Tech hiring is severely broken. 22 years in and it's only gotten worse. We still tolerate PhD Comp Sci algorithm questions for frontend developer gigs, endless series of array shuffling and sorting, canned problems intended to "measure your problem solving ability," ridiculous hypotheticals (e.g. whiteboard how you would build Slack), and a litany of other tactics that recruiters or old school management thinks are reasonable hoops to jump through.
Yes, I'm a bit salty.
The best advice I received recently came from someone 10 years my junior in the industry: politely refuse hackerrank, algorithmic code challenges, array shuffling, or anything unrelated to the work you've done or the work the interviewers are doing on a daily basis. Instead, offer to pair/group program or troubleshoot on a problem they're currently trying to solve, offer to walk through an open source project you've worked on or authored and speak to the problems you encountered. Let the gatekeeper/recruiter know you decline the kinds of interviews I mentioned above, and let them know you're looking for an org that thinks outside of that box, that values a person beyond their ability to regurgitate for-sale interview prep.
That approach has an effect of weeding out companies mired in corporate lockstep. I had told a recruiter at a national, Austin based real estate firm that I decline those types of questions and interviews. Was assured that they would not happen, and in the first round of the process was asked to sort an array of phone numbers. The interviewers had no idea I would decline the challenge, and I politely ended the call.
I recently adopted this approach with great success, speaking with a number of high quality orgs and all around great people who were truly interested in what I could bring to their effort. Granted, not everyone is in a position to take a bold stance, but I found that it made me more interesting to companies who were doing more than going through the motions.
Yes, I'm a bit salty.
The best advice I received recently came from someone 10 years my junior in the industry: politely refuse hackerrank, algorithmic code challenges, array shuffling, or anything unrelated to the work you've done or the work the interviewers are doing on a daily basis. Instead, offer to pair/group program or troubleshoot on a problem they're currently trying to solve, offer to walk through an open source project you've worked on or authored and speak to the problems you encountered. Let the gatekeeper/recruiter know you decline the kinds of interviews I mentioned above, and let them know you're looking for an org that thinks outside of that box, that values a person beyond their ability to regurgitate for-sale interview prep.
That approach has an effect of weeding out companies mired in corporate lockstep. I had told a recruiter at a national, Austin based real estate firm that I decline those types of questions and interviews. Was assured that they would not happen, and in the first round of the process was asked to sort an array of phone numbers. The interviewers had no idea I would decline the challenge, and I politely ended the call.
I recently adopted this approach with great success, speaking with a number of high quality orgs and all around great people who were truly interested in what I could bring to their effort. Granted, not everyone is in a position to take a bold stance, but I found that it made me more interesting to companies who were doing more than going through the motions.