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Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

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Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#341

Post by mzw_mzw »

gaius wrote: post #334
mzw_mzw wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This immediately brings to mind the history of scientific racism, specifically with craniometry being used to 'prove' that certain races are inferior. I can't imagine why...? That would be like seeing a freeway and instantly thinking of the Nazis.

I can't imagine why...? In the news right now: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/new-program-decides-crimina...

If some corporation did want to be racist (which has not been established), they'd hardly need fancy face-analysis technology to do it. They could, you know, just look at the applicants.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#342

Post by gaius »

mzw_mzw wrote: post #341
gaius wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine why...? In the news right now: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/new-program-decides-crimina...

If some corporation did want to be racist (which has not been established), they'd hardly need fancy face-analysis technology to do it. They could, you know, just look at the applicants.

Blatant old-fashioned racism would be very obvious - new fangled data science racism is more insidious.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#343

Post by gaius »

fattire wrote: post #233
relics443 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're reading too much into this. It's to make sure that the interviewee isn't trying to game the system. Pretty simple. You can opt-out anytime you want. You don't even have to start in the first place. It's not spying by any definition of the word. Unless you make one up for it.

I understand that the goal is to stop cheaters. That's an admirable goal, and a perfectly legit one. However it's the completely wrong way to do it and sends a very strong message to anyone applying that "our company, for any reason that serves our interest, expect you to be compliant, to give up your personal privacy, and to submit to our invasive internal processes whenever we feel it's necessary. Expect more." Ask…

submit to our invasive internal processes whenever we feel it's necessary

This is also the company that requires warehouse workers to queue for bag searches on unpaid time.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#344

Post by nilkn »

bsg75 wrote: post #27

> 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.

The company I'm at does two coding interviews for potential developer hires.

The first is kind of a standard phone interview with a Google Doc. There is no expectation that the code you write would actually compile or run. When I conduct this interview I'm always sure to explicitly say that it's not a test of memory and they shouldn't worry about remembering specific standard library functions, etc. If they need something that they know exists but they don't remember the specifics, I encourage them to make up something that seems reasonable and just go with it.

The second is an onsite interview where we plop them at a desktop machine, give them a relatively simple programming task, and ask them to produce a runnable program. They have access to the internet and really the entire machine. They can Google whatever they want and even use Stack Overflow. Nobody is standing there hovering over their shoulder. This interview gets weighted more than the previous one.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#345

Post by Insanity »

This is one of those cases where I am slightly appalled by the violations of privacy, yet do kind of understand why they'd want to do this.

But as other's have pointed out, these are not restrictions from Amazon, rather from the third-party they have decided to hire. I guess there might be alternatives that could restrict some of the access that is not needed.

Either way, you need a way to determine who is playing fair and who is not. Flying someone out for an on-campus interview will be significantly more expensive (considering as well how many people apply), and there is only so much you can achieve with a skype interview.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#346

Post by nilkn »

frakkingcylons wrote: post #242

I went through Amazon's two online tests in October 2016 while interviewing for a full-time position. I took the first test just like the OP, the logical reasoning part seemed kind of irrelevant and a waste of time for me. That was nothing compared to the second online test. The environment of the second test was like a scenario out of Black Mirror. Not only did they want to have the webcam and microphone on the enti…

I do understand why Amazon might do this, but I just can't get onboard with this. Being treated like a cheater upfront is just not how I want to start my relationship with a potential employer.

Even when I was in college my university (Rice) had an honor code which meant, among other things: (1) professors didn't have to be present in-class during exams, and in fact they were encouraged to leave; (2) professors could give take-home exams and students were trusted to not cheat or otherwise violate the terms of the exam.

It wasn't just theoretical; most of my exams were not directly proctored in college, and I never personally knew of anyone who cheated. If you did cheat and got caught, though, you would have a trial before the entirely student-run Honor Council. If found guilty the punishments were extremely severe.

I know Rice is not the only school with this sort of honor code. I believe Caltech has one as well, and there are definitely some others.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#347

Post by minusSeven »

electic wrote: post #180
dgritsko wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting that these are Proctorio's ( https://proctorio.com/ ) restrictions; they're just a third-party company that Amazon is using to administer the test. I've used a couple of similar systems (e.g. ProctorU - https://www.proctoru.com/ , where a human will actually watch you via webcam(!), or ProctorTrack - http://www.proctortrack.com/ ), and "monitoring" of this sort is pretty much par for the course (no…

It just sends the wrong message. As a company, you are advocating tech that spies on people or in this case the test taker. Overall, it leaves a nasty taste in your mouth that a company would use technology such as this. What else would they be okay with doing once you start working there? Why not do an onsite if you want to make sure of the validity?

I don't know what is so wrong with this. It's only for the test duration when they want to ensure that you don't cheat. You can remove the extension once the test is over.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#348

Post by minusSeven »

electic wrote: post #180
dgritsko wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting that these are Proctorio's ( https://proctorio.com/ ) restrictions; they're just a third-party company that Amazon is using to administer the test. I've used a couple of similar systems (e.g. ProctorU - https://www.proctoru.com/ , where a human will actually watch you via webcam(!), or ProctorTrack - http://www.proctortrack.com/ ), and "monitoring" of this sort is pretty much par for the course (no…

It just sends the wrong message. As a company, you are advocating tech that spies on people or in this case the test taker. Overall, it leaves a nasty taste in your mouth that a company would use technology such as this. What else would they be okay with doing once you start working there? Why not do an onsite if you want to make sure of the validity?

I don't know what is so wrong with this. It's only for the test duration when they want to ensure that you don't cheat. You can remove the extension once the test is over.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#349

Post by dalore »

cs2818 wrote: post #301
davidgay wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't a normal class room in which you take tests while required to be silent and with an instructor/TA/proctor keeping en eye on you very much akin to spying on people? (using people rather than tech, but why is that distinction important?)

I'd be more concerned about the the level of access the monitoring software has to my computer and any services with vulnerabilities it might leave behind. I think I'd only consider doing this if I used a computer I could wipe completely before and after. Even then the amount of distrust is off-putting.

There is an idea! Have them mail out laptops to do the tests on and you mail them back in.

Re: Software Engineering Internship Amazon Interview Experience

#350

Post by avarun »

selectiveshift wrote: post #310
electic wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It just sends the wrong message. As a company, you are advocating tech that spies on people or in this case the test taker. Overall, it leaves a nasty taste in your mouth that a company would use technology such as this. What else would they be okay with doing once you start working there? Why not do an onsite if you want to make sure of the validity?

Because this is mainly being used for interns. In general, you don't fly in interns for onsite interviews.

Yes you do.
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