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Please stop the coding challenges

(blackentropy.bearblog.dev)
261 points CrazyEmi | 9 comments | 15 Nov 24 15:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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paxys ◴[15 Nov 24 16:22 UTC] No.42148318[source]▶
The more people online complain about coding interviews, the more confident I am that they are the absolute best way to filter candidates for a software development job. Across the industry there are way too many talkers/pretenders/meeting schedulers and not enough people who can roll up their sleeves, jump into the code and actually get stuff done. And this problem becomes worse at higher levels. You can bitch about it all you want, but you aren't owed that cushy $500K/yr FAANG job. If you can't get yourself to brush up on basic programming and write some for loops then companies will simply move on to someone who will.
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1. 0xmarcin ◴[15 Nov 24 16:59 UTC] No.42148670[source]▶
Maybe there were in the past, currently there is entire industry there to help you game the system.

- Cracking the coding interview.

- Elements of programming interviews in Java|Python|whatever...

- leetcode & other sides with paid premium subscriptions...

- mock interview bootcamps...

It's no longer about skill, it's only about gaming the system.

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2. ddq ◴[15 Nov 24 17:51 UTC] No.42149191[source]▶
The ease with which interviews allow the unscrupulous to inflate their abilities has been well-known for long enough for it to be metagamed and exploited for profit and now the effects have become abundantly apparent. Imposters institutionally infested in this manner across industries have reached a critical threshold where their fundamental lack of competency can no longer remain hidden.
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3. AnotherGoodName ◴[15 Nov 24 17:51 UTC] No.42149192[source]▶
Typical table stakes prep work for a high paying job with a lot of competition.

I’m serious. It’s not even guaranteed you’ll get the job if you do the above but everyone who passed the big tech interviews will acknowledge they fucking studied for it. What do expect here?

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4. AnotherGoodName ◴[15 Nov 24 17:56 UTC] No.42149233[source]▶
Have you got the high paying big tech job then?

If you do the above prep work and pass the multiple interview loops you’re pretty smart honestly. The vast majority couldn’t do it even with all the study possible and even the smartest couldn't do it without any study at all. The bar is pretty high.

5. plantwallshoe ◴[15 Nov 24 20:33 UTC] No.42150653[source]▶
What do you mean “gaming the system”?

The companies ask that candidates learn how to solve algorithm problems and the candidates do it.

I would call it “everyone playing a game they agreed to play by the rules they agreed to play with.”

And I don’t know what you mean by “it’s no longer about skill.” It still takes a lot of skill to be able to solve hard algorithm problems, even if you took a course on how to solve them and practiced solving them for 6 months.

When you audition for an orchestra they give you the sheet music ahead of time. It doesn’t mean you have no skill if you practice first instead of just showing up to sight read the music.

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6. Drew_ ◴[15 Nov 24 22:37 UTC] No.42152043[source]▶
Tech interview preparation mostly boils down to rote memorization not really what I would call “developing a skill”. You just cram enough until you can pattern match any kind of DSA or system design problem and apply the solution you memorized. Once you finally land the job, you’re free to forget everything. Then you begin to develop “real skill” on the job.
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7. rockemsockem ◴[15 Nov 24 23:09 UTC] No.42152339[source]▶
There are physics textbooks and YouTube videos everywhere and yet we aren't all physics experts. Existence of knowledge and accessibility of information does not guarantee everyone can learn to do something and it especially doesn't guarantee that everyone can learn to do something well.

LLMs are another great example

8. Valord ◴[16 Nov 24 01:00 UTC] No.42153204{3}[source]▶
This
9. zelphirkalt ◴[16 Nov 24 21:44 UTC] No.42159623[source]▶
But who is talking about big tech? Aren't we talking about just most companies here? I have had some interviews and every single one of them had broken hiring processes, silly reviewers, who get stuck up at things like you not using their favorite code autoformatter, for code that is 1 screen long, or did the ghost job thing, where they apparently did not actually want to hire anyone.