Post by dragonwriter »

buf wrote: post #124

I failed a technical interview recently. I was asked to write a rule engine, so I opened up Google and read about all the best ways about doing that for about 15 minutes of the interview. They weren't a fan. In the rejection email, they said I wasn't technical enough to fit in. I replied with my offer letter from Google.

> I failed a technical interview recently. I was asked to write a rule engine,

Dear god, what? I mean, it's not an operating system, but that's hardly a reasonable interview task.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#185

Post by chrisbennet »

CriticalSection wrote: post #11

Surprised I don't see my main pet peeve - early reference check. Before I even talk to anyone I'm asked to provide three phone numbers of three former managers. So I have to call them up, make sure the number is still working, and ask for the favor that they can give me a reference in case anyone reads my application. All of these other things are on me. References I have to call two or three (or at one company, six)…

Don't give references to recruiters. Give references to hiring managers only.

Once, I had a friend and former employer call me and ask if I was looking for a job. I told him no, I wasn't.

Turns out, the recruiter was using "checking my references" simply as a pretext to call my former managers to ask if they were hiring.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#186

Post by Frondo »

flukus wrote: post #180
Frondo wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an interesting thought experiment, if the original poster had qualified every statement in a different way... "you just start working with a white person , giving the white person basic isolated tasks, and as the white person successfully progresses with their work, task are getting more and more complicated (salary, permissions as well). After few months of such freelance-ish work you can know for sure that thi…

> people should think more when they write, and make sure they think about what they're saying Maybe you should just stop overthinking what they wrote.

How is this overthinking?

They used heavily gendered language, someone pushed back, and I backed the person who pushed back.

You're probably a dude, too, huh, so reading he/his/him all the time doesn't phase you. Oh well. Keep goin', bro.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#187

Post by tomkaith13 »

Dont forget the recruiters with their standard template of tech/behavioral questions at the start of every round. "How do you find the inode of a file" or "Can you calculate 2^23 without using a calculator" or "tell me what drove you to apply to our beloved unicorn. What makes you worthy ?"

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#188

Post by hunglee2 »

The internet is not short of open letters from developers despairing of the broken recruitment process.

The prevailing sense is an objection to the submission to process required by candidate; submission to a reductive process designed to break a person down from a holistic human being to a set of scores, attributes or values, upon which a judgement is then passed. It is no exaggeration to say that this is inhumane.

We can change this, but the first thing that has to go is the idea of the 'candidate funnel' (check it out yourself - this idea is so pervase in recruitment, we even build software around it) - which in 2D looks exactly like what it is: a sausage machine.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#189

Post by truetuna »

WaxProlix wrote: post #118
sverige wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've actually gotten to the point where I just skip applying to jobs when I'm redirected to one of those portals. Fuck 'em. The only exception is when I think it's a company I really, really want to work for, and there aren't many of those any more.

If you really [think that you] want to work somewhere, and this is what I've done in the past, you can just look up their recruiters on linkedin or something and cold call them - most recruiters or HR departments are overjoyed at this kind of personal attention, and can even get you some perks and recognition along the way. Plus you just send a nice email (your cover letter essentially, but not as forced) and attach…

This!

I did exactly this before leaving my previous position. We had a friendly 45min call the next day, just talking about my current situation at the time and he was thrilled I reached out to him directly.

Re: Tech Interview Torture Chamber

#190

Post by krzrak »

ryandrake wrote: post #135
krzrak wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Want to do 10 interviews a month? You've blown half the month right there. Probably I wouldn't want to hire someone who does 10 interviews per month.

Go on...? Not sure I'm making the connection. I've done that many in a week during tough times.

I assumed someone habitually goes to 10 interviews a month, even if they have a job. I want an employee who works, not is constantly looking for some new gig.

Anyway, speaking from my experience in software development, most people I hired (and me, my friends) interviewed with 1-3 companies before choosing a new job. Once or twice I met people who bragged about "having 17 offers on the table, so you need to hurry with yours" - they weren't the people I would like to work with.

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