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So I been getting interviews for Software Engineering position in the Silicon Valley and I am starting to think these engineers are not as smart as they seem.
So a little about me, I have about 3 years experience and the positions I applied to are revolved around the work I do now and skills I have.
Even though I have the experience the interviewer never asks about what I have done or worked with instead they just throw some lame programming challenge questions that college students probably have solved on some lab assignment. Literally every company that I interviewed has done this, from start-ups to multi-billion dollar multi-national companies. These challenges are probably the worst way to screen candidates because the challenges are very academic type questions that you will never see in industries and since no engineers have applied any of this stuff since they left college they need to review the material a little, which is a complete waste of time. What is even worst is they ask you to write the code for it, as if they think I do not know how to code.
I really do not want to put my finger or blame any ethnic but I realized that in all my interviews indians are the one's that ask to solve a programing challenge. I have spoken to other non-indian managers in tech and they said that these questions should not have been asked as they are kind of useless.
Every engineer should know that technology changes and there will be situations in which old techniques won't work or you will be working on something that is completely new and you have no knowledge of it. The idea is that you can use resources and acquire the skills you need to complete the task. So then why do these engineers/manages ask these lame challenge academia type questions based on ones memory and incredibly limited resources? Am I just crazy to think that ones experiences, accomplishments, habits, and other work related variables are more important then ones ability to solve an academia challenge question from memory? Also are these questions common in the Bay Area for engineers with experiences (I really hope they do not)?
You can't ask form them all because sometimes these companies want you to solve a programming challenge before you can talk with them. They make you go on some website and code in some environment filled with academia type questions.
They said they wanted to see how you think. I do not think asking these questions is a good way to figure that out since I do not memorize what I did in college. Overall they are looking for an academia type solution rather then an industrial solution. These academia questions were made to help understand certain concepts, not to screen candidates or be implemented in software used by multiple clients. In fact sometimes doing things that school said not to do can be valid in industry to insure customer satisfaction. I would think that people who worked in tech for 10+ years would be able to understand this but I guess not. If Silicon Valley tech workers are considered high quality then no wonder they offshore these jobs lol. Or maybe people outside of Silicon valley are even worst....
You can't ask form them all because sometimes these companies want you to solve a programming challenge before you can talk with them. They make you go on some website and code in some environment filled with academia type questions.
They said they wanted to see how you think. I do not think asking these questions is a good way to figure that out since I do not memorize what I did in college. Overall they are looking for an academia type solution rather then an industrial solution. These academia questions were made to help understand certain concepts, not to screen candidates or be implemented in software used by multiple clients. In fact sometimes doing things that school said not to do can be valid in industry to insure customer satisfaction. I would think that people who worked in tech for 10+ years would be able to understand this but I guess not. If Silicon Valley tech workers are considered high quality then no wonder they offshore these jobs lol. Or maybe people outside of Silicon valley are even worst....
What you are facing is something that exists in all fields. The standard question answer solution. It is like a mechanical engineer. They know their field well, but actually have blinders so they can't see beyond what they were taught. They ask for certain tests that fit certain standards and ... many new products do not fit the old test parameters, but are better products than those that do (I just received a patent on one last year). They only know what they were taught or that their boss was taught and they cannot look beyond that. They do not think like you. You are right, the questions were for schooling, not to screen employees. The key is to get the job and then start showing them what you can do beyond the simple things that anyone from a tech school knows/can do. Frustrating I know, because I deal with it all the time. In fact I am working on the CERN project in Europe and ... this is not an uncommon situation, But I think we solved a problem for them using some thinking outside the box problem solving. In fact now that I mentioned this I realize I need to check with my UK agent as to the status.
I am in hardware design. IMO what you have done at work is pretty meaningless to me.
I an more intersted in your grasp of fundamentals.
Here is what i find often. Engineers doing specific tasks get good at doing those things.
What might happen is that they lose sight of the big picture.
So i ask what did you do ?
Why did you do it?
Can you describe why its a problem in he first place?
I find the answer to the third question is surprisingly hard to get
Last edited by aramax666; 04-09-2016 at 10:54 AM..
So I been getting interviews for Software Engineering position in the Silicon Valley and I am starting to think these engineers are not as smart as they seem.
So a little about me, I have about 3 years experience and the positions I applied to are revolved around the work I do now and skills I have.
Even though I have the experience the interviewer never asks about what I have done or worked with instead they just throw some lame programming challenge questions that college students probably have solved on some lab assignment. Literally every company that I interviewed has done this, from start-ups to multi-billion dollar multi-national companies. These challenges are probably the worst way to screen candidates because the challenges are very academic type questions that you will never see in industries and since no engineers have applied any of this stuff since they left college they need to review the material a little, which is a complete waste of time. What is even worst is they ask you to write the code for it, as if they think I do not know how to code.
I really do not want to put my finger or blame any ethnic but I realized that in all my interviews indians are the one's that ask to solve a programing challenge. I have spoken to other non-indian managers in tech and they said that these questions should not have been asked as they are kind of useless.
