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0 pointssitkack3y ago0 comments

Interview technical folks at a FAANG and I don't asking leetcode questions. It isn't a SWE role but people should be SWE material. I do ask them to

    * read code
    * extend some working code with a new feature
    * parse some semi-structured text into a data structure

Programming interviews suck for everyone, even the interviewer. I feel absolutely horrible when someone locks up, or fails really hard. The questions I ask aren't hard but half don't pass.

What folks should do is practice coding in front of someone. Writing little exploratory snippets and understand the base library of the language they claim to know. I don't even ask people to vocalize while they are working on the problem. And I solve it at the same time they are and if they get stuck, I show them some of my code.

I had one person start crying they put so much pressure on themselves, I had to take a two week break from interviewing after that.

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lapcat3y ago

> I had one person start crying they put so much pressure on themselves, I had to take a two week break from interviewing after that.

This is a sign that the hiring process is broken. It's not testing skill level, it's testing anxiety level.

native_samples3y ago

The second sentence may be true but the former isn't.

People who break down and cry in interviews are rare but if they do it, they are best avoided and it was good that the interview revealed this. You cannot have that happening on the job but if they can't handle being asked to program something whilst up against a time limit or being watched, they're going to have breakdowns in other situations too.

lapcat3y ago

I've written at length about this before, so I'll just give a link instead of repeating the whole screed, but it's a misconception to equate interview anxiety with job anxiety. They're distinct and not necessarily correlated. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31377459

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prakhar8973y ago

> I had one person start crying they put so much pressure on themselves, I had to take a two week break from interviewing after that.

Because you asked them question out of syllabus. Was the person informed that the interview wouldn't involve Leetcode?

The person spent months prepping Leetcode just to get into BigTech and then you come out of woodwork with your "special" interviewing material. Imagine prepping for a calculus test for months and then the teacher comes out and takes a "simple" test on trignometry. Would you be able to do it? Not only that, all his/her friends got a normal calculus test which they passed with flying colors.

sitkackOP3y ago

This wasn't a Leetcode question. I understand where you are coming from, but it isn't that.

This had to do with the pressure one puts on themselves for a job a BigTech company.

weatherlite3y ago

I was referring to SWE roles, as is this article I believe.

sitkackOP3y ago

They aren't technically SWEs but they would be at any other company. I have been a SWE at three other FAANGs

weatherlite3y ago

> I have been a SWE at three other FAANGs

Good for you.

Now seriously I'm not sure what you're arguing for - you're saying FAANGS don't do Leetcode style questions? I get it that YOU don't do it to candidates in those roles, but the reality is for SWE roles this is how it is. People who aren't very good in Leetcode will not succeed. There's hundreds, maybe thousands of candidates for these roles and some of them can do the Leetcode thing - they are the ones who get hired. I'm not advocating for this method because I'm not particularly good at it or like solving these things on my spare time, nor do I think this method is particularly useful - but that's reality.

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0 pointssitkack3y ago0 comments

Interview technical folks at a FAANG and I don't asking leetcode questions. It isn't a SWE role but people should be SWE material. I do ask them to

    * read code
    * extend some working code with a new feature
    * parse some semi-structured text into a data structure

Programming interviews suck for everyone, even the interviewer. I feel absolutely horrible when someone locks up, or fails really hard. The questions I ask aren't hard but half don't pass.

I had one person start crying they put so much pressure on themselves, I had to take a two week break from interviewing after that.

0 comments

lapcat3y ago

> I had one person start crying they put so much pressure on themselves, I had to take a two week break from interviewing after that.

This is a sign that the hiring process is broken. It's not testing skill level, it's testing anxiety level.

native_samples3y ago

The second sentence may be true but the former isn't.

lapcat3y ago

2 more replies

prakhar8973y ago

> I had one person start crying they put so much pressure on themselves, I had to take a two week break from interviewing after that.

Because you asked them question out of syllabus. Was the person informed that the interview wouldn't involve Leetcode?

sitkackOP3y ago

This wasn't a Leetcode question. I understand where you are coming from, but it isn't that.

This had to do with the pressure one puts on themselves for a job a BigTech company.

weatherlite3y ago

I was referring to SWE roles, as is this article I believe.

sitkackOP3y ago

They aren't technically SWEs but they would be at any other company. I have been a SWE at three other FAANGs

weatherlite3y ago

> I have been a SWE at three other FAANGs

Good for you.

1 more reply

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