Recruitment Tech Guy Speaks!

I agree!

https://theoutline.com/post/1166/programmers-are-confessing-their-coding-sins-to-protest-a-broken-job-interview-process?zd=1&zi=fee3ecsk

I have been interviewed 6 (7?) times by Google. The last time I was getting on a bit in IT terms, at 39. When I first got to the office I could see many young nerds. I asked the interviewer how they felt about wrinklies like me - she said it'd be fine... Didn't get the job. I can guarantee it was nothing to do with age - I actually really did suck badly at the interview... And that was the 2nd set of interviews.

Now I pity all of those poor buggers I have interviewed in the past - it is soul destroying. You are never relaxed and can't show the real you, you panic, you fudge stuff and if you're like me you'll do anything to get the hell out of there. A simple negative comment is 100,00 times as powerful as a positive one.

Anyhow, here's the response I got from not passing the "phone interview" the first time:

Thanks Brad,

That's ok - I was lame in the interview.

To become "unlame" again - and to help others I did a bunch of
research and posted this post:

http://rileyperry.blogspot.com/2005/05/c-interview-questions.html

Please forward to Tom (the guy that did the phone interview), he might
recognise a few of the questions :). After all, we can't have people
at G! thinking that I am lame! Perish the thought.

Ta,
Riley

On 5/12/05, bstrader@google.com <bstrader@google.com> wrote:
> Hi Riley,
>
> We would like to thank you for your interest in Google, and thank you for taking the time to interview with us. After carefully reviewing your experience and qualifications along with notes from your technical phone screen, we have determined that we do not have a position available which is a strong match at this time.
>
> Thanks again for considering Google. We wish you well in your endeavors
> and hope you might consider us again in the future.
>
> Sincerely,
> Google Staffing

I get interview/test anxiety. So I've listed all of the stupid reasons I've failed in interviews so the techies can laugh at me :) I almost always knew the answers quite well, but I just blank out and panic sometimes. Also, my interview to offer ratio is quite high (I reckon around 3:1). So don't worry kiddies if you get your ego smashed because you screwed up something fundamental. It happens to others also.

1990s - Irrational Games:
Q: Do you smoke?
A: Yeah, oh crap, you mean, Cigarettes?

1990s - Anon
Q: How is Pi derived
A: <WRONG ANSWER>!!! <-- haha, Goose.
Note: a physicist once complained in front of me about the standards being so low that I could do a unit in his department. This was after another similar mistake. He was right, standards were low that year. haha.

2001 - Micro-control Company
Q: Simple C question
A: <WRONG ANSWER>
Q: Frankly, we think you've faked your CV, did you?
A: F... Y.. C...

C#/ASP.Net Related 2002-2008

- forgot how threads work
- forgot how TCP/IP worked
- forgot basics of object oriented design
- forgot asp.net page life cycle
- forgot how JOINs (left/right/inner/outer) worked
- forgot how to write hello world in C#
- forgot how master pages work
- forgot how events worked in asp.net
- forgotten the basic syntax for C/C#/C++

2010 - Channel 9:
Q: ???
A: Yeah, I'm really glad I'm not going bald... INTERVIEWER WAS BALD!

2012 Google - (after 3 grueling fucking tech interviews)
Q: Really simple questions about adding/multiplying powers
A: <WRONG>... haha cool, try again, <WRONG> - FOR AN HOUR! I just shut down after 5 mins and wrote random shit on the board

Today:
Q: Simple, fundamental threading question
A: Exactly wrong in every way.

...and the biggie:

2000 - Ericsson
Q: Is there a future for the web on phones?
A: NO!!!!!! <----- Ruminate on the absolute wrongness of this - almost Zen like isn't it."

We need a new techie recruitment process. I've been guilty of being a whiteboard interviewer. :( The focus should be on whether a dev can build an actual product. Not whether they can solve a problem, in front of new people, on a whiteboard.

The problem with software technical interviews: If you get an easy, fundamental question wrong, then your entire career is judged on that. E.g. That guy didn't even know X, well, that tells you everything about him. It's happened to me many times, and I've done it to others many times... Now I work in recruitment. Now I've got a chance to fix this. If we can crack this one then the rewards are large.

Despite years in the industry, degrees, etc. I still stuff up basic questions in interviews. Today it was a basic threading question. Last time was basic power laws. Both questions, i would answer properly if casually discussing. But I just freeze up in there and say the first thing that comes to mind. Is this a problem for everyone? It doesn't matter if I know or not I DON'T know under test conditions.

Dumb father has moron son...

1968: Dad gives up programming coz he "doesn't think there's a future in it".
1998: In a job interview with Ericsson I tell them I don't think there's much future in having the internet on phones.

Genetics :( *** sigh ***

The stages of tech job transition (aka getting fired + looking for a new job):

1) sweet - I get to sleep in.*
2) I should start my own business, yes - now is the time, before it's too late! Madness ensues for 2 days,
3) Check job market - nah, not yet, sleep in*
4) Start running out of cash - apply for some jobs with lackluster resume + no cover letter
5) No replies. Go hard on the CV and Cover Letter.
6) Get replies! Yay - interviews!
7-11) Fail 5 tech interviews because the questions are arbitrary, you panic, you forget everything, and the interviewer is as smug as a game show host.
12) You finally get a job based on you randomly getting tech questions correct.
13) You work 80 hours a week on someone's dream, buying into the hype for a few years. Have a breakdown... leave or get sacked, and start all over again :D

* A lot of techies are night owls