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0 pointsmotorest1y ago0 comments

> Literally no other industry except for the performing arts interviews like this.

No, not really. Take for example FANGs. Their hiring process is notorious for culminating with an on-site interview, where 4 or more interviewers grill you on all topics they find relevant.

Some FANGs are also very clear that their hiring process focuses particularly on soft-skills.

Where in the world do hope to find an engineering job where you are not evaluated on soft skills and cultural fit?

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sarchertech1y ago· 3 in thread

You’re comment was talking about performing under pressure and failing to perform with people watching them.

In this context when you say perform I assumed (as would most people) that you’re talking about technical/work sample interviews not culture fit tell me about a time you did x interviews.

If you’re talking about those, then yes every job in every industry does that. If you’re talking about stand at this white board and solve a problem that I know the answer to to while I watch.

No one outside of software engineering does this for anyone but new grads.

motorestOP1y ago

> If you’re talking about those, then yes every job in every industry does that. If you’re talking about stand at this white board and solve a problem that I know the answer to to while I watch.

I think you're failing to understand what actually happens in hiring rounds. You stand in front of a whiteboard to showcase your knowledge on abstract topics like systems architecture. This is exactly what happens in the real world in design rounds. I lost count of the amount of time I spent in front of a whiteboard this year alone. Perhaps you don't work with systems architecture, but if you are applying for a position where in the very least you are expected to have a cursory understanding of systems architecture, you are obviously expected to showcase your skills to help hiring managers compare you with other applicants.

And no. The point of whiteboards is not to solve problems. Their point is to help you present and clarify your thoughts in a dialogue with people in the room. It's a communication tool.

sarchertech1y ago

You’re not understanding the point.

1. No other industry makes senior people perform “work sample” tests in interviews with the exceptions I mentioned above.

2. There is absolutely no comparison between whiteboard sessions in interviews and in reality.

I have never once had a whiteboard session where someone says “I’m going to give you a system to design. I have built 100 of these systems before, so I have fairly specific things I’m gonna to look for. But I’m not going to tell you exactly what those are. You have 45 minutes in which to do it. No you can’t think about it over lunch. No you can’t spend 30 minutes reading up on it. No we can’t do another session tomorrow.”

If you think this is anything remotely like designing a system in real life, I definitely don’t want to work anywhere you have.

>expected to showcase your skills

Yeah that’s my point. Other industries don’t do this for senior people because they realized it’s not actually predictive enough to be worth it.

re-thc1y ago

> If you’re talking about those, then yes every job in every industry does that.

EVERY job in EVERY industry???

Well apparently the penguins have to pay tariffs. Do you know what industry they are in and how they do interviews?

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