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Facebook senior software engineer interview

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Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview

#401

Post by spoonjim »

driverdan wrote: post #395
Hydraulix989 wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an athlete-turned-software engineer at FAANG. This is the NFL scouting combine: 40-yard dash, Bench press (225 lb repetitions), Vertical jump, Broad jump, 20-yard shuttle, 3 cone drill, 60-yard shuttle, Position-specific drills, Interviews – each team is allowed 60 interviews in 15-minute intervals, Physical measurements, Injury evaluation, Drug screen, The Cybex test, The Wonderlic test I would consider this set…

Other than Wonderlic everything you listed is directly related to athletic ability and are things athletes do on a regular basis. You're supporting my point. I'm saying testing should be directly related to the position. If someone doesn't need to do binary math or write complex sorting algos from scratch you don't test those, just like how you wouldn't ask an athlete the mundane questions I posted above. You might a…

But the engineers at FB do need to be able to write sorting algorithms from scratch rather than just have knowledge of sorting. The reason is that the engineers have to be reasonably fungible so that they can be easily moved between projects as projects are started and stopped. So they could easily be tomorrow thrown into an environment where a sorting algorithm is needed, they are the ones responsible (so they'll need to build it, not just have a high-level idea of how to do it), and at FB scale every bit of squandered efficiency is very expensive (if their photo search algorithm, let's say, takes 5% more memory than it needs to, that will end up costing the company much more than their salary).

Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview

#404

Post by vechagup »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #368
vechagup wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he also seemed unwilling to push at all, just said "okay!" in a sing-song voice that implied "yeah whatever, go die" Is the idea here that you wanted the interviewer to beg you to stay on the call? I interview for a BigCo. Most of us do it not because we love interviewing but because 1) It's a way to check the "citizenship" box on performance reviews. 2) A director or VP sent a mass email exhorting us to join the i…

I mean, yeah, you're probably right. I might have stayed on the call if he'd explained why the actual code was necessary, could even have met me halfway by saying "Yeah, I know it's kind of silly, but it's a requirement. Would you mind doing this, and then we can get on to more interesting stuff?" Or something like that, but he didn't have any kind of friendly or diplomatic response, maybe I was feeling impatient tha…

Yeah, one consequence of hiring exclusively based on technical skill is that you end up with some employees that are empathy challenged. My employer recently added one "are you a human?" interview to every loop presumably for this reason.

Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview

#406

Post by notretarded »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #366
justapassenger wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Original comment started by stating your many years of experience and noting that interviewer was much younger. Then complains about being asked to do coding. And then, based on just those two, saying that you know you'd be unhappy working with people like him. Amazon isn't great environment in most of the pockets of the company (haven't worked there, but worked with a lot of people who came from there), so it's quit…

I didn't state that I had issues with his age. I merely observed that he was probably half my age; he talked and behaved rather immaturely. I work with younger folks all the time and 90% of them are perfectly fine; actually I enjoy their energy and drive (and there are plenty of older jerks out there). This guy, I didn't enjoy. When I hung up the phone, I was not angry, as I recall. Just disappointed that a great com…

If it didn't matter you wouldn't have mentioned it.

Unnecessary description.

Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview

#407

Post by barnacled »

onion2k wrote: post #377
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, I'm not sure where this "10 years" is coming from. I know many/most "senior" developers who reached that level long before 10 years out of university. Secondly, programming doesn't have a standard licensure process like medicine. If it did, I think a lot of these kinds of interviews that companies do would not be necessary. But as it stands I've interviewed many engineers with years of experience who co…

But as it stands I've interviewed many engineers with years of experience who couldn't competently program, and I'm talking about maybe a tad above FizzBuzz level proficiency. I've interviewed close to 400 developers over the past couple of decades, and I've not met many who can't code. Some are great, and some are clearly at the bottom end of the distribution, but most are just OK. They can get the job done, they ca…

I am not sure whether you have an incredibly good filtering system or have got incredibly lucky.

I have interviewed similar numbers and have been repeatedly complimented on my ability to put people at ease, but have encountered exactly what the grandparent comment says. It really opened my eyes seeing so many with many years on their CV but struggling with (literal) fizzbuzz.

This experience accords with most I have read about online (starting with the semi-famous coding horror article [0]). It is your experience that differs from the norm, honestly.

[0]:https://blog.codinghorror.com/why-cant-programmers-program/

Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview

#408

Post by barnacled »

caymanjim wrote: post #375
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, I'm not sure where this "10 years" is coming from. I know many/most "senior" developers who reached that level long before 10 years out of university. Secondly, programming doesn't have a standard licensure process like medicine. If it did, I think a lot of these kinds of interviews that companies do would not be necessary. But as it stands I've interviewed many engineers with years of experience who co…

> First of all, I'm not sure where this "10 years" is coming from. I know many/most "senior" developers who reached that level long before 10 years out of university. That's because it's a near-meaningless title that has been watered down. Everyone is a "senior" now by their second year working.

It really depends on the place and nearly always applies only to experience specifically in the exact role you are in.

I have 15yrs experience and moved sideways a few times and I am in effect treated as if I were new in my current role.

So senior doesn't so much translate to experience or even transferable working knowledge but rather 'how well you have done politically to gain position in this specific company'. Yes I am cynical :)

Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview

#409

Post by mro_name »

onion2k wrote: post #2

There are two interesting things in this post. The first is that a senior developer at Facebook believes every single senior developer looking for a role at Facebook can revise the same things. Clearly the author believes that Facebook are looking for programmers who fit a very specific mould, to the point that they're willing to go out in public and state exactly that. I'd argue that points to a massive monoculture…

that gives that company way more credit than it IMO deserves.
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