from Hacker News

Ask HN: Software Engineers, how do you want to be interviewed?

by nurbo on 1/22/22, 9:52 AM with 3 comments

A lot of Software Engineers complain about the interview process, especially about the coding interviews on algorithms and data structures.

How do you want to be interviewed? Do you think you should be able to choose the interview format?

  • by lordkrandel on 1/22/22, 5:36 PM

    How would you choose a colleague, or a friend, or a partner? Someone trusted, for sure.

    Is she/he gonna be exactly like you, or completely different?

    How can you build trust and evaluate how a person would do in a different setting, in just a brief one-shot interview? Some relationships grow over time.

    And how can you do that if there are thousands of candidates, who have other things to do in life than prove their worth to you, just to earn a living and have a house and medical care?

    I guess the best way to build a fruitful work relationship is to try and see if there's a match. I think the interviews should be less like exams and more like meeting and knowing the other person.

  • by gtsop on 1/22/22, 10:29 AM

    I don't think the interview process can be "fixed" as a whole, but there is a single change that I am going to enforce on my end for the future.

    No more up-front coding tests. I will only do a coding test if you think I am a great fit and promise to hire me once you are happy with my code. I understand your need to ensure i can code, i just can't spend any more of my free time doing it when it can go to waste.

  • by water8 on 1/22/22, 11:13 AM

    With the usage of a computer