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Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

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Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#21

Post by sbierwagen »

tn13 wrote: post #11

As someone who has first hand experienced cheating in interviews I think this is an extremely good move. I know some people in bay area who are making > $100k in cash (no taxes paid) just by answering screening interviews on other people's behalf. This is called "interview by proxy" and the person generally takes first month's salary as remuneration in cash.

I find this hard to believe.

The only hit for "interview by proxy" relevant to technical interviewing seems to be a TDWTF article.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#23

Post by pavlov »

tn13 wrote: post #11

As someone who has first hand experienced cheating in interviews I think this is an extremely good move. I know some people in bay area who are making > $100k in cash (no taxes paid) just by answering screening interviews on other people's behalf. This is called "interview by proxy" and the person generally takes first month's salary as remuneration in cash.

If an employer is so disorganized that this doesn't become obvious during the first month of working there, they probably have much greater problems than cheating on their idiotic cargo cult coding tests, and fixing the cheating would do absolutely nothing to save the company.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#26

Post by mynameisvlad »

zeppelin101 wrote: post #19
quantumtremor wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree that cheating should be curbed. But not at the expense of tracking every running application on a computer, or the exact location of interviewees. Videochat and on-site interviews exist and don't have these kind of problems.

Ok, but any techie should have little problem preparing an environment for such a test. Use that freshly formatted, dusted off laptop from college? Maybe even consider using a VM, like others suggested. Or how about install a portable version of Google Chrome, so no existing browser data or extensions would be a cause for concern (or worse, imagine a buggy extension crashing the browser and, thus, ending the test ses…

But the real question is: should they have to? Quantumtremor already listed several alternatives that indeed don't have the same problems. Why would you risk ruining the goodwill of your privacy-conscious applicants by making them format a laptop, create a VM, or even install another application. None of that is going to make me want to do your interview.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#27

Post by bsg75 »

> You will not be able to open any tabs or windows

If I had to code purely from memory, without the benefit of language or library docs, I would not be able to write anything of use.

Personally when hiring, I'm not interested in a candidate's memory recall, but the ability to use resources when faced with a new challenge.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#28

Post by brianwawok »

pavlov wrote: post #23
tn13 wrote: post #11

As someone who has first hand experienced cheating in interviews I think this is an extremely good move. I know some people in bay area who are making > $100k in cash (no taxes paid) just by answering screening interviews on other people's behalf. This is called "interview by proxy" and the person generally takes first month's salary as remuneration in cash.

If an employer is so disorganized that this doesn't become obvious during the first month of working there, they probably have much greater problems than cheating on their idiotic cargo cult coding tests, and fixing the cheating would do absolutely nothing to save the company.

"Wow funny how you were an Asian woman on the phone screen, and the first day of work you are a white male. Oh well, must just be a mistake"

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#29

Post by morganvachon »

zeppelin101 wrote: post #4

Wait, I see nothing wrong with any of this. Obviously Amazon is trying to curb cheating on remote coding/compatibility tests. They don't actually care to collect any info about you beyond what you do during the test. They don't care which websites you visit before or after the test. Or how you use your clipboard - after the test. But during the test, it's not so unreasonable. People do cheat, especially if they can g…

In a practical sense, it's not much different from a math instructor having you clear the memory on your graphing calculator before an exam; it's an anti-cheating measure and given that this is an online assessment, it almost makes sense.

However, from a philosophical point of view, it's Draconian and unnerving. What assurance does the interviewee have that Amazon isn't storing and using all this telemetry? Amazon is dictating the entire procedure, right down to the specific browser and extension, and the interviewee has no control over this. In fact, I have to wonder if the job seeker's acquiescence is part of the assessment; if they will bend over and take this massively invasive procedure, perhaps they will make for a good little subservient drone at Amazon.

I'm with the author, screw that shit.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#30

Post by quantumtremor »

zeppelin101 wrote: post #19
quantumtremor wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree that cheating should be curbed. But not at the expense of tracking every running application on a computer, or the exact location of interviewees. Videochat and on-site interviews exist and don't have these kind of problems.

Ok, but any techie should have little problem preparing an environment for such a test. Use that freshly formatted, dusted off laptop from college? Maybe even consider using a VM, like others suggested. Or how about install a portable version of Google Chrome, so no existing browser data or extensions would be a cause for concern (or worse, imagine a buggy extension crashing the browser and, thus, ending the test ses…

This is a great point, and I address it at the end of my post. The basic idea is that freedom shouldn't be limited to people who 1) have the technical knowledge to do all this and 2) have the time to set up such an environment. Freedom should be default. By being OK with these kinds of testing platforms, these could eventually be used for non-technical positions very easily, and those applications wouldn't know how to circumvent this.
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