301–310 of 524 posts
Is it that I'm just that far off from the level of a senior SWE? Can most of the experienced, talented programmers here cover multiple chapter problem sets of CLRS in a day?
Every time I read these posts I find them very depressing. Crunch through an enormous bunch of algorithm problems in order to perform well on some unrealistic whiteboard programming (I think the system engineering problems are actually more useful though) - as usual we've focused on the easy to measure metric rather than anything actually useful. Maybe these things are meant to be a proxy for how good you are at othe…
After 20 years in software, I had a phone interview with an Amazon guy who sounded half my age (at most). Asked me to write some kind of function to do something, sort some stuff or some such. I described verbally how I would do it, almost line by line, in pseudo-code. He said "I need you to write it out in [some language]". I said "But why? I just told you how I'd do it." But he needed me to literally write the code…
Learning what they ask and how to solve it.
Had nothing to do with their work there, but it sure was a good filter against unmotivated people and idiots.
It seems to me the only realistic option is to be hired at your home country, but the country I live is very small and I am not legally allowed to work here in any case.
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I couldn't disagree more with your post. The author is basically just putting out a detailed study plan for passing an exam. If a doctor posted a plan for passing the medical boards would your first thought be "Wow, look at that massive medical monoculture problem!" That seems like a ridiculous stretch in my opinion. To your second point, I hear this all the time in threads about tech interviewing: "Tech interviews a…
Doctors don't need to pass the medical boards for every job they apply to. I don't see how there's even a comparison there.
Has anyone outside US has had any success to be interviewed by one of these big companies? (it does not have to be a FAANG). I have worked a lot in my interview preparation but then I get stuck in the "We wont sponsor any visa" wall, especially grating in the case of Canada because that completes the circular requirement that in order to get an express visa you need a job offer. It seems to me the only realistic opti…
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> I'd argue that points to a massive monoculture problem at Facebook, but I'm massively anti-Facebook so I'm biased. I'm pretty sure that's the point. Massive enterprises like Facebook have no need for creative "outside the box" thinking anymore. They need dependable, solid developers with a standardized skillset that they can plug into a position like lego blocks, easily replaced whenever they burnout or stop toeing…
I kind of agree with your cynicism, but I'm partial due to having been refused by Facebook, twice. The first time I made the mistake of using Python (because of its whiteboard value) while not being proficient in it. They really didn't like me Googling some basic stuff. The second time I still used Python, but had 5 years experience using it behind. Can't be objective but it was probably the best interview I've ever…
I don't know how or why this meme infects people; in my interview experience (MSFT, Google, Oracle, FB, Amazon, other smaller places) nobody ever batted an eyelid on me using C#. My advice would be to only use a language you know best, as long as it's appropriate for the role -- and most mainstream languages would be appropriate for generic FAANG SDE roles.
Using the language you know best will bring all sort of benefits -- you'll code faster, you'll be more confident, you might even find a place to show off a little. There is no good reason to give this advantage up.
If you want to do something else, great, go for it. Facebook is gonna be fine either way. I've never worked there, but something about every single tech job I've ever had makes me suspect it's not meaningfully worse or even different from the jobs you guys work that are supposedly so much better and probably pay 30% of their total comp. Oh but your culture is sooo good and Facebook is evil. Alrighty.