Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Interview advice that got me offers

zainrizvi.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

311–320 of 372 posts

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#311

Post by darkerside »

chrisabrams wrote: post #150
jawns wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This lights recruiters and hiring managers on fire. Not always. Sometimes it has a repulsive effect. Like trying to score a first date when you're already flaunting the fact that you're engaged to someone else.

> Not always. Sometimes it has a repulsive effect. Like trying to score a first date when you're already flaunting the fact that you're engaged to someone else. In what universe is this an acceptable analogy for anything? Edit: Make sure to include the quote.

Are you offended by the analogy in some way?

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#313

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

dcolkitt wrote: post #159
MattGaiser wrote: post #28

> Keeping those skills sharp even when you’re not job hunting. Can I just add "Leetcoder" as a part time job on my resume? It is amusing how in this industry, your ability to interview will not at all be improved by spending time doing your job unless it is algo heavy. It is a separate job entirely.

The reality is that industrial psychology has consistently found that fluid intelligence is the best predictor of job performance. Even more so than experience.[0] Whiteboard interviews are used, not because they have a lot of relevance to the job, but because they're a hard-to-fake indicator of high intelligence. Somebody who shows a lot of mental fluidity with complex data structures, almost assuredly can quickly m…

That infantryman comment is blatantly false. The literal bare minimum entry level job in the military is infantry. Like if you pass the ASVAB with the lowest score possible, you are infantry without a say in the matter. The army wants dumb people to get hit with bullets first. Then the laborer types, then the admins. Thats why those "better" jobs are harder to get.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#314

Post by msilb »

x87678r wrote: post #269

How many interviews do people do a year? I've been in my job 5 years and the one before that 8, I've had 4 interviews in the last 10 years. I kinda feel at a big advantage for not job hopping. It seems some people interview a dozen times a year just as normal. Should I try to get 10 interviews just for practice before interviewing companies I really like?

From my experience job hopping usually pays off (at least financially). Bumping your salary in the next job by 50% is not uncommon while may be much harder to achieve when staying at the same firm for years.

As others have pointed out before, interviewing is a skill that can and should be practiced. The best way to prep (except grinding through leetcode problems) is to go to a real interview and practice telling real stories from experience and solving problems in real time under stress. So yeah, I would definitely recommend going to at least a few interviews for jobs that might not be your first choice before going for that “dream job” interview.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#315

Post by mgh2 »

saberdancer wrote: post #111
mgh2 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never give the first number https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24588379

Honestly I tried this every time I was interviewed. Never could get them to give the first number. I probably should have been firmer but usually the pressure of the situation led to me giving a number I would be happy with.

Read the article: it mentions to ask back the recruiter with the same question.

Now I ask back with “what is the total compensation for this position/role?”. I almost always get an answer, often above my expectations. I used to give my range (mistake)

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#316

Post by MakeUsersWant »

xyzelement wrote: post #197
hnrodey wrote: post #131

Has anyone here pivoted from software engineer to software engineering recruiter? Curious or yours (or anyones for that matter) thoughts on this topic. It's a move I've considered just to keep my career interesting.

Closest I have come is managing a lot of recruiting (but still from the engineering side) and I know a few very senior folks who started their own headhunting firms - it's an obvious move given their vast network. I don't know for sure but I suspect most recruiters make a LOT less than the roles they are recruiting for, since generally the skills to make a good recruiter are easier available than those that make an e…

The ability to hire good junior engineers is one of the things that set a good senior engineer apart. So you might want to practise being an interviewer, even if you don't go into recruiting.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#317

Post by AlwaysRock »

geuis wrote: post #172
klenwell wrote: post #16

One additional tip on recruiters: have a cheat sheet ready (web page or public Google doc) that answers the basic questions they'll have for you and makes clear your expectations. Here's the info I ask them to provide: - Job Title and Salary - Job Description - Company Overview and Location - Steps in Hiring Process Whenever I'm emailed by a recruiter, I politely thank them for reaching out, paste the link to the che…

We need to clarify: Sounds like you’re talking about the third party recruiters who play the numbers game and email anyone and everyone they can keyword match. In the article, the author is referring to internal recruiters who are employed by the company itself. Two very different experiences there.

Yes. While many internal recruiters are not great they are typically a bit better than the average third party external recruiter. Most third party recruiter are entry level sales people who got the job right out of college and will never make a placement before moving into another career.

There are very few high quality third party recruiters but the ones who are typically are very good but overworked and only serve a specific market. If you are not that market then you are a waste of time to them.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#318

Post by AlwaysRock »

slg wrote: post #101

>Learn to answer the more ambiguous questions This is something I have never done before my most recent job search but it has been a huge help. Previously all my interview prep was on tech and I pretty much winged it for the behavioral stuff since interview prep guides seem to always focus on the tech side. Plus it always feels worse and more obvious when you struggle with or fail to properly answer the tech question…

Yes. Behavioral interviews tend to ask you the same types of questions over and over. Have a canned response for each. Whenever you hear a new question create a canned response. I've been telling the same story about a conflict with a coworker (that has a nice resolution) for the past 5 years whenever someone asks me, "Tell me about a time you have had difficulties working with someone on your team".

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#319

Post by AlwaysRock »

Bahamut wrote: post #10
_benj wrote: post #2

> Your mad technical skills no longer matter to them. If anything, humility and an openness to learning will show you in the best light. I've been interviewing for the last couple of weeks and I agree with this. Being a "good" human being, i.e. candid, humble, kind, friendly, seems to be valued a lot more than what I thought before. At the end of the day is people working with people, and the more humans that interac…

Can confirm as a senior engineer at a FAANG. I've rejected people for showing negative non-technical traits but being ok technically, and recommended people for hire with not the best technical skills but with excellent non-technical/leadership traits. Life is too short to work with assholes if it can be helped.

Not being an asshole, being able to help teams work together and not be assholes to each other, and having okay technical skills is my true value proposition.

Re: Interview advice that got me offers

#320

Post by marcosdumay »

uh_uh wrote: post #184
dcolkitt wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reality is that industrial psychology has consistently found that fluid intelligence is the best predictor of job performance. Even more so than experience.[0] Whiteboard interviews are used, not because they have a lot of relevance to the job, but because they're a hard-to-fake indicator of high intelligence. Somebody who shows a lot of mental fluidity with complex data structures, almost assuredly can quickly m…

Doing well on whiteboard interviews can be a sign of high intelligence (a true positive result). But what signal does doing poorly on them give? Did you measure the candidate's intelligence (true negative), or preparedness maybe anxiety levels (false negative)? I guess the answer is that it does not matter as long as you have a large enough true positive candidate pool. And FAANG has this.

The ratio that's important for those huge companies is the "true positive"/"false positive" one.

I guess if you make the test hard enough, always change it, and add some unhealthy dose of suspicion over the candidate's behavior, you can maximize that ratio. But I'm not confident FAANG even looks at it. It's much more likely that they just postulate that a hired employee is a competent one and go on with their day.

From the candidate point of view, of course, things are very different, and the negative results are much more important.

Post reply on HN