> However, whether or not a candidate answers a question correctly is not the only source of signal during an interview. You can also evaluate their process by, for example, observing how long it takes them to finish, how clean their code is, and how much they struggle while finding a solution. Our analysis shows that this second source of signal (process) is almost as predictive as the first (correctness).
I seem to do OK when an interviewer:
- asks me a question that sounds like a real problem, not a contrived one (although on occasion I'll have fun with a contrived puzzle if the interviewer has a sense of humor & makes the process light hearted)
- doesn't push me down a path that requires me to implement a "simpler" solution I'd never consider (e.g. asking me a question that clearly wants an O(N) solution & then pushes me to try the O(2^n solution first)
- talks like a person with a problem, and not as someone who clearly knows what they want & simply won't say it
- doesn't try to "see how I think", because I code as much in my head as I do on a screen, meaning most of the code I throw into a text editor is the latest thought in a stream of random ideas until I get to one that works
- doesn't constantly interrupt me
- states their actual expectations, such as "I don't expect you to finish, what I'm really looking for is X"
I seem to do OK when an interviewer:
- asks me a question that sounds like a real problem, not a contrived one (although on occasion I'll have fun with a contrived puzzle if the interviewer has a sense of humor & makes the process light hearted)
- doesn't push me down a path that requires me to implement a "simpler" solution I'd never consider (e.g. asking me a question that clearly wants an O(N) solution & then pushes me to try the O(2^n solution first)
- talks like a person with a problem, and not as someone who clearly knows what they want & simply won't say it
- doesn't try to "see how I think", because I code as much in my head as I do on a screen, meaning most of the code I throw into a text editor is the latest thought in a stream of random ideas until I get to one that works
- doesn't constantly interrupt me
- states their actual expectations, such as "I don't expect you to finish, what I'm really looking for is X"