I can see why they might do this, anyone that can land a job with similar benefits somewhere else probably doesn't even apply, leaving them with the worst to choose from. Their climate gets even tougher because they "can't hire enough good engineers" and the cycle repeats.
Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
31–40 of 441 posts
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#32feels like this person is overreacting. You should also not be sharing any questions that were asked.
No, it feels like Amazon is over-reacting, and unduly distrustful of the bright young people who would wager their careers and reputations to come work for them.
Yes and no. I think Amazon is trying to make their intern recruitment process more efficient. By eliminating cheating possibilities, people who do not meet certain criteria will not move forward and thus there will be less phone screens to schedule.
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#33Reiterating the questions posed at the end, To what extent should personal ethics play in deciding where a (software) engineer should work? What if the engineer has no other choices for a job, and needs to (make rent/pay the bills/eat food)? It is true that it'd be pretty easy to circumvent the tracking, by placing paper over the webcam, running the browser in a virtual machine, spoofing data to the browser, and so o…
Well, obviously putting paper over the webcam would result in a FAIL grade for the test, so it's hardly that easy.
Maybe you could record yourself staring intently at the screen and play that back to the webcam during the exam.
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#34If nothing else, the requirements screen for people likely to accept similar conditions in the workplace.
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#35Wait, 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…
The premise that cheating is a major risk or issue in job interviews is .... nutty.
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
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"
"How dare you assume my gender! I identify as a transsexual furry otherkin dragon werewolf".
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#37>"Hopefully these should convince you that this test has absolutely nothing to do with programming skill."
It's a rather blatant IQ test, though of course they would never call it that because that would open them up to disparate impact lawsuits.
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#38> 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.
Within these restrictions, I don't think they expect your written code to compile. They just want to ensure the integrity of the test itself. Is it worth the invasion of privacy? Personally, I don't think so.
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#39Other companies aren't so draconian, and don't tend to treat potential talent so poorly.
Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience
#40Seems like Amazon has trust issues.