Only Tricks

I saw this interview tips and tricks link from Hacker News and thought it was really good.

• Chitchat like a pro
• Communicate
• Get unstuck
• Get your thoughts down
• Clean up when you’re done

Over the past 7 or so years I’ve probably done around 100 interviews. Many of the candidates could have benefited from those tips. When I ask you about something you know, I’m looking to see how well you communicate. When I give you a hypothetical situation, I’m looking to see how you break something down, how you approach a problem. When you get stuck, I can’t do either or those things. Any of those points under getting unstuck are great. I’m never looking for an exact answer, so doing something like naïve solution is fine. You’ll feel better about giving some sort of answer, and you can focus on the next question.

I looked at the first practice question. In general I’m not a fan. You have such little time for everything you’re trying to fit into an interview, and the amount of insight you get out of those questions about algorithms is pretty low.

My tip: As an interviewee, make sure you’re interviewing the company, and the people you’re going to work with. Interview’s are two way streets. I’m not looking for people to fill a job, I’m looking for people to continue their career with us. If you don’t care how we work, what our goals are, or how we support our employees, it definitely raises some red flags for me.