

Ask HN: Can we fix the interview process for engineers? - brwr

As the interviewee, I don&#x27;t find some of the questions I&#x27;ve been asked to be especially enlightening when it comes to my abilities as an engineer. Obviously I am biased, because I think there is a better way to display my skills, so I&#x27;d like to get some input from people on the other side of the table.<p>I propose that there it is very hard to know whether a candidate is a good fit for your company the way things are currently done; that is, with questions generated by the interviewer. Instead, wouldn&#x27;t it be better to spend more time discussing the work that the candidate has done in the past and how that could apply to your company? The idea is that any engineer worth their salt can learn new ideas and technologies readily and that past experiences are a better indicator of an applicant&#x27;s talents than algorithm questions and one-hour hack sessions.<p>Maybe there is a way to let the interviewee construct the interview in a way that showcases their talents.<p>Thoughts?
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seige
First, the state of the art of "taking technical interviews" hasn't changed in
the last 10yrs at least. This is, when we as an industry are harbingers of
"change".

The bottom line is that the interview process is time consuming, expensive and
often not the aspect of your job for which you will be held accountable for
(i.e. you get fired if you are unable to recruit).

An interviewer in such a case, has no incentive to carefully think about the
process. Usually the interview time during his/her day is not the prime task
at hand and he/she has to run to "other meetings".

In such an environment and time constraints, We come down to our rote notions
of what "intelligence" means.

If you are interested, I would recommend these two very well written articles:
1)[http://code.dblock.org/five-ways-to-torture-candidates-
in-a-...](http://code.dblock.org/five-ways-to-torture-candidates-in-a-
technical-interview) 2)[http://code.dblock.org/how-to-reject-engineering-
candidates](http://code.dblock.org/how-to-reject-engineering-candidates)

Lastly, I wish you luck if you are a so called Front End engineer or worse, a
female engineer in this industry. Its really rough out there for them in
special.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and practice my bit manipulations.

~~~
mrfusion
Why is it tough for front end engineers?

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thomasmeagher
So are you suggesting that the interviewee goes through something similar to a
portfolio? These are some of the projects I have done in the past, I wrote
this code here to solve this problem, etc. I agree with something along the
lines of "the best predictor of future performance is past behavior," but it
could be hard to keep a consistent--dare I say level--playing field that way.

~~~
brwr
I completely understand where you're coming from, but I'm not sure that a
level playing field is necessarily a good thing. Everyone should be given the
opportunity to shine at their highest potential and it is my opinion that a
level playing field gives candidates the opportunity to shine at their lowest
potential.

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notduncansmith
Find ways to slip your past work into the conversation. If they ask you to
solve a particular problem you've solved before, tell them about it. Tell them
about the first time you solved it, and what your thought process was, and (if
applicable) what better solutions you may have found after your first go at
it. Better yet, don't lead with all that; just say something like "Ah, I've
actually solved this problem before" and then give them a chance to ask for
some detail. If they don't probe on that, you're dealing with an ineffective
hiring manager, and are probably wasting your time unless it's a company you
_really_ want to work for.

~~~
brwr
You've brushed up against a key point, I believe. Given a set container all of
the problems an interviewer could ask me to solve, there exists a subset of
those problems that I've solved previously, but that subset is small.

The problem here is that I don't believe most engineers can effectively
explain their thinking when they are still working on solving the problem.
Perhaps this is something I could work on, but I prefer everything to be
silent while I gather my thoughts. It is my understanding that being quiet
when asked by an interviewer to solve a given problem is a bad thing, which
ultimately leads to points being docked because I have a process for
considering problems that works very well for me.

Conversely, should the interviewee be free to pick a problem they've
previously solved and talk with their interviewer about it, they should
already have their thoughts gathered. Working under the assumption that the
candidate put in a substantial amount of work, they should be able to talk at
length about the project. An interesting and useful consequence of this is
that, in the event a candidate can't speak about a project they worked on, I
believe that says something about their capabilities as an engineer. Should
the interviewer be put off by this? Maybe. Maybe not. How far down the rabbit
hole do you want to go?

Overall, I think this is a pretty interesting problem that could use some good
discussion to generate ideas about what a more effective and efficient process
might look like.

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JSeymourATL
From the Other Side of The Table--

Don't approach the interview as an audition, it's not. This conversation
should be a two-way exchange of information.

Consider first the interviewer, what's their specific role and background? Are
they an influencer in the process or decision-maker?

Just as a physician will perform a patient examination, before prescribing
medicine-- can you probe for stated and unstated needs? Can you ascertain what
they're trying to accomplish? Any particular areas of pain?

Those insights will help you show-off your talents with the right person at
the appropriate time.

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wikwocket
Algorithm and coding questions are indeed lacking. They may end up revealing
your true ability to do the job, but it's like deciding on an architect by
seeing how well they can cut wood and hammer nails.

It's true that discussion of your portfolio and past work, and how it reveals
your way of thinking about things and how you can tackle the company's
problems, is likely to better convey your ability and value. A smart hiring
manager will include topics like this in their interview. A smart candidate
might find ways to inject this into the conversation.

