Don't you think that people at Facebook are smart enough to figure out if the applicant really knows what he/she is talking about?
An applicant can read the questions from that link but if he/she doesn't understand these algorithms, etc., the interviewers can easily tell the BS.
As with drinking the Kool-Aid, what makes you a better judge than Sam? You seem jaded by your past experiences but that doesn't mean it happens to everybody.
So yes, I'm very sure my friends at Facebook can weed out those who know what they are talking about and those who don't. And yes, if you don't know how to do map the shortest distance on a cube or create a bubble sort method, etc then you are going to come up short regardless of what you have read on a cheat sheet online.
But then, the same logic reasons that it is therefore pointless to direct people to the interview questions before hand, doesn't it?
"As with drinking the Kool-Aid, what makes you a better judge than Sam?"
My koolaid reference was to Sam's perspective that Facebook is still a startup. I don't think it's a case of being 'a better judge' on that one - facebook has over 1000 employees, has professional management, makes acquisitions (like his company) and has a $1bn+ valuation. It's not a startup. (I think they do a great job of encouraging the staff to think it is still a startup)
I'm not jaded by any past, I'm not sure where that conclusion comes from. I do perhaps have, however, some more experience in hiring people (both for startups and for large companies) than Sam does... and maybe you are confusing 'thinking practically' for 'sounded jaded'.
I guess I might sound jaded from my overall snarky tone, but that's just how I am at 1:40am on a Thursday morning. :P
Don't you think that people at Facebook are smart enough to figure out if the applicant really knows what he/she is talking about?
An applicant can read the questions from that link but if he/she doesn't understand these algorithms, etc., the interviewers can easily tell the BS.
As with drinking the Kool-Aid, what makes you a better judge than Sam? You seem jaded by your past experiences but that doesn't mean it happens to everybody.