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from the prove-Fermat's-last-theorem-using-only-a-protractor-and-straight-edge dept.
Saw this discussion on Reddit, and thought it might be of interest here, too (as such things perennially are):
I've been a successful software engineer for 10 years at various startups and small businesses. I do a lot of contracting on the side too. I've recently had cause to start looking for work again.
What the hell is up with these interview questions? They don't really have much to do with the ins and outs of clean code, architecture or collaboration. I had hoped they'd stop with this bullshit already. There's a lot of companies that promise 'No whiteboard interviews' like Triplebyte, only for that to be a complete and total lie.
They're more like annoying riddles I'd find in an Sierra adventure game or D&D. I'm just not very good at these types of 'riddle questions'. I know they always wind up having to do with binary trees, graph algorithms or something like that, but the dress-up and time constraints are unrealistically stressful.
I honestly wasn't very good at these questions when I'd graduated and I'm still not good at them now. How screwed am I? Are companies willing to hire based on projects and seeing live code?
I'm always careful to speak with my employers and convince them to write a 'portfolio' clause in my contract that allows me to keep code for the purpose of seeking further employment.
I really don't want to spend 3 months of my life learning how to solve riddles just to get another job.
I also suck at these kinds of questions, despite having designed and written a lot of software and systems. What say you, Soylentils, are these kinds of interview questions necessary to find good software engineers?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday March 08 2017, @05:07PM (1 child)
That's interesting, my experience with the feds WRT security clearance decades ago was they continued to ask the same dumb questions over and over.
I later read that WRT lie detectors people who try to beat the test, memorize their cover story so well they never make a mistake, but casual stuff that is true and isn't a cover story will have minor small variation.
So they ask like 20 times who your five closest friends were in high school and you give the same five every time because you're sick of the question that sounds like a fake memorized answer, whereas if you'd randomly insert and remove a girlfriend or two they'd accept that as true and leave you alone and clear you.
For older people security clearance is all about addiction and credit problems which is sort of easy duty for them, but for kids all they can work with is finding out if you hung out with the druggies or the commies. I think it took me like six months to get cleared and be deployable.
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Saturday March 11 2017, @02:41PM
i will repeat my one experience with so-called 'lie detectors' along while back...
had some buddies who were lying, scamming, corner-cutting salesdroid types... (but great guys ! 8^)
they went to work at radio shack after 'passing' (?) lie detector tests (NO WAY they told the truth), and asked if i wanted a job there...
needed a job, went to take the test, and answer as honestly and completely as i can, about everything...
guy asked whether i had ever used cocaine (which i had tried a couple times a decade or so previous, never was in to it, period), and then kept asking if i had used it recently/currently (which i had NOT in any way, shape or form), and i kept saying no, because -duh- that was the dog honest truth...
long boring story short, was told i didn't pass the test, didn't get the job...
so, sociopathic-lite salesdroids who i have no doubt were stealing radio shack blind, got through their 'filter', while an honest, non-drug abusing (these guys were HUGE druggies, MOST ESPECIALLY including coke), potentially 'good' employee got screwed over...
i am sure that is the one and only time that has happened...