Every engineer should know that technology changes and there will be situations in which old techniques won't work or you will be working on something that is completely new and you have no knowledge of it. The idea is that you can use resources and acquire the skills you need to complete the task. So then why do these engineers/manages ask these lame challenge academia type questions based on ones memory and incredibly limited resources? Am I just crazy to think that ones experiences, accomplishments, habits, and other work related variables are more important then ones ability to solve an academia challenge question from memory? Also are these questions common in the Bay Area for engineers with experiences (I really hope they do not)?
lol @ SF and their $hit-tier kids.
this is why I live in LA. none of that high school assignment bull$hit.
im a software engineer myself and work for 1 of the major studios here in LA and when they interviewed me, on the tech side, they asked me about what I KNEW rather than try to figure what I didnt.
You can't ask form them all because sometimes these companies want you to solve a programming challenge before you can talk with them. They make you go on some website and code in some environment filled with academia type questions.
They said they wanted to see how you think. I do not think asking these questions is a good way to figure that out since I do not memorize what I did in college. Overall they are looking for an academia type solution rather then an industrial solution. These academia questions were made to help understand certain concepts, not to screen candidates or be implemented in software used by multiple clients. In fact sometimes doing things that school said not to do can be valid in industry to insure customer satisfaction. I would think that people who worked in tech for 10+ years would be able to understand this but I guess not. If Silicon Valley tech workers are considered high quality then no wonder they offshore these jobs lol. Or maybe people outside of Silicon valley are even worst....
You seem to be under the false impression that what they asked you in interviews are what they expect you to do once on the job. The two things are not at all related. The Interview is only to give us an idea of how much you know, and yes we will throw in a few obscure things just to see if you get it right.
Think of it like an NBA tryout, the Warriors will ask the 7 foot big man to dribble and shoot fadeaways just to see if he can do it. That does not mean they want him doing those things in a game!
The reason they do that, is because the high salary attracts some posers. I have interviewed many candidates who talked a great game but didn't know half of the stuff they claimed to know. Trust me, you will not be able to tell which candidate is posing without asking coding questions. Just like you will never be able to judge if a basketball player is any good by just asking questions without actually seeing what he/she does on the court. Now, that doesn't mean that some companies might have been overzealous and put in pointless questions (but again, maybe there is a purpose); but until they see that you actually know how to code, don't expect them to just take your word for it. And even if you know how to code, that's only one part of the equation.
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So I been getting interviews for Software Engineering position in the Silicon Valley and I am starting to think these engineers are not as smart as they seem.
So a little about me, I have about 3 years experience and the positions I applied to are revolved around the work I do now and skills I have.
Even though I have the experience the interviewer never asks about what I have done or worked with instead they just throw some lame programming challenge questions that college students probably have solved on some lab assignment. Literally every company that I interviewed has done this, from start-ups to multi-billion dollar multi-national companies. These challenges are probably the worst way to screen candidates because the challenges are very academic type questions that you will never see in industries and since no engineers have applied any of this stuff since they left college they need to review the material a little, which is a complete waste of time. What is even worst is they ask you to write the code for it, as if they think I do not know how to code.
I really do not want to put my finger or blame any ethnic but I realized that in all my interviews indians are the one's that ask to solve a programing challenge. I have spoken to other non-indian managers in tech and they said that these questions should not have been asked as they are kind of useless.
Every engineer should know that technology changes and there will be situations in which old techniques won't work or you will be working on something that is completely new and you have no knowledge of it. The idea is that you can use resources and acquire the skills you need to complete the task. So then why do these engineers/manages ask these lame challenge academia type questions based on ones memory and incredibly limited resources? Am I just crazy to think that ones experiences, accomplishments, habits, and other work related variables are more important then ones ability to solve an academia challenge question from memory? Also are these questions common in the Bay Area for engineers with experiences (I really hope they do not)?
It sounds like what I experienced at UC Berkeley (not Indian students in particular, just students in general). It's like they have a text book of what a person should say, look like, etc and if you didn't meet every check mark, your point of view or whatever didn't even matter. If you want the job, do what they want. If you value your integrity more, then answer like you have been until you find a company that values what you bring to the table more than your basic knowledge.
I'm not saying either is right or wrong, but that's what you're up against it seems.
I work in silicon valley and I'm one of these software engineering interviewers. There's 4 things every interviewer is looking for:
1) Solid communication skills. The ability to communicate very complicated things clearly and concisely.
2) Coding skills. We want to gauge how clean your coding skills are and if they match up to your claimed acumen. If you say you're an expert in C++, you'll get some tough questions in C++. I'm always looking for clean code, and solid discipline in constructing your code in a readable and an object oriented way. If you're a mid-level/senior and I'm seeing sloppy code and lazy/poor syntax, I'm not going to be convinced that your coding skills is high enough. I also usually ask 2 questions. One warmup and another more challenging problem. I expect everyone to solve the first problem easily, otherwise it's a no-hire.
3) Design skills. There's always a design component in a loop. This is more important for more experienced candidates.
4) Cultural fit. I want to determine if I would like working with you. Are you passionate about technology? How do you handle stressful situations? Are you overly argumentative or arrogant? A bad cultural hire can be hell for a team just as much as a bad technical hire.
If you have a better way to quantify a candidate other than what you're seen, I'm all ears. I don't think any interview process is fool proof. The process you see in the valley can be gamed by someone who studies a lot and is familiar with the style of problems asked.
This is a 4+ month old thread, so I wonder if the OP got a job.
I work at a large tech company in SoCal, and we ask odd questions of everybody just to see if they're culturally a good fit. You don't need to be an expert full stack developer with 20yrs experience, we just need to know if you're going to be an a**hole while you adapt to our processes, and your openness to learning.
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