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Your algorithm was correct, your code was correct, but you still got rejected. This is not only possible, but incredibly common.
Candidates are routinely surprised when it does because they don’t quite understand the interview process and how they are evaluated.
Read moreFizzBuzz might be a "classic" coding question, but it doesn't make it a good one.
Read moreThe "Google-style" interviews is the one people love to hate. It's broken, good candidates fail, bad candidates just memorize the answers, yadda yadda yadda.
That's all true.
But this is also true: all processes are broken.
Read moreFizzBuzz is not the basic, sanity-check interview question that many presume it to be. Use it and you might just end up filtering out some of your good candidates who, unfortunately, suffer from the Smart Person's Mirage.
Read moreAfter coaching hundreds of people through coding, behavioral, and product manager interviews, I’ve distilled some of my core advice into some handy prep sheets.
Study these sheets before your interview. Really understand them. Email me questions if you have any.
As you prepare for interviews, use these sheets. Walk through your next coding problem closely following the procedure below. It’ll help you — I promise.
Read moreIn theory, culture fit is a great thing to look for. Teamwork is vital, and high functioning teams produce better products. Culture fit is also more than just the do-you-get-along-well with the team. Culture fit can also be about moving rapidly, taking risks, speaking up, being creative, or not micromanaging.
You do want people who fit in well with your culture.
However, in practice, "culture fit" is often discriminatory, especially against asians, women, and older people.
Read moreDespite what many assume, I do not think the so-called "TopCoder-style" software developer interviews are perfect. In fact, they're very flawed (more on this another time -- and a bit in here too). However, companies have a variety of reasons for doing this -- some good, some bad.
Read moreThere’s a trend among start-ups (and some larger companies) that worries me: giving candidates “homework” assignments. Homework assignments lead to candidate abuse. Knock it off (or at least be reasonable). I’ve seen many friends and clients go through this. As a pre-screening round before an onsite interview, a company gives them a “homework” assignment.
Read moreWhile it’s usually candidates who make the mistakes in interviews, interviewers can screw up, too. Handling that kind of situation can be tricky. Here's what you do:
Read moreNot everything about the interview process is predictable, but you can bet that you’ll be asked a few behavioral questions – and probably a few behavioral questions per interview. Behavioral questions can be questions like, “what would you do if _______?”, but more likely they’re of the form, “Tell me about a challenging interaction with a coworker on _____ project.” Contrary to popular belief, you can and should prepare for behavioral questions. Yes, I know it’s “just talking about yourself,” but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use a few tricks to nail down your answers.
Read moreAnother day, another overly-hyped article on Google’s “crazy” interview questions. This one though gives hope to aspiring Googlers; Google has finally seen the light and realized that brainteasers aren’t useful! Not exactly.
Nothing has changed.
Read